Monday, March 06, 2006
North Shore of Kauai: March 5
Many thanks to Erica, Jason and Bob for their comments. I can give you any of the images you see here in large format (higher res) once we return to NH. I'm writing these posts on the fly, without time for editing, since re-sizing and posting the photos is very time-consuming.
Another great day. This entry will have to be brief, since it is late and I am tired. We drove north along the east coast of Kauai, through Lihue up to the north coast. We followed the highway westward along the coast to one of the most wonderful places in Hawaii, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw thousands of Red-footed Boobies, many Red-tailed Tropicbirds (a new species, different from the White-tailed Tropicbird that frequents Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island and Waimea Canyon on Kauai), and quite a few Laysan Albatrosses, which are now breeding at this site. The albatrosses are immense birds, which dwarf the large boobies. We saw them perform their bizarre head-bobbing courtship dances on the hill that they’ve claimed, 180 feet above the water. This spot also hosts ground-nesting petrels, but that section of the refuge was closed to protect the birds during their early breeding season. The site of this refuge is an old lighthouse station on a tall cliff that juts out between two coves. The albatrosses claim the hilltop across the western cove and the boobies and tropicbirds have staked out homesites on the eastern cliffs. These birds moved about a lot, soaring overhead at high speeds. I found it extremely difficult to photograph them but have posted the results of my effort.
From Kileaua Point we continued westward through Hanalei (remember “Puff the Magic Dragon”?), a small, artsy town on the north shore of Kauai. This area, on the windward face of the island, is surrounded by extremely lush rain forest, and has many narrow one-land bridges that carry the highway westward. Sheer pali rise behind the town, many quite spectacular in profile, and the combination of frequent rain, heavy runoff from precipitous slopes, and the threat of storm surges and tsunamis (Kauai was hit by two hurricanes in the last two decades, one a massive category 5 storm) have dictated that most of the homes in this area are elevated, standing on tall pilings. Many of the bridges are submerged during heavy rainstorms, so people at the western end of town are truly cut off from the rest of Kauai. Here we also saw the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, a remarkable place in which the federal government rescued a group of native taro farmers whose land was about to be bought by developers. Recognizing that the flooded taro fields supported breeding populations of endangered Hawaiian gallinules, coots, and black-necked stilts, the US F&WS purchased the land and allowed the farmers to live there, provided they continued to cultivate taro in the traditional manner, thus maintaining the wetland environment needed by these federally listed endemic birds.
We continued west beyond Hanalei to the state park at the very end of the road. Here we hiked up a steep trial on the face of the cliff and enjoyed terrific views of the scattered beaches to the east and of the beginning of the rugged, roadless NaPali coast to the west. After our hike, we returned to Hanalei and ate the best ice cream we’d ever tasted (Lynn had coconut ice cream with macademia nuts and chocolate; I had coconut ice cream with raspberry and passionfruit sorbet).
Another great day. This entry will have to be brief, since it is late and I am tired. We drove north along the east coast of Kauai, through Lihue up to the north coast. We followed the highway westward along the coast to one of the most wonderful places in Hawaii, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw thousands of Red-footed Boobies, many Red-tailed Tropicbirds (a new species, different from the White-tailed Tropicbird that frequents Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island and Waimea Canyon on Kauai), and quite a few Laysan Albatrosses, which are now breeding at this site. The albatrosses are immense birds, which dwarf the large boobies. We saw them perform their bizarre head-bobbing courtship dances on the hill that they’ve claimed, 180 feet above the water. This spot also hosts ground-nesting petrels, but that section of the refuge was closed to protect the birds during their early breeding season. The site of this refuge is an old lighthouse station on a tall cliff that juts out between two coves. The albatrosses claim the hilltop across the western cove and the boobies and tropicbirds have staked out homesites on the eastern cliffs. These birds moved about a lot, soaring overhead at high speeds. I found it extremely difficult to photograph them but have posted the results of my effort.
From Kileaua Point we continued westward through Hanalei (remember “Puff the Magic Dragon”?), a small, artsy town on the north shore of Kauai. This area, on the windward face of the island, is surrounded by extremely lush rain forest, and has many narrow one-land bridges that carry the highway westward. Sheer pali rise behind the town, many quite spectacular in profile, and the combination of frequent rain, heavy runoff from precipitous slopes, and the threat of storm surges and tsunamis (Kauai was hit by two hurricanes in the last two decades, one a massive category 5 storm) have dictated that most of the homes in this area are elevated, standing on tall pilings. Many of the bridges are submerged during heavy rainstorms, so people at the western end of town are truly cut off from the rest of Kauai. Here we also saw the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, a remarkable place in which the federal government rescued a group of native taro farmers whose land was about to be bought by developers. Recognizing that the flooded taro fields supported breeding populations of endangered Hawaiian gallinules, coots, and black-necked stilts, the US F&WS purchased the land and allowed the farmers to live there, provided they continued to cultivate taro in the traditional manner, thus maintaining the wetland environment needed by these federally listed endemic birds.
We continued west beyond Hanalei to the state park at the very end of the road. Here we hiked up a steep trial on the face of the cliff and enjoyed terrific views of the scattered beaches to the east and of the beginning of the rugged, roadless NaPali coast to the west. After our hike, we returned to Hanalei and ate the best ice cream we’d ever tasted (Lynn had coconut ice cream with macademia nuts and chocolate; I had coconut ice cream with raspberry and passionfruit sorbet).
# posted by Ken @ 1:34 AM 
