Capturing the Moment

Vestiaria coccinea Scarlet Honeycreeper, "I'iwi"    The I'iwi, or scarlet honeycreeper is one of the  best known species of Hawaiian endemic finch species. Usually it is just seen as a red flash as it disappears into the native forest, however with a little (or a lot) of patience you may be lucky enough to see an I'iwi land and feed on a colorful tree.   The honeycreepers here in Hawaii are all descendants of one finch ancestor. Think about Darwin sailing to the Galapagos islands and finding a dozen or so different finch species there, all filling different niches, eventually leading Darwin to his theory of evolution. If he would have come to the Hawaiian islands instead, Darwin would have found 54 different species of finch, and most likely would have come to his conclusion of evolution years earlier!   Not all species have survived as well as our I'iwi, and even those are regulated to the high elevation patches of native forest. Thanks to the in...

Protea in full bloom Bromeliad Bloom   The last few days have been spent part way up Haleakala Volcano on the island of Maui in an area locals simply refer to as 'upcountry.' The weather ranges from mild to downright cold, and it boast a wide range of flora and fauna to go with it. Lavender Garden, Maui Looking down at the valley   Our first spot to check for unusual plants was the beautiful lavender farms in Kula. Blooming jacaranda trees and rows of different species of lavender showered the garden in shades of purple. And with all the other blooming flowers of proteas, bromeliads, and others there was a rainbow of colors.   We searched high and low for the resident Jackson's chameleons in the area but could not find any. A couple of purple finches watched us hungrily as we enjoyed our lavender tea and scone but we did not share. Juvenile I'iwi I'iwi, not too close   Next we were off to the last remaining stronghold of the honeycree...

  Holy snow storm! On our last afternoon we decided to tackle the summit of the 10,023ft Haleakala volcano. Little did we know we were in for a wintry storm complete with lightning, thunder, and sleet.    We could see that clouds engulfed the volcano from our sunny beach down in Wailea. But I know from experience that often the volcano summit will be high and dry out of the tops of the clouds. That was not going to be the case this time. Although once we passed the summit visitor center and started to climb the last 400ft to the top we noticed the rain had turned into hail. Looking around the tiny hail started collected on the lava rocks and in the road like snow. It was very hard to imagine that only two hours prior Heidi and I had been soaking up the warm tropical sun on Wailea beach.   After running around a bit in my shorts and trying not to slip on the ice in my sandals I had all the photo proof of the very localized winter hail storm. So we jumped ...

Breaching Humpback Whale   If you are a wildlife lover and think Hawaii has not much to offer then think again. On a recent trip to Maui I was able to see some of the biggest wildlife and some of the smallest in the same day. Right now the oceans are thick with humpback whales mating and having babies. I saw quite a few in between Lana'i and Maui on my flight in from Honolulu. And I couldn't wait to get up close on one of the whale watching boats with my friends at Pacific Whale Foundation. Mom and Baby   The whales did not disappoint. On a two hour whale watch I saw breaches, tail slaps, peduncle throws, pec slaps, fluke up dives, and brand new babies. I still think that Maui has got to be one of the best places in the world for whale watching during the months of February and March. I'iwi (Honeycreeper) out in the open I'iwi bird feeding   Seeing 40 ton animals launching out of the water is pretty amazing, but my other goal while on Maui was t...

Forest in the Mist Welcome to the Maui cloud forest   Hiking through a cloud with soaring trees slowly fading away into the mist makes you feel like you are no longer on a tropical island. The temperature can plummet below freezing overnight and the wind makes the cloud come to life like a slow moving white river flowing through the forest. Enter the cloud belt, 7,000ft up on the slope of Haleakala volcano. Endemic birds like the I'iwi or scarlet honeycreeper chase each other from tree top to tree top bringing a stark red contrast to the misty green of the cloud forest. Juvenile I'iwi (Scarlet honeycreeper) A bright red flash hails the coming of an I'iwi bird Hossmer's Grove is a beautiful campground and nature trail through a one hundred year old experimental forest. Pine, spruce, cedar, and eucalyptus still stand and wage war against the native fauna in the delicate ecosystem. It borders the Haleakala national park where rangers fight hard to hold the...