Black-crowned Night-Heron on Maui, Hawaii

Here I am in Hawaii again on my annual trip for work. I certainly can't complain about being sent to work in a place like this, and the abundance of natural beauty here makes almost any drive to or from a school pleasurable. However, speaking as a birder, there is always a little sadness mixed with the pleasure, because many of the bird species one sees here were introduced by humans, and the endemic species that have not already become extinct are very difficult to find in some of the remnant native forest. This is usually found far from the coastline up on the higher slopes of the volcanoes. But... birds are birds, and it was fun to watch the Black-crowned Night-Herons coming out in the fading afternoon light to stalk their dinner at Kanaha pond between the airport and my hotel in downtown Kahului on Maui.