Shorebirds wintering in Hawaii

Very few shorebird species spend the entire year in Hawaii, but there are a few that can be found wintering there. In addition to the pleasure of watching them, there is (for me, anyway) the additional sense of amazement at the thought of all those thousands of miles of ocean they have to cross to get there. They are not swimmers, and there is no solid ground for them to rest on between Alaska and these islands.

Pacific Golden Plovers can be found in parks and other grassy places everywhere.

This Wandering Tattler was north of Kona on the "Big" island, Hawaii.

Sanderling at Kanaha Pond near Kahului, Maui

Ruddy Turnstones, also at Kanaha Pond

I'iwi at Hosmer Grove, Haleakala, Maui

I just returned from another working trip to Hawaii, and had only about one hour to spend at Hosmer Grove in Haleakala National Park on Maui. But this time I had better success than ever before in my effort to photograph the I'iwi, one of Hawaii's remaining native species. This particular Ohia lehua tree had more blossoms than any others nearby, and this bird was guarding it diligently, chasing away the Apapane's and Amakihi's that tried to steal some of his nectar.