Birding Adventure on Kauai

My trip to Hawaii (Kauai) this year didn’t consist of many real adventures other than sitting by the pool, walking on the beach or shopping. Since this was a trip with 2 high school buddies, I couldn’t wander off leaving them to talk about me all day.

I did allow myself one day of adventure. In my research of island activities I found out that some of the rarest birds on earth live on Kauai. Since I am fascinated by avian species, I most definitely couldn’t pass up at least a little bit of time seeking out these scarce beings.

In an internet search I found David Kuhn. In a few spur of the moment phone calls he offered to take me out solo to the Alakai Swamp where many of these birds reside. The Alakai Swamp in not a true swamp but a high elevation bog. It is only reachable by foot. The swamp has remained a primeval habitat that only within the last 10 years has been made readily accessible by the construction of boardwalks over the muddy surface. Before that the swamp was pretty much the elusive stomping grounds of biologists, ornithologists, botanists, adventurous hikers and pig hunters.

David and I met early one morning just as the sun was rising over the horizon. I left my rental car at the state park and joined him in his truck while we drove over a rutted dirt road for three unnerving miles. I was so glad that I wasn’t responsible for driving to the trailhead in my vehicle.

We parked at a misty plateau and descended into a forested tunnel. I had read horror stories of how bad the trail had been before the boardwalk was built – with having walk through waist deep mud in some places. The trail sans boardwalk the first mile or so wasn’t too bad despite the light rain that was falling. Right off the bat, David said to stay off the bare dirt because it was slippery. This proved to be true when a few minutes later he slipped while walking over a bare stretch.

We soon reached the comfort and ease of the boardwalk.

 We had occasional views of the valley below as we walked along a high ridge. A curtain of fog moved in and out of the dripping moss covered forest as we walked along the trail. The Alakai Swamp annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 300 inches of rain a year. David didn’t say much a we walked along. I asked a few questions about the vegetation and the birds I was hearing. He answered every question  easily and with few words.

Soon we left the boardwalk via some invisible secret trail that was hidden by dead limbs and leaves. We arrived at a private overlook of the jungle below. David pulled out a plastic poncho and offered me a seat on the log. “We’ll be here for a little while so make yourself comfortable”, David announced.

 We weren’t there long when David pointed to a bird flying into a tree below and said, “That is the Apapane.” I looked through my binoculars at a small red bird with a short black beak. “This bird and the tree that it is on are coevolutionary. This bird has the shape and color of the plant it feeds from, the curved red flowers of the ohia lehua tree. It’s camouflaged naturally from its enemies.” David also mentioned that the I’iwi (a bird of similar color but a longer curved beak) also lived and fed in these trees.

I did bring my camera on this outing but of course did not get any of the beautiful birds we saw. If you’re interested in seeing what they look like check out this site: http://www.birdinghawaii.co.uk/WELCOMEPAGE.htm and check on the Hawaii birds link.

We sat in this spot and a few other “secret” spots and got some good views of the Apapane, Elepaio, Amakihi, Anianiau, Akeke’e, and the I’iwi. I found It was hard enough learning new birds but even harder learning new birds that I couldn’t even pronounce.

Part of our hiking led down a steep set of stairs to a creek at the bottom. Construction of this trail certainly involved a lot of work.

We walked by acres of ginger plants that are a non native, invasive species.

We crossed a beautiful clear stream before heading up the hill on the other side. “Walk on the moss covered rocks, they aren’t slippery”, David said quickly as he hopped across the rocks. I seemed strange to me that moss could be non-slip but found it was true that the moss covered rocks were not slippery in the slightest.

Abruptly on the other side of the creek, the boardwalk stopped. Suddenly the easy to traverse trail became more difficult. It became muddier and more deeply rutted. In some places, the trail had eroded away to a narrow knee deep canyon.

We stopped at a few more private overlooks before turning back and crossing the creek again. This time I didn’t head the warning about walking only on moss covered rocks and stepped on a small bare rock and promptly fell into the creek. Water squished out of my shoes the whole way back.

I didn’t catch more than a glimpse of the elusive I’iwi. I was thankful for all the good looks I got of all the other birds. “Make sure you drive to end of the road and lookouts”, David said as he dropped me off at my car.

The view at the end of the road was nothing short of spectacular! The clouds parted away to let in the sun. White tailed tropicbirds flew below me as they coasted along on the winds coming off the ocean.

A few days later on a drive to the north side of the island with my friends in tow, I saw the state bird of the Hawaii – the Ne’ne, the Layson albatross and the blue footed booby.

 

 If you ever made it to Kauai, I recommend making your way to the Alakai Swamp. Just remember to bring your rubber boots!