Kauai 2011 day 14: Wailua Falls

You'd think that by the end of my vacation I'd have been taking fewer pictures, not more. I may ask my folks to put a shock collar on me this year... At any rate, it was a busy day that resulted in a ton of photos, so once again I'll get right to it.

A couple of sunrise photos:





A Myna stopped by to grab some breakfast:



As did this Red-crested Cardinal, which I was photographing between the legs of the chairs out on the porch:



Love the head tilt:



A cardinal that came almost right up to the sliding-glass door:



On my next-to-last day, we took a trip out to Wailua Falls, one of the most picturesque spots on the island. It's a gorgeous double waterfall, and I was eager to try my hand at photographing it. This first shot is one I took with my camera on its usual setting:



And this is one I took with a much slower shutter speed, producing the silky water effect:



A wider shot of the waterfall and pool:



Again, the same view with the shutter slowed down:



With all the mist produced by the falling water, it's pretty much a guarantee that when the sun is out, you're going to see a rainbow. On this visit, we were lucky enough to see a double rainbow:





On the other side of the pool, someone used a bunch of white rocks to leave a message for visitors:



While we were there, we noticed quite a few White-tailed Tropicbirds flying around. Then we realized that when some of the birds approached the rock face, they disappeared. Turns out they like to nest in cliffs:









We stopped for lunch at Puka Dog, where I ended up getting some of the best bird closeups of my vacation. First up, some Myna pics:



Very pleased with how this one came out:







An early model for Angry Birds, perhaps?



And some shots of a Red-crested Cardinal that came fairly close to grab some of the bread we'd scattered around:







A Zebra Dove taking a dust bath in the parking lot where we were staying:



Finally, some shots I took before and during sunset at Ke'e Beach: