Saturday birds

Just a few photos I took over the course of the day on Saturday, before I settled in to work on that epic vacation pics post.

Starting things off, a goldfinch sitting on a ridge of snow created after Mom and Dad's neighbor was kind enough to come over and use his snowblower to clear a couple of paths for me:

Redpolls and goldfinches vying for space on the thistle feeder:

A female cardinal:

And my favorite set of pics: a blue jay eating snow from a branch as it sat in the blue spruce:

Another snowy morning

Just a couple of photos I took Monday morning, after an overnight snowfall:

Kauai 2014: days 14 and 15

My last full day of vacation started off with a bit of a surprise when I found this little one underneath some books on my nightstand:

Then we took a trip to Poipu to visit one of our favorite lunch spots: Puka Dog.

While we waited in line, this female sparrow kept a close eye out for any stray morsels:

Back in the same spot after scoring said morsel:

As it says at the link, to make a Puka dog they take a bun made with Hawaiian sweet bread, put it on a heated rod to create a hole in the middle, cook up a Polish sausage, and then put the whole thing together with your choice of one of their special sauces and fruit relish (I usually opt for the mild sauce and mango relish). Add in fresh-made lemonade (probably the best I've ever had), and you've got yourself an awesome meal:

A look at the awesome meal, featuring my mom's hand:

After we ate, I photographed a few of the wild chickens that were hanging about the dining area:

Cute little chick:

Scrounging around under the picnic table:

One last look at this handsome fellow:

I didn't take all that many photos on my last day—probably because I knew I had a ton to sort through already. So, to wrap up the vacation, just a few photos of a female shama sitting on one of the support posts of the house next door:

Kauai 2014: day 13

On my penultimate day of vacation, I made one final visit to Kilauea. Many pictures ensued, so I'll just jump right on in.

Some photos of red-footed boobies, starting with one of my favorites:

 

Looking right at me:

Gathering materials for their nests:

At least they won't lack for company:

Photos of a brown booby:

More whale action—I'm not sure if there's two or three whales in this particular image:

Not sure if there's two or three in this pic:

No real jumps on this particular day, but they were still pretty active:

 

I thought this one offered an interesting bit of perspective, as it has both a whale and an albatross in fairly close proximity:

A pair of nenes that whizzed by overhead:

A closer look at the lower of the two birds:

A later nene shot—no idea if these were the same two nenes, or a different pair:

A bunch of albatross pics:

Knowing I had a number of shots of various albatrosses flying against the sky, I focused on trying to get some with the ocean as the backdrop:

Doing a little grooming as it went by:

This one cracked me up, as this particular bird didn't seem too inclined to go for the streamlined look and tuck its feet in, making for a fun visual:

Kind of far away, but I still liked the silhouette: 

Coming right towards me:

And a couple of final closeups:

Checking out the muddy water spilling into the ocean, courtesy of all the rain we'd had:

Some photos of Beach Naupaka, a native Hawaiian plant with a variety of legends told about it. The first story I heard was during our Limahuli tour, and can be read here.  There's also another version to check out here.

And a couple of closeups:

A look at a monk seal relaxing on the rocky shore:

Not that it was easy to spot, given this is what the same area looked like to the unaided eye:

And finally, a few photos I took of a Hawaiian Coot working the edges of the Hanalei River, taken as we waited our turn at one of the one-way bridges: