Maui Moments
When: January 2018 Weather : Hot
Leica M240/35mmsummilux Nikon P900
Stayed at the Grand Wailea Hotel in Maui on the second leg of our Hawaiian sojourn and whilst the beach and sunsets were pleasant enough, the local fauna were of greater interest to us. We had intended to do the road to Hana which everyone seems to do but problems with our guide meant that we just hired a car and did some local touring instead. We were actually not too disappointed about missing out on the looooong drive to Hana as it gave us time to do some other things which didn’t involve such a long journey…
Sunset on beach outside Wailea
On the way to the coastal town of Lahaina was a bird sanctuary called Kealia Bird Sanctuary and Pond Boardwalk which are two separate areas separated by the main road. We drove beyond the boardwalk about half a mile and turned right into a side road to turn around and approach the boardwalk from the other direction to access the car park…which was full so we had to park on the grass verge….
The boardwalk at Kealia is well signposted and pretty scenic…here a signboard showing the endangered black necked stilt that is one of the three main species found here…
An actual Black necked stilt
another view
the boardwalk aat Kealia
black capped night heron
The endangered Hawaiian Coot
Hawaiian Moorhen or Gallinule
we can also walk down to the beach from the boardwalk
Hawaiian sparrow
Western Sandpiper (thanks to Bob Kaufman for ID)
Wandering Tattersall
White faced Ibis
white faced ibis
Bittern
Pacific golden plover
the beautiful wetlands at Kealia
We had been told that this was whale season and although we were both not very good on the water, we elected to join one of the whaling boat trips. The morning dawned with extremely gusty winds and choppy seas..not a good omen…
the gusty winds at the harbor
The boat ride was turbulent with spray drenching us often….and the humpback whales were elusive….
at last we saw a fin flashing!
and then the small dorsal fin on top of the humpback whale’s back
dorsal fin
and then a tail fin emerged
the nose appeared
a rainbow next to the boat
finally it breached the surface
and then crashed back to the sea
with a big splash!
The boat journey was rough but sighting the humpback whale frolicking made it all worthwhile. Recommended
The Natural Traveller 