More violence in my yard!

As you know, I am fascinated by the Northern Red Cardinal pair that flit behind and around my house. I love their sounds and their bright coloring. My new goal was to get photos of the pair together. I have had some luck! [See my two different photos in the Nature - At  Home page accessed on the sidebar.]

But one day as I used my camera to hunt the flighty, twitting cardinals, I caught the painful violence of nature. Sometimes violence occurs as species fight for territory. Sometimes violence occurs as species fight for food. And in the case I captured, I believe it is both. A Brown Anole is hungry and gets rid of an invading smaller lizard in the process.

Brown Anole on deck / in my yard / October 2015

Brown Anole on deck / in my yard / October 2015

Sometimes this violence occurs between species or within a species. From my photos, it is hard to tell if this was between or within species. I fear it is between species, the cheerful gecko losing out to the aggressive Brown Anole. See the photos below for the before and after. [There are more distressing close up photos on the Nature - At  Home page accessed on the sidebar.]

In the past, my friends and I have discussed the presence of the Brown Anole. Starr Environmental (a great local source I just found) My friends told me that the Brown Anole was more aggressive then the Green Anole. I hadn’t really noticed this. I knew that I hadn't seen a Green Anole around my trash can any more. I named it Bruiser (for the trash can). I felt confident it was catching flies there. It lived there for many years or maybe it was more than one generation.

Within the past year, I have exclusively noticed Brown Anoles jumping from plants to our new side yard deck and climbing on citronella lamp poles. The aggression my friends had told me about was noticeable as I when I wanted to sit down, I would actually have to make a move of aggression before the lizard moved! Some of the Brown Anoles I see also are the largest lizard around my yard with powerful back legs and long tails. 

In my research, the two Anoles are indeed named just by their colors. One website describes the aggression between the two anoles. [I just found this site and it is similar to mine with greater details and scientific information on local species. Another local Nature Blog] The writer notes that where there is overlap in ranges the Green Anole goes up within the trees and the Brown Anole stays down. I hope there are still Green Anoles higher up in the vines and canopies that dominate my neighborhood!

FIGHT! FIGHT!

For this week’s blog, I yet again planned to write about something other than birds but witnessed an amazing sight last Saturday! While having a pleasant lunch at our neighbors’ house, we heard all sorts of bird noise and saw two plovers active on our neighbors’ lawn. The joy of Hawaii living - indoor/outdoor living with large windows and doors allowed us to witness a captivating nature sight! 

We heard many loud calls and looked to see one plover chasing another on the lawn. We knew from past viewings that one plover was already established on this lawn; but it seemed another plover was trying to take over! Like the plovers’ perseverance in flying from Alaska to Hawaii, this behavior went on for about an hour. One finally won out but we were never sure if the already established plover retained control or not. At one time a third plover got involved but I was not able to get a photo of that. The battery on my camera ran out. That is why true photographers buy a spare battery.

Here are a few still shots of some of their chasing and fighting “moves” It was actually sad to watch the aggression evidenced during their tropical island winter interlude. 

Pacific Golden Plovers / neighbor’s yard  / October 17, 2015 

Pacific Golden Plovers take down / neighbor’s yard  / October 17, 2015 

Yet another example of learning from nature at home - just outside my door. Go out and find your own examples; you will be amazed at what you can see. The more you see, the more you learn, and hopefully the more you will want to learn!

[To see videos of the surprisingly aggressive behavior of these quiet birds go to my Nature - At Home page accessed on the sidebar. On that page, you will also find another entry about the Pacific Golden Plover from October 8, 2015.]

Aliens!

I can hear the persistent and loud call of the birds (I think it is only one or two at the most) I am going to highlight today. The green “parrot” flies in flocks around my home. Others are aware of this flock as, in my quick research on-line, I have read some articles about the flock. 

I didn’t want to write about birds again but these birds are becoming more prevalent closer to my house so they are on my mind. [Read more about the Rose-ringed Parakeet and why it is a parakeet on my Nature - At Home page accessed on the sidebar.] Of course, birds are a special favorite of mine!

Rose-ringed Parakeet / tree at my neighbor's house / October 8, 2015

To me this flock of Parakeets are pests. I think it is frightening to imagine large parrot-sized birds sitting on my deck or sitting on a tree right in my backyard! I am not sure why parrots, and other odd pets like chinchilla, are allowed to be brought into our state. After all a number of prominent failed “experiments” of introduced species to Hawaii are well established in the natural history of our state! 

Parrots as pets in Hawaii are very bothersome. Here are some reasons why:

1) It is irritating when you are walking around high visitor population locations and men roaming the sidewalk areas (notice most of the time they are men interacting with young women) put parrots on you for a photo. What if you were afraid of birds? At the very least it is intimidating to have a very large beak near your face! Secondly, one doesn’t want to be obligated to give a tip or money for the “use” of the parrot.

2) I like to provide education at all opportunities. The presence of these parrots in Hawaii, interacting with visitors to Hawaii, will lead people to believe the parrots are native to Hawaii. Just because the birds are “tropical” and they are brightly colored. This overshadows the presence of and importance of our colorful, and dainty in comparison, native forest birds with bright and delicate songs. Which of those two contrasting types of birds will our visitors even encounter, and remember, (besides all those pigeons) in Hawaii?

3) If these pet parrots get lost, which they obviously have in the past, the parrots could become a pest. I read an article in our local newspaper where an “expert” said these parrots have established flocks outside of their country of origin and have never developed into pests. 

I believe the one large flock of Rose-ringed Parakeets near my home are already pests! I really think something should be done about them before the parrots spread all over the island. In my years of living at my current home, the flock has increased in number. Many years before the flock included about twenty or so birds; now I estimate about a hundred or more birds flying when the birds are on the move.

The noise of this flock is also very irritating. My niece, when visiting, called them flying monkeys. Have you ever seen the old movie The Wizard of Oz? The flock arrives at dawn and leaves at dusk. The noise wakes you up on a sleep-in day. Once my friend was talking on the phone to my husband and she heard, over the phone, the noise of the flock flying away as she knew it would arrive in her valley soon!

As evidenced in my photos the parrots are boldly close to my home, actually closer to my neighbors. In more than 25 years of living in my current home, this is the first time I have seen these parrots so close. I don't want the parrots to scare away the sweet secretive cardinal pair that flit about and also visit that tree. (Although the Northern red cardinal is also introduced, it has been so long since its introduction few remember when the introduction occurred. Also the cardinal is smaller and appear in only one or two at a time in our neighborhood.)

The parrots also spew a very large amount of droppings (or guano which may be a term limited to sea birds). The spots on surfaces around my yard are disgustingly large. I hate to think if the numbers increased and there were more of the parrots sitting on the telephone lines like the doves. Just think if such a “splash” landed on your head! 

I think something should be done to ban the presence of potentially detrimental species as pets. At the very least, banning the presence of large parrots should be legislated.

Still Favorite Birds

The weather holds in a cooling fashion! This is the idyllic weather I am used to in Hawaii, especially at my home which is higher in the hills with bright blue sky and fluffy cloud in layers above. There was actually a slight chill (for Hawaii) in the air when I opened the front door!

Morning definitely is a good time to sight birds. On October 5, I was able to spot the elusive female Northern red cardinal. The photos did not come out as well as I hoped but here are a few if some of you have not been able to see a female. In her plain appearance, she still has a catchy look about her; the coloring in the eyes and beak area are nearly the same. Of course, nothing to compare with the vibrant red of her mate with black outlined eyes and beak. 

Northern Red Cardinal (female) on wall / tree in my neighbor’s yard / October 2015

When I was first photo hunting the male, I had a feeling there were two birds flitting away. I think the male and female give the same short chirp as they fly from here to there. So I was thrilled to run to the window at the sound of that chirp and to see a female nearly in the same location. The cardinal pair apparently are eating the strawberry guava in my neighbor’s tree. 

Please go to the NATURE - AT HOME page (accessed in the sidebar) for the story of the Pacific Golden-Plover in Hawaii.

Fall

It is raining yet again! At least the weather is cooler. It really feels like we may have what constitutes our fall in Hawaii  - the bit of relief from heat and humidity. In the past, when I taught weather many students who had experienced weather in other parts of the world would always say that Hawaii does not have seasons. I told them Hawaii does have seasons; the seasons are just not the stereotypical seasons others may experience in different parts of the United States and the world.

As an extreme, can any of us in the Northern Hemisphere grasp what it must be like to have a wintry June, July, and August? I know there are some areas of the Northern United States which have experienced snow in some of those months but imagine a long stretch of the coldest temperatures of your year during those months. I have friends who live in Australia and even the school year is arranged, and marked," differently! So the seasons Australia has are not "our" seasons. Every part of the world has seasons as the Earth revolving, and the changing tilt of the Earth in relation to the sun, create seasons. And we are all "traveling through space" on Earth!

Here in Hawaii, I can feel those subtle changes in weather as our Earth revolves away from its full tilt towards the sun. Yes, there may be those days interspersed, in December, which make us think of summer but in general there are many differences. Of course, with the strange weather we are having this year, I hope we do feel those seasonal differences.

Here are a few noticeable differences that I notice over the year. The ocean gets considerably colder and I will not swim in the ocean in December; it is too cold. If you are from here, try to scuba dive in winter. Of course, I was told the scuba dive business is busiest in winter! Also, you may not have realized it but plumeria trees lose their leaves at this time of year and definitely have a season of blooming and rebirth as do many of our flowering trees.

To get to the pages with photos and informational text, look to the side bar. With my first post, I created my first Nature - Traveling page, sharing highlights from a summer camping trip. For this post, I have just added the Nature - At Home page. (Couldn't get it to "link" properly.) Nature - Around Hawaii is not complete at this time.

The Blog will be organized into three parts:
Nature - At Home
Nature - Around Hawaii
Nature - Traveling

Enjoy! And remember October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you know someone who has or had cancer, give them your love and support!