Turkeys in Hawaii and where do birds go when it rains? And rains? And rains?

Happy Thanksgiving!

In celebration of Thanksgiving, I will discuss turkeys in Hawaii although I no longer have any photos of them. :( I got rid of those “hard copies” of photos. Many years ago, I saw a turkey up at Camp Timberline! Has anyone else seen the turkeys there? It was probably the first wild turkey that I ever saw. I imagined they were wild as the turkeys looked nothing like the large white-feathered ones that are often seen. I wonder how those turkeys got there. Perhaps  their origin harkens way back to the 1800’s when “pioneers” in Hawaii may have brought the turkeys for hunting (or eating) purposes. 

I also remember seeing a turkey on another island. When I was in Boston I saw a wild turkey on Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. [Please go to my NATURE - TRAVELING page (accessed on the sidebar) for the photo of a turkey on another island!]

For the last week or so, Hawaii (or at least Oahu) has been experiencing persistent and soaking rains. Sometimes it pours and other times, in the heights, we are engulfed in a rain cloud and the rain mists blow across the valleys in sheets. Except for a sunny day on Wednesday, we have had rain and more rain every day since Thursday of last week. 

One day, after a particularly drenching squall, it finally stopped raining and I happened to be looking out the window when I saw our common Spotted and Zebra Doves in various places out in the open. Doves in Hawaii It was evident that the first two Spotted Doves were not able to find a place to stay dry. That is indicative of the strength of the downpour as I have never seen such wet birds before! 

Spotted Doves / on power lines outside my house / November 2015 

I watched the Spotted Dove on the left fly to other locations and it seemed unconcerned about cleaning up. 

The second photo shows some small Zebra Doves drying off their wings by cleaning their feathers. 

Spotted & Zebra Doves / on neighbor's shed / November 2015

And the final photo, I like to title “Birds on the ‘Line’ Out to Dry;" it speaks for itself!

Zebra Doves / in my neighbor’s graden / November 2015

In conclusion, I guess sometimes birds cannot find a place to go to keep dry!

Hope you are having / had a great Thanksgiving celebration with you and yours and that you are staying dry and warm wherever you are!

[Don’t forget to visit my NATURE - TRAVELING page (accessed on the sidebar) for the photo of a turkey on another island!]

Follow up on Birds and Mushrooms (not plants)

Cattle Egret / Aiea Heights / November 2015

In this just past week, since I had a lot of pertinent sightings of past topics, I decided to just do a quick follow up, with photos, to show what was mentioned in earlier blogs about birds (November 12, 2015) and mushrooms (November 5, 2015). 

I was out for a run both times so it is the old-not-too-high-quality iPhone photo. Be sure to read to the end to see the mushroom photos!

I saw an Egret right in a housing complex near my house; I had never seen one so close to home before. Maybe someday I will see one in my yard!

Black-crowned Night Heron / Ala Moana Beach Park / November 2015

I sighted a number of the Heron sitting by a fisherman near the canal as I mentioned in an earlier blog. (I didn’t want to include the fisherman as I don’t like to take and post photos without someone’s permission.) 

But one of my questions was answered; I saw the fisherman throw his fish to the birds! Two of them flew off together and fought over it. The photo I took of them did not come out. 

So there those Herons sit, on the canal’s edge, with their hunched shoulders waiting for handouts. 

Like so many of our birds in Hawaii, they have adapted to the human presence and as mentioned in my first blog, unfortunately will become dangerously domesticated to getting fed by humans.

Mushrooms / Moanalua Valley / November 2015

While setting out for a run in Moanalua Valley, I sighted this mushroom sprouted alongside the road. I could not believe its size! I remembered to include my hand for size comparison. I have never seen such a large mushroom; the crown was bent over because it was too large! 

Later I saw a row of what seemed to be the same type of mushroom on a lawn farther up the valley. It is almost like what they call "fairy circles." But of course it is not a circle. Does it denote a wind pattern?

Mushrooms / Moanalua Valley / November 2015

So mushrooms seem to also vary by neighborhood. That makes sense since the spores are so tiny and could not travel too far. I noticed this too near my house as farther down from my street there were smaller much whiter mushrooms. 

Mushrooms / Aiea Heights / October 2015

Some of my earlier questions were partially answered (November 5, 2015) as about a month later, more mushrooms appeared on the very same lawn, almost in the same exact spot. So spores could last at least a month. Also, across the street from that lawn, I also saw what seemed to be the same mushrooms.

Please go to my NATURE - TRAVELING page (accessed on the sidebar) for some interesting beach sightings of Cnidaria. There, I will begin the subtopic of What is this? This is when there is such an interesting sighting, I have to wonder what happened or why did this happen. I briefly touched on that with my earlier mushroom blog (November 5, 2015).

Bird sighting gems while taking exercise walks!

I thought it was time to start my NATURE -  AROUND HAWAII page. Although it is “around Hawaii,” some locations for photos are right in my neighborhood! 

[Later, Please go to my NATURE - AROUND HAWAII page (accessed on the sidebar) for more bird sightings along the Trail.]

My topic today is the walking / biking trail along Pearl Harbor. We just recently went on a walk there and I was happy to see Hawaiian Stilts out in the open right opposite Blaisdell Park. Recently someone has been clearing out the brush (mostly mangrove) in a lot of the areas fronting the harbor. [Thank you to the group(s) who have been doing this!] This makes for a nicer walk with nice views. 

Apparently the birds like the cleared out areas too. (Or perhaps the birds are just more visible now.) In the past, we would see the birds further on along the trail, most of them all the way to the small watercress farm which is on either side of the trail. This farm is just past the Hawaiian Electric power plant. In that area, we have occasionally seen bird watching walking groups.  

The Hawaiian Stilts are such beautiful and unique birds to see. They are graceful and delicate with black and white coloring and red legs. The Stilt found in Hawaii is related to the Black-necked Stilt but like other native birds have changed subtly over the eons to be a new species. 

Source for Hawaiian Stilt information

Hawaiian Stilt (Ae’o) / PHHT Pearl Harbor Historic Trail / November 2015

Unlike other birds I have mentioned in this blog, stilts are found in groups and very often in pairs like the two pictured. I have most often seen the stilts walking in the water. I have seen them in a grassy field (Blaisdell Park) but that was a one-time occurrence. There were a lot of birds there that day so perhaps the field was very wet and there were a lot of visible and accessible bugs to eat.

Note in my photo captions I call it the PHHT Pearl Harbor Historic Trail because I worked with a woman once who was enthusiastic about plans to modify that whole trail to include the old style train which used to parallel the harbor. If you walk the walking / bike trail there are PHHT mileage signs along the way. Aiea Community projects

Please go to my NATURE - AROUND HAWAII page (accessed on the sidebar) for more bird sightings along the Trail.

Pop-up "Plants” (and the plant-like)

I am sure many of you have seen this occur - a mushroom pops up on your lawn!

Mushroom on my lawn / September 2015

Usually this occurs after some continuous rain. I was especially captivated by this mushroom as it was larger than those I normally see on my lawn. I do not know anything about species of mushrooms. I only know some basic facts.

• Mushrooms are not plants and do not have any vascular tissue (vein structures).
• Mushrooms are in Kingdom Fungi which is a diverse group ranging from single celled organisms (yeast which only survives in liquid) to large bracket fungi (found on sides of trees) and mushrooms like these.  (Mushroom classification source)
• I think the basic rule for eating mushrooms found in the wild is - never,  ever, ever eat them unless you are a well trained mycologist (one who studies fungi) specializing in edible mushrooms in the wild. 
• Mushrooms reproduce using spores (reproductive cell capable of giving rise to a new individual - directly or indirectly). 
• The structure above is a reproductive structure; when it opens up like this it is spreading spores. 
• Mushrooms will also grow from leafy wet piles in forested areas.

As I don’t know much about mushrooms, I have lots of questions and this is a good time to advocate for questioning. When one questions, more learning occurs as one wonders and thinks. For some questions I can hypothesize some answers.

• Since this structure spreads spores, why didn’t I see any more of this type of mushroom over the next day?
• How did a spore to grow this mushroom get here?
• How long will spores remain dormant?
• How did the different mushrooms/fungi get to Hawaii?

Please go to the NATURE - TRAVELING page (accessed in the sidebar) for another, very unique, “pop-up plant” I found on an Oregon trail.