Hawaii Haze

Recently in Hawaii, our weather has not been the usual winter weather. It has not been blissfully breezy with clear blue skies. There has been an oppressive haze over Oahu for nearly a week. (Notice how much worse the haze was on January 27!)

Honolulu / from my porch / January 27, 2016 

Honolulu / from my porch / January 28, 2016

It is our own special type of natural pollution, with its own local name of vog, making an appearance. 

I hope, but am not completely sure that the haze is actually only from our very active volcano on the Big Island and not other forms of industrial pollution! 

Diamond Head / from my porch / January 28, 2016 

Pearl Harbor / from Aiea Heights / January 28, 2016

On a daily basis in Hawaii, we are normally spoiled by perpetually clear and blue skies maintained by our trade winds. The trade winds we feel are affected by the conformation of our islands and the cooling and heating of our land and the water around us. I did not realize that trade winds are a Pacific Ocean effect not a Hawaii effect! Explanation about our trade winds  Another situation of my questions, and then research, letting me learn something new!

What struck me as odd the other day was after the weather man said we would have no “trades” for three to four days, the curtains in the window, with the great view of Diamond Head, were blowing continuously! Why was their such a wind if there were no trade winds? After much thought and after filming the wonderful wind, I realized I was witnessing what caused the fog haze, the famous Kona winds! 

Wind effect / from my porch / January 27, 2016 

As I thought more about a map of Oahu and where I live, I realized the curtained window is a southeast facing window. If you look at the Hawaiian Islands map, Diamond Head is practically directly lined up with the Big Island. And all this time, for driving purposes, I have had a mantra of “Diamond Head is East;” it actually is in a more southeasterly direction.

The weather man wasn’t wrong. There are no trade winds but luckily the other prevalent type of winds experienced on Oahu, Kona winds, are occurring. As usual, my wondering and questioning, led me to see two sources of evidence of a meteorological phenomenon which I have heard about for years! And in the process, understand the effect of Kona winds a little more clearly. 

Wind effect / from my porch / January 27, 2016

It is ironic but it seems that the winds which bring the vog are giving us some relief from warmer temperatures which could make the hanging Hawaii haze even more oppressive!

California beach … birds!

When you are in Southern California (specifically Venice Beach) in the wintertime you don’t look for “California girls,” you look for California birds! I was amazed by the many types of birds sighted near sunset (around 4 o’clock in the evening). There were two types on the pier, four types paddling (and one diving) on the waves, and two or three running in the shallow surf on the sand.

Unfortunately my iPhone photos did not turn out too well for the distance shots of birds floating on the waves. One photo that I did not post was of a black duck-like pair with bright orange beaks. The unusual coloring made me wonder if this was the bird that inspired Daffy Duck! 

Brown Pelican / on waves below Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015

Western gull / on Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015

Snowy Egret / on Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015

Snowy Egret with gulls / on Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015

I loved the soft looking feathers blowing in the wind of the Snowy Egret! And the interspecies mingling of the perching birds.  

Identification Egret Identification The lone gull photo I believe is of a Western gull. I did not know there were so many types of gulls and with such fine distinctions between species. PDF of California beach bird guide

Shore bird (possibly sandpiper) / below Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015 

Shore birds (two types of sandpipers) / below Venice Fishing Pier / December 2015

A possible identification of the larger shore bird, with which I was fascinated was a whimbrel or a curlew.  Bird identification  I am confident it was in the Sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. More about the classification of this Family  This is a great website about phylogeny (link to definition)  if you are interested in that. It is nice because you can click on the classification group like Order and Family, all the way down to the Species names, to see photos of the individual animals. I didn’t check to see if it does the same for “flora.”

I was frustrated by my inability to identify the specific species of the shore birds. As I searched it made me realize, that when sighting a bird I need to pay attention to: eye area coloring; leg coloring; feet; beak structure; coloring, and markings; wing structure when flying; and calls. And I thought I was so observant! 

For the larger sandpiper I saw I felt like the beak was down curved and in the photo the feet look webbed… Webbed feet in Shorebirds?

The next time I go to Southern California beaches in winter, I need to bring my telephoto-lens- camera!

When my husband and I travel, in the summer, along the coast from Northern California to Washington, we spend a lot of time on the shoreline. As we walk on the many different beaches, I have not ever seen so many types of birds all at once. Seeing so many types of birds in a small area made me, of course, ask questions!

1) Are there that many birds through all seasons or are there more when there are less people around?

2) Would the coast of Northern California to Washington have that many species in winter?

3) Are there more birds because it is warmer (relatively speaking) in Southern California?

4) Are these all migratory birds?

SOURCES for searching for the bird types:

PDF of California beach bird guide

Fun interactive bird identification guide 

My favorite all-time bird site

Gangster birds of Hawaii (with violent fights added in!)

Which birds do I think of as “gangsters?” The wings of these birds at first flight reveal an evolutionarily shocking pattern to scare off predators. These birds are the noisiest birds in Hawaii. (That would be of the most prevalent birds as the annoying Rosy-faced Parakeet has a loud, penetrating call.) The noise of these “gangster” birds is incomparable when they fill a tree! But noise certainly doesn’t make them “gangsters” as most human examples of such are quiet and secretive.

Ever watch Mynah (Myna) Birds stroll around your yard or a park? The way that they walk always make me think that they are up to no good. But actually I have not seen them show aggressive behavior with other birds. I guess to me the Mynah just has a look of a bird comfortable in its well-established place in Hawaii. 

Many of you may have already heard the raucous calls of a crowd of Mynahs. Before I retired from teaching and heard the squawks and screeches outside the classroom, the noise (and groups) made think the Mynah were all calling, “Fight! Fight!” It was funny to see their gatherings paralleling student behaviors in the same paved courtyards!

My blogging topics continue to be providential. Earlier this week, for an extended time, I was able to witness Mynahs fighting! I was alerted to it by repetitive and persistent loud Mynah calls outside my house. I was fascinated by the intensity of the fight, the number of fights, and the Mynah that just sort of officiated or monitored the fights. [See another two “providential” sighting blogs from last year: December 10. 2015 on butterflies and October 29, 2015 on anoles.]

First Mynah fights / in my yard / January 2016

First Mynah fights / in my yard / January 2016

Then I heard the distracting noises again about a half hour later. (Maybe earlier I had “broken up” the fights as I got closer for photos.) I guess it wasn’t resolved! 

Second bouts of Mynah fights / in neighbor’s yard / January 2016 

Unfortunately the incredible quiet-disturbing strident, squawking noise of the fights in the videos did not record for some reason! But it was great to be able to re-watch the videos and try to analyze what was happening. One reason Mynahs fight  There are videos on YouTube too of others’ viewings; a fascinating sight to more than just me.

Second bouts of Mynah fights (video) / in neighbor’s yard / January 2016 

Some observations:

1) Although I couldn’t identify individual birds, I am confident the same pairs kept fighting. 

2) Another one or two looked on. As I review the videos, the onlooker could be female.

3) In the first video, look for one of the Mynah definitely giving postured displays of ruffled feathers and bobbing of the head.

4) A Mynah joined into a fight so there were three in a fight sometimes. This makes me wonder about fighting for nests; see my source above. 

Australia seems to have similar histories regarding natural history and introduced species. Australia article on the Myna

I am surprised the Mynah (Myna) is related to the starling. To me, it seems to be related to a Crow or Raven or at least they seem to have that same role here in Hawaii. The Mynah and Crow / Raven are in different Families (Sturnidae / Corvidae) but the same Order (Passeriformes). That isn’t saying much as the passerines “includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds.” Another nice bird website

So next time you hear the raucous squawking of Mynahs stop and see the intensity of their fights. Maybe you can see for yourself if it is about nests or not! 

Winter Sun

It is nice to have Hawaii’s cooler winter temperatures. Although today seems to have the hottest temperature since we returned to Hawaii on December 29! Global warming causing a severe El Niño has led to a terribly warm year for those of us in Hawaii who feel the effects of being in the middle of the much warmer ocean. Simple guide to warmer ocean temperature and Berkeley research

In an earlier post, “Fall - October 1, 2015,” I talked about the change to the season of Fall in Hawaii. Many who come to Hawaii say we have no seasons; but every location on Earth has seasons. [FROM OCTOBER 1, 2015 POST: 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!] Comparing Earth and Pluto regarding seasons

One just must be attune to the changes around you. One very subtle change to which I respond is the quality of light. Sometimes when I observe the quality of sunlight in a day it evokes memories of a particular event in my life, like fun days at the beach, which are in turn tied to a time of year. 

As I have taken courses on the movement of Earth and the sun, and also taught more about seasons, I have learned and correspondingly noticed more about the sun. Just this year, as I am retired and spending more time (full days at a time) at home, I realized the sun was always shining on our dining room table. It was shining through my east-facing windows and then the perpendicular south-facing windows. In the past, I could close the curtains in the east-facing windows for a short time in the morning and then later around four, close the curtains in the perpendicular south-facing windows. Now there is no time in a day when all the curtains can be open without sun shining bright on my dining room table!

Naturally, I had a question! Why was this happening? I saw that the sun was traveling in quite a different path during the winter months. The path was much lower and over a smaller curve of the sky! The sun was visible almost all day out our east-facing windows.

Sun at imprinted times / from my porch / January 2016

 
 

These photos chronicling the movement of the sun give evidence of the main cause for winter - no matter where you are on Earth. (It is funny that despite best intentions, I could not get the photos on a perfect two hour schedule. I guess it is proof that I am not just sitting around waiting to take photos!) It is winter when the portion on which you are situated on the Earth is tilted away from the sun. The angle of the sun relative to the Earth is changed and consequently sunlight, and the heat effect, is changed. Angle of sun and seasons 

This lower angle of the sun also would result in the different quality of light. The sunlight would be hitting at a less direct angle resulting in a seemingly duller sun. In addition, for more of the time the sun would be shining its light through atmosphere closer to the surface of the Earth which would also dull the visible sunlight, which always occurs whenever the sun rises or sets. 

So remember to look at the sun various times during the day in wintertime and observe evidence of the Earth, and its changing path and tilt, as it moves around the sun!

Ducks (not Donald!) at Disneyland

Happy New Year! 

I missed my Thursday, New Year’s Eve, post due to my California cold. :(

After returning from a California trip, animal sightings from Southern California are on my mind. My favorite sighting was seeing all the Mallard ducks in Disneyland! 

Mallard ducks, males /Disneyland, off Main Street / December 2015

The Mallard duck seems to be very widespread. We see quite a few populations here in Hawaii; even roaming around the middle school at which I formerly taught. 

The Mallards seem to be like the Sparrow in how frequently one sees them. (Read about the sparrow below.) Although, the Ducks would be more limited as they are usually found near a fresh water source.

An interesting note from my source is “almost all domestic ducks come from this species.” Mallard Duck information

Mallard duck, male /Disneyland, off Main Street / December 2015

As we waited for a parade to start these ducks just roamed in a small area of grass; unfazed by the people all around. We also saw the ducks flying in groups from place to place. 

Mallard duck, male /Disneyland, off Main Street / December 2015

On a different day, I saw the Mallards gathered in great numbers and finally realized they swam around this area waiting for food handouts! It was not a pretty sight to see them begging for human food. One was bold enough to come up and walk around near the tables!

Mallard ducks / Disneyland, below Hungry Bear Restaurant / December 2015

Mallard ducks / Disneyland, below Hungry Bear Restaurant / December 2015

I will repost my notes about NOT feeding birds. 

FROM my September 29 blog posting:

As an aside, please never feed birds that are not pets. (This includes chickens!)

First, our food is unhealthy for them. Second, the birds become used to being fed and come back and then are a nuisance. Third, if birds hang around places for eating, that is very unhealthy for people eating. Their excrement can be on the floor or tables and as the birds fly around, or settle on tables, parasites could be falling from their feathers onto eating areas and even food.

I would now add a fourth. Birds (animals) could come to rely so much on human feeding and then not be able to find their own food when needed.

At this time, the Mallards relying on humans for food is especially bad since this Disneyland waterway will most likely temporarily disappear due to future construction of the new Star Wars theme park. (“The river will be partially drained and diverted to the Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment system.”) That will affect all these birds that make their home here. Hopefully the Mallards only live in Disneyland for the winter! About closings due to Star Wars theme park construction

Out of curiosity, I looked up sparrows and found the common sparrow seen is a House Sparrow. Here is a quote confirming what I feel about sparrows. “Along with two other introduced species, the European Starling and the Rock Pigeon, these are some of our most common birds.” Sparrow information 

The Rock Pigeon Bird photos from Hawaii is also found in Hawaii; I do not think we have any Starlings in Hawaii. Rock Pigeon / Dove in Hawaii

It is interesting to compare maps about distribution of the Mallard Duck and the House Sparrow. Of course, neither map includes Hawaii, where both are found. Looking at the distribution maps of these commonly sighted birds makes me wonder: 

1) Did the House Sparrow and Mallard Duck fly all this way to be found in Hawaii or were they “pets” first?

2) Is either bird that common over the whole world?