The Kaua'i Bog on the Mountain

Talk about coffee driven journeys! At 5am, in pitch dark, I was already on the road, driving clockwise around Kaua'i from Noon (Princeville) to 8 o'clock (Waimea). Once in Waimea, and daylight, I headed inland & uphill. After some aimless and what the HELL is wrong with me, floundering around, I made it to where I was too meet Jim Denny, my personal tour guide for the day, and a birder & veterinarian from Texas, Doctor Resell.

My birding rendezvous spot - the Kokee State Park Museum

 I was apprehensive that at some point during my tour I would either trip and break a leg, be unable to actually hike the rainforest or worse... get expelled (no wait... that's Hermione's fear, not mine) I mean, embarrass myself (Yikes, that's the fear! Hurts just to think on it). Still, even before I left California, when I made my arrangement for a personal birding tour of the Alaka'i bog I'd been so bold as to query my guide, Denny as to whether there was any chance I'd drop dead on the tour and embarrass myself. OK, I'll confess here - my original plans back on the Big Island included a tour on Mauna Loa, but I chickened out! Yes, I was so scared about hiking downhill in a mountain rain forest that I canceled that tour. Oh the shame! Oh the anticipated sprains! Oh the ridiculous claptrap I put myself through!

Another 'worry' I had about my Alaika'i bog tour was that it was pricey. Still, it was reasonable, and more importantly, it vastly improved my chances of seeing some of the most exotic & native Hawaiian species. Consider, the cost wasn't any more expensive than a all day pelagic trip, which can run around $150. The original cost for me to have a guide at Alaka'i would have been $300 (which I was going to bite the bullet to pay) but a second birder wanted in on the trip and that cut the cost for me in two - hurrah for that!

Enough bitchin' n' moaning. Early this morning, before I knew it, Jim Denny, a long time Kaua'i dweller and reliable Kaua'i birding guide and a v. nice veterinarian from Texas were bouncing along in Denny's jeep. We were well on our way down & then up the mountain to the Alaka'i Bog Trail.

I liked the Denny & the Doc (soon to be a series on HBO?) and soon I was getting fascinating tidbits about everything Kaua'ian. Denny stopped the jeep to nab us a Passion flower. See the dark hole at the base of the flower stem, just at the middle of the two leaflets? He told the Doc and me, that eensie opening was pecked by Hawaiian Honeycreepers that taught themselves how to get at the nectar of this non-native species; clever little birdies.

It is rather embarrasing that during all of my anxious ruminations about the bog hike, I'd only imagined driving down into boggy bottomlands to bird. So, finding myself being driven up to a bog was just plain weird. Uh... yes, you're correct in surmising I hadn't read up much on the area, even though I planned to bird there. Time out for a big "DUH" here.

After a half hour of rough roading, we arrived at the trailhead where our guide Denny gave us bamboo walking sticks, to aid us on our 100 ft decent to where our hike would begin.

Down the hill & up onto the Alaka'i trail

We were on a ridge, not much wider that what you see in the photo above, keeping in mind, on either side of that wedge of land were sheer drop offs, thickly lined with rainforest.

Rain forest to either side of the high mountain trail

Along the trail, Denny pointed things out, such as when he picked an ordinary looking vine, which he quickly stripped of leaves - it was Maile, which is famous and popular for its use at Hawaiian weddings in leis.  Cool!

The first thing we notice however, was the bog was not boggy - it was bone dry. Denny said that is just the current condition and he's been there at times when hikers are up to their knees in the thick, mud that sucks off shoes.

We reached an area where the trees were no longer overhead, but were tiny shrubs - they were stunted by hardpan that kept their roots from getting too deep in the soil. It was normally quite a boggy area and it held an oh-so-cool & unusual plant - Sundews!

I never ever thought I'd get to see a Sundew - a carnivorous plant - in its natural habitat, Sundews are found all over the world including Kaua'i. The 2 inch tall plants were everywhere underfoot. They have wet, mucous covered treads on little pads insects stick to. They're red because they don't need chlorophyll, getting their nutrients from their insect catch.

Maybe about a mile into the trail we finally hit its famous boardwalk. The boardwalk is composed of two redwood boards, laid side by side & covered over with a grillwork of wire. Unfortunately the boardwalk is in deplorable condition these days - broken up and the wire all torn up. A newer boardwalk is in the planning stages. 

Why a boardwalk in the middle of a bog? Well, to stop from sucked in like a bad guy in an old B-movie with Tarzan, that's why. Denny said before the boardwalk was put in, hikers disappeared in the bog, pretty often. Hiker's would go into the bog and just never be seen again. I guess the boardwalk keeps people from straying into the bog where exhaustion, if not the wild Hawaiian boars, which have nice gigantic tusks, suck them down. Since the boardwalk went in, hikers ceased, abruptly, to disappear. Now, thanks to the boardwalk, hogs have to WORK for their meals.

Wren-like Kaua'i Elepaio, that bounced around like a ping-pong ball

The forest was noisy with bird calls, none of which were too familiar to me, other than the sound of the scarlet Apapane bird's wing beats. Quickly though, a curious Kaua'i Elepaio flew in to stare at us a bit. It was frantically active and though I got loads of shots of it, none gave me both focus and the entire bird. Still, myself and the Texas vet were thrilled to pieces.

Due to Denny's expertise & experience, we didn't stay glued to the boardwalk. We hit a couple of spots just off trail, that overlooked broad swaths of rainforest. From those vantage points we saw an addional Elepaio, Apapanes & heard - dang it, not seeing - Melodious Indian Thrushes. I enjoyed wending our way over fallen logs and around lichen covered trees. Was bemused by the Texas Vet who didn't seem quite as thrilled, but was certainly game enough to climb whereever we had to go to see birds. Oh well. The shrub busting paid off when a tiny pair of poofy feathered Anianiaus popped up.

There are two hidden Anianiau foraging

Denny, the vet and I eagerly watched the tiny birds, that seemed to be a courting pair.

One of the Anianiaus doing some upside down branch gleaning

As names go, "Aniani-butterball" would be closer to the mark

I'iwi, which we only heard but didn't see

We did get to hear the call of the I'iwi, but the lone bird didn't come anywhere near us. The careless importation of mosquitoes to the islands introduced Bird Malaria which is quietly wiping out the beautiful Hawaiian Honey creepers. It's difficult to hear all the damage done to Hawaii's land & wildlife through ignorance over the past couple of centuries.



We were heading back along the Alaikai trail when a second Kaua'i Elepaio popped up, bouncing about in a tree over our heads. I got some fairly good shots of this bird! The Elepaio is found on the islands of Hawa'i, Oahu and Kaua'i and its only this past summer it was split into three unique species. So this little guy is a Kaua'i Elepaio and is even more rare since the species split means it's only population in the world is on Kaua'i.

A second look at an elegant little Kaua'i Elepaio

I must say, for several weeks I'll admit I was rather in a panic over whether the Alaka'i hike would be the death of me, but honestly, except for the first quarter mile, during which I had an uncharacteristic tight, asthma lungs, I was having a pretty event free hiking & birding experience. I couldn't ask for more, and then we all got more when yet another lovely native exotic flew in to stare at us.

What cha doin'?

It was a beautiful Amakihi, which is twice the size of the little Anianiaus and even a little larger than the Elepaios.  This bird kept getting closer and closer as it came in to check us out.

Yes, I'm a Amakihi!

Love the stubby tail, compensated by the long curved bill

Back at the trail head, the delightful Texas veterinarian and our excellent guide, Jim Denny

So! I did it! I hiked a mile or 3 in a real tropical rainforest and didn't break any limbs or become a luau for any wild Kaua'i hogs. After the tour we stopped at a mountain spot where we could see for miles. Several White Tropicbirds flew by, but I was too slow to get a shot of them worth sharing. Ah! Another successful day in paradise.

Here, you can listen to the birdsong of Alaikai and the tropical sound of the wind wheezing through my asthmatic lungs.

Birding Kaua'i

Ooo, was out early 'nuff today, in search of Hawaiian birds. I didn't plan very well, so my day was hit & miss, but happily, my 'good old fashioned DUMB luck' held up as it usually does for those of us born in the Chinese Year-of-the-Rabbit.

For starters I visited the Nawiliwilli Harbor area and the Menehune Fish Ponds. The 'Alekoko fish ponds are where in ancient times, Hawaiian royalty kept fresh water fish which were an important source of protein. I couldn't believe it, but there were zero birds visible while I was there. Oh well!

View of the beautiful Menehune Fish Pond taken from the overhead viewing platform

I visited the grounds of the Marriot Hotel, which amazingly, had quite a few species romping around its spacious golf course and grounds.

Saw dozens of Nene getting in their 9 holes on the golf course

A striking White-breasted Shama was unexpected

and it didn't seem to enjoy the tropical breezes quite as much as I did

 One of the biggest surprises though was the Hawaiian Gallinule, which I've frequently searched for on the Big Island of Hawaii without finding, so seeing many of them on Kaua'i was a thrill. They are visually identical to the Gallinules on the mainland, but the powers that be declare them to be a unique species in their own right. Who am I to argue?

The Hawaiian Gallinules had fantastic waxy looking red shields on their noggins

Showing off a colorful head

How's this for a perky birdie? A Red-crested Cardinal

Noisy and bold, Common Myna, which seem to be everywhere in Hawaii

Java Rice Sparrows - cheeky little things

Sweet little Zebra Dove

On my iPhone GPS, the Marriot grounds show as a wildlife refuge, which is strange, but I guess if the birds are there, why not declare it a wildlife refuge and ensure the bird's safety. The birds obviously don't care if someone plays through their territory, so why should we? There were roads that didn't really look like you could drive through them, but you could, so being lazy, I did. I even drove to the farthest reaches of Kalapaki road, from which I could see the lighthouse.

 Late in the day I headed north on the island and had a huge stroke of luck. I was crossing a little bridge on Kuhio Highway, and I spotted some dark polka dots on the river - Hawaiian Coots!  Another species that is considered seperate from it's identicle cousins on the mainland. I tried to get to where I could photograph them on foot, but the the shrubbery by the bridge was too thick to traverse. So, I got my not-to-good shots by driving onto the bridge and haulting... happily I managed to get my shots during a total lull in traffic.

Another bolt of luck happened after I reached the northernmost bits of the island you can reach by car. I meant to hike the Kilalau Trail, which traverses up mountain for a view of the ocean and any pelagic species that might fly by. I had my flashlight, as the best time to bird the trail is around sunset and I didn't want to get stranded after dark. I had a little backpack and I reached the trailhead...

The trail looked like a bit of an ankle masher to me

And lost my nerve!  The trail was composed of rocks and tree roots, in an evil conspiracy of breaking my fat ankles. Uh... maybe next time.

So, somewhat disappointed, I got back in the car, heading off. I was driving past a beautiful little Taro Root plantation.

Taro Root Plantation

I happened to look over at the right second, and what did I see? HURRAH!

Koloa! The Hawaiian Duck I'd been looking for.

Talk about your dumb luck!

Do not need luck to see chickens on Kaua'i - they're everywhere on the island

Kaua'i!

Saturday morning Ron, Jeannie, Stephanie and myself did some island hopping from the Big Island to Oahu. Next we flew over the isle of Molakai and on to Kaua'i.  I've been extraordinarily lucky enough to visit the Big Island three times now, and now, beyond my wildest dreams I was going to get to visit another island for a week - Kauai'i. 

Hope I get down there onto Molakai someday

Ron tells me, each island has a different subculture and feel to it, and now I am experiencing it for myself. My first impression is the Big Island of Hawaii is the baby island. It's fresh and new, still a hot bed of volcano activity. In contrast, Kaua'i is the oldest of the Hawaiian chain of islands and like it's inhabitants, has seen it all. There are no vast fields of lava on Kaua'i that I've seen so far, but maybe I just haven't seen enough of the island yet.

Right off the coconut, we got a rental car at the Lihue airport, then drove up the Kaua'i coast a bit, to Waimea. Did we go to Waimea to view spot where Captain Cook once set foot on the magical isle of Kaua'i? Were we hankering to explore the range where Hawaiian 'Paniolo' - cowboys - round up the lanky long-horn cattle? Uh... no. We wanted to visit 'Jo Jo's' for a nice big helping of shave ice. Hey, having shave ice is practically obligatory while on the islands.

What the heck is shave ice? I assumed it was just what, when I was growing up in New York City, we used to call 'Italian ices'. Shaven ice fluff, with a super sweet flavored syrup drooled over the top. Nope! Shave ice is so much more. There were oodles of flavor options, 60 in fact, but we unanimously opted for the most interesting sounding one, the 'Halo Halo'.

Halo Halo is a mix of, get this, it's amazing - coconut curls, coconut gel, Azuki beans, pineapple gel, sweet fruit mix, sweet palm fruit, purple yam jam topped with Haupia cream. We could have had ice cream added to all that. Was it good? Just check out Step's smile on the right here.


After our shave ice adventure, we returned to Lihue Airport where I picked up my rental car, then we caravan-ed east and north to Princeville and our Gi'normous time share where each of us had our own bedroom with bathroom. The apartment also had a beautiful & back balcony, with a view of tropical rainforest. So far I'm liking Kaua'i but I can't wait to see what I can discover on my big Hawaiian Birdie Hunt tomorrow.