Mike in the Wild

For the first time outside of a summer month, I visited Kauai in April.  In fact, of my many trips to the Hawaiian Islands, it was only my third time not traveling to the state in the summer.  It  was also my very first springtime visit to Hawaii.   On my only visit to Hawaii in the winter, to the Big Island a year ago in February, I was overjoyed by the number of humpback whales I witnessed near the shore.  However on this recent April trip to Kauai, I was just missing whale season, the last of the behemoths having already departed for their feeding grounds in the Arctic.  Nesting seabirds were also on my mind as a number of species lay their eggs and and raise their young on Kauai.  Several albatross, shearwater, tropicbird, booby, and a frigatebird species all congregate on a specific peninsula, Kilauea Point, on the north shore of the island.  The site of an historic lighthouse, the area is now a National Wildlife Refuge.  Some of th...

Many seabirds spend long weeks or months at sea, feeding on fish and other marine animals that swim close to the water's surface.  But nesting and raising young require the relative safety of dry land.  Fortunately for a number of birds plying the vast Pacific Ocean for food, the Hawaiian Islands offer islets and cliffs that fit the bill for a safe nursery. At least three decades ago, conservationists and the United States government recognized the indispensable value of Kauai's coastal habitat for a large number of sea-going birds' during breeding season.  And specifically at Kilauea Point on the island's north shore, at the sight of a disused but maintained Coast Guard lighthouse, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now protects a National Wildlife Refuge.   The preserve is home to at least nine native species of birds , most of them seasonally-visiting seabirds.  But one special full-time resident, the nene or Hawaiian goose, lives there too. ...