Posts Tagged ‘Layson albatross’

Kauai 2024 – Part 5 – Aloha, Mahalo Kauai!

May 5, 2024

I’ve had writer’s block or something with my blog to where I just can’t move on from our January visit to Kauai. There’s a loose end here. I feel like I’ve left us marooned in Kauai and I need to get us home. Plus, somehow I got sidetracked this year with my blogs, writing about gluttonous invasive bullfrogs, invasive African snails the size of your fist and wild boar hunting with knives and two packs of hunting dogs. Novel idea, how about I wrap up this past January trip with some fun photos from Paradise?

“I agree,” said the rooster …

stalking us during lunch on an outdoor patio. A “Please do not feed the birds” sign is posted nearby, but how can we resist that face? Yeah, well, if you don’t resist, the rooster persists. Feral? You bet! Just try to catch that rascal.

We’ve made about ten visits to Kauai, David and I and my brother Eric. Our daughter Megan came with us the last couple of years. I usually write about 6 blogs after each trip, filling you in from beginning to end, getting us safely back home to Idaho. I reminisce and post my favorite tales and photos of Paradise, until spring gets here. Which, well I’m still good this year, time wise, since, here in southeast Idaho, we woke up yesterday to snow.

When we visit Kauai, we stay on the north shore with my sister, Stephanie and husband, Victor, at their home in Princeville. On the north shore of Kauai you absolutely have to visit Hanalei Bay; walk to the end of the dock.

Swim or surf the waves. Or, in my case, swim or surf vicariously through other more enthusiastic water lovers, while you walk the beach. Here, I’ll take you along… you’re wearing your bathing suit, right? Let’s head into the crashing surf!

Or take up the surfboard. Can we catch a wave?

Yes we can! We’re up!… Uh, for about 3 seconds.

We just have to try surfing again. Like, 500 times. How about paddle boarding?

A few miles further north from Hanalei Bay is Lumaha’i Beach, especially thrilling in a high surf. Climb on this rock to play chicken with the roiling surf. Or as a 70-yr-old, do it vicariously through these strapping teenagers (hey, it’s a weekday, aren’t you supposed to be in school? I doubt this is some kind of planned field trip. Do your parents know where you are?)

There are so many beautiful hikes in Kauai. As you explore the lush landscapes, navigating sometimes steep, muddy trails, dodging tree roots, ducking your head under hanging tree limbs, hopping over rocks to forge streams, listening to exotic birds, mesmerized by the tropical scenery, you might miss something. As you gaze at a tree branch, there might be a wonderful little creature staring right at you that you don’t even see. For example, dear reader, we are now on a hike overlooking Larsen’s beach. Do you see anything in the sand below?

At first glance you might just see a shadow. That shadow is an endangered sea turtle!

Do you see the lizard in this photo?

Of course not! you say. Look just above center in the photo right under that middle leaf structure. Still don’t see it? Here I’ve zoomed in:

Find the bee in this photo:

You found it, right? Find the butterfly:

It’s in the middle of all those blossoms.

One more butterfly:

(Upper right side.)

Find Stephanie. (A little small compared to the ancient tree)

Find Eric, literally in the belly of the forest

I have panicked at times on a hike, dilly-dallying, taking photos or something and then look up and everyone has disappeared.

Find Megan:

Thank goodness with me bringing up the rear, someone in our group had the sense to wear bright clothing.

Find the lizard:

Don’t mind him. He’s just a little notch attached to the gutter.

Find this lizard!

Find not one, or two, but three bees (there’s probably more):

Enough already. You’re giving me a headache! You say.

Oh, you need a drink at this juncture? Here you go. A yummy Mai tai!

Oh, but surely you see the fly!

Well, I gotta get us home to Idaho. But not until you enjoy one last breakfast with us at the Hotel 1 in Princeville.

Count the birds. How many do you see? I dunno. As we get up to leave our table by the fireplace, half a dozen birds descend on our leftovers. My review of this very pricey restaurant is that the atmosphere is far more impressive than the breakfast. Even the coffee is hardly drinkable, at least to my standards. (Spoken like a true coffee addict.)

We’ve about come to the end of our visit to Kauai. On our last night we enjoy a fine dinner at the Terrace Restaurant in Hanalei. Here’s the view from our table:

Terrace Restaurant, Hanalei

I take a photo of us after dinner: Victor, Steph, David, Eric and Megan

Mahalo, Kauai!

But before heading to the airport we bid one last farewell to the egret:

The red-crested cardinal

and the magnificent albatross

This pickup pretty much summarizes how you feel after a two-week vacation in Kauai:

Alas, David is driving us in the rain after dark to the airport in Lihue to catch the 10:30 pm red-eye to Los Angeles.

We’re pretty much silent through the hour drive to the airport, dropping off the rental car, riding the shuttle to the airport entrance, when Megan blurts out, “Hey, look at that rooster!” We all share a laugh over seeing one last feral rooster by the front entrance to the airport terminal.

It takes a while to get through security, and we’re already a bit flagged. We park ourselves down on a bench inside the terminal and hear this strange flapping. We look over and darned if we did’t spot that same rooster inside the terminal.

Who has the job of capturing that wily feral fowl? Maybe the TSA employees who let him get past security? Yeah, good luck with that.

Okay, well, yeah, we’re home. Been back in Idaho Falls since Feb 1st. Here, I’ll share one winter photo with you. It’s our back yard on March 2.

Well at least I finally put a wrap on this year’s Kauai trip. Some pretty kulass memories!

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Aloha Kauai! January 2024

February 13, 2024

Alright, so I’ve already written 62 blogs on Kauai, about 6 blogs after every trip we’ve made over the past twelve years – invited you along to experience the trip vicariously, if you will. It occurred to me this trip that maybe after 62 blogs I could just let the blogging thing go – go to Kauai, come home and get on with reality and stop with the reminiscing. But don’t you want to go back to Kauai? Let’s go! We fly from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake, to Seattle, then Lihue all in one day. We can do this! Are you packed and ready?

Wednesday, January 16 – Alarms blast off at our house at 4 am and we head to our first flight – leaving Idaho Falls at 6am. Yay! We (David, Megan, me and my brother Eric, who spent the night with us) hop into David’s truck, park at the airport, board on time, arrive in Salt Lake. With a four-hour layover, we have plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, get a few extra steps in, before heading to the gate for our flight to Seattle.

Our plane to Seattle is at the gate. Hey, Megan, pose for a photo! (We’re already flagged from lack of sleep.)

Salt Lake City – 10:40am

We should be boarding now for the 11:15 am flight. Uh, well there is the minor detail of the weather … No worries. We go ahead and board with only a 20-minute delay due to the massive snow collecting on the runways. And luckily we have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Seattle (so smart!) so still plenty of time to enjoy a nice meal in Seattle before boarding our flight to Lihue.

We board the flight and settle in with our noise cancelling headphones and cushy neck pillows and … uh, the plane doesn’t seem to be moving. Of course the plane will need to de-ice. Not a problem. Just pick out a movie on your own personal movie screen in front of you! I’ve got a great book. Relax … We have a 3 1/2 layover in Seattle. The plane pulls out of the gate and moves a bit and we’re stalled again. It’s hard to tell what’s going on outside with that heavy snowfall but there sure are a lot of planes lining up.

Well, long story short, we are asked to stay in our seats as we could prepare for take off at any time. And we sit right there for the next three hours as they plow the runways. Megan finishes her movie. Finally we’re in line to get de-iced, good sign! We do take off. It’s a 2-hour flight to Seattle. By the time we land in Seattle we’ve been strapped in our seats on the plane for 5 1/2 hours.

The 6 1/2 hour flight to Lihue has already boarded by the time we land in Seattle. David and Eric run to the gate to hold the plane while Megan and I race to the nearest ladies room. But we do make the flight to Lihue. Thank goodness for that 3 1/2 hour layover. Of course we’re starving. Well, this trip isn’t as bad as when we booked first class tickets to Kauai two years ago (yeah!) from Salt Lake to Lihue through San Francisco. You can guess how that turned out. We boarded our first flight in Salt Lake which had eliminated first class because they had changed to a smaller plane. Then we ended up landing in Monterey because San Francisco was socked in with fog. Sat on the tarmac in Monterey for three hours waiting for the fog to lift in San Francisco. Re-booked a later flight to Lihue in cattle car. I blogged about it of course. In case you want to read the hot details here’s the link: https://decompressionofaboomer.com/2022/02/06/kauai-2022-do-you-know-the-way-to-monterey/

So now we fly ‘Comfort Plus’ on Delta, which gets you seats at the front of cattle car, with a little extra leg room (maybe?) and free drinks and one extra slightly larger bag of chips beyond the usual snacks from the snack cart. That way, if you get bumped from your flight (which, at this point seems likely) you have a better chance of rebooking similar seats (not at the back of the plane in cattle car when you have a connection to make…)

So now we’re all settled in on our flight to Lihue. Try to cop some ZZZZ’s on the 6 1/2 flight. (Impossible.)

We land in Lihue, Kauai about 8:30 pm. Rent a humongous van and drive in the dark to Steph and Vic’s house on the north of the island. I roll down the window and inhale the ocean breezes. “Hey, Megan, out your window there’s the Pacific Ocean! Can you smell it? Hear it? Maybe we’ll see it tomorrow!” We arrive at Steph and Vic’s about 10 pm – 1 am Idaho time, which, added up to a 21-hour travel day. Steph and Vic had prepared a nice meal for us. We had finally arrived! Boy was it was wonderful.

Thursday, January 17 – It takes a bit to decompress once you arrive in Paradise. I heard the most beautiful bird song our first morning. Wonderful, and I wanted to know what kind of bird it was. I had downloaded a free app called “Merlin Bird ID” where you press ‘record’ and capture a bird song and it will identify the bird. Steph and Vic had a western meadowlark singing away in their back yard. So, imagine yourself, waking up in Paradise that first morning, walking toward the kitchen, bare feet over cool tiles, looking out at the brilliant sun, when you hear the sound of a meadowlark – check it out on this you tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRgU4xS06sM

We took a morning walk around the Princeville golf course and heard a lot of Myna bird song – (identified by Merlin) – here you can hear it too (skip the add…) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ix1hugefpo

A major golf course in Princeville (behind Steph and Vic’s house) is being refurbished and is enclosed in a tall green mesh fence. You see a lot of that fence in my photos. Hopefully the golf course will be reopened in the next year. But on our first walk we also saw a nesting Albatross – right up against the fence about three houses down the street from Steph and Vic.

I wonder how the nest even survives. They nest on the ground right in people’s yards. It might be because they are imprinted to return from the sea to nest in the place they were born, and maybe these albatross were here before the houses were? Albatross don’t find a mate and start breeding until they are at least 7 years old. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/albatross-wandering/breeding-5e050f07-1dc7-477a-adcd-dfe1fbc0b194

Here we are on our walk through the wooded path along that same golf course near the Westin resort.

Eric, David and Megan

You will always come across feral chickens on this path. Likely with clutches of newly-hatched chicks. Here’s a photo I took and a video (I hope you can open the videos!).

Back home at Steph and Vics I recorded this really strange sound coming from their back bushes. Is it a bird? Merlin did not recognize it. Do you?

Well that about wraps up our first full day in Paradise. We’ll have to solve the mystery …

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Aloha, Kauai!

March 19, 2023

Kauai 2023 – Part 4

I feel weird, like I’ve left us marooned in Kauai. I have to get us back home. Spring in Idaho is nigh upon us! (Yeah, right.) Somehow I can’t move on from Kauai until I wrap up our January 2023 trip and get us safely home again.

Our last hike was on the Club Med Ruins path in Princeville on the north shore where we enjoyed gorgeous views of Hanalei Bay from the east and checked out the surfers. Well now we are in Hanalei Bay walking the beach. Here you see a view of the ‘dock of the Bay’ looking north – that greenery in the background is where we were walking yesterday – where the failed Club Med and other resorts were never built.

Okay so you’re walking the beach with us now. Here’s a video. Feel the ocean breeze on your face and the sounds of the roiling surf:

Let’s walk the whole expanse of the beach and back again. Oh, wait a minute. Too late. While we were busy taking photos and videos the rest of the group made it to the end of the bay and are already on their way back toward the dock.

That’s Eric, David and Victor on the far left side of the photo. Steph is on the far right – she likes to walk along the shore and soak her feet in the salt water.

And look who washed up the beach!

A mermaid named Megan!

We pull up in the parking lot behind the Hanalei Market. I’m always dragging behind. But when I climb out of the car I can’t help but take a photo. Check out the view!

We shop for a bunch of organic food. Yum! Eric’s got the goods.

I hope Sasquatch doesn’t carry Eric off on his bicycle

Oh but there’s a high surf today so of course we have to drive just a few miles further north on the northern tip of Kauai to Lumaha’i Beach! You pull off the side of the road above the beach and park. Then walk down a short, steep, windy path to the beach. Whoa. No swimmers today. Better stay back a ways from the crashing surf! Here, I took a photo. And a video …

I leaped up onto a ledge when a rogue wave came crashing in – almost lost my sandals. Ran into a couple on the ledge. They allowed that it wasn’t a smart move to be standing on the beach today taking videos. (Smart for tourists, though, who may never make it back here?) Yeah, do you know what the locals call this beach? they said. LumaDIE’ i beach. Oh!

To give you a little perspective on what a Lumadie’i surf might look like, here’s a You tube video – ‘Big surf at Lumaha’i January 28, 2016.’ (This might be the same You tube video I shared in a previous blog – but it’s worth sharing again.) Let me just say, a lot of girls in string bikinis risked their young lives to bring you this video, which, I assume is not being taken by their parents:

We’re headed back up to the car now, on a path through a mini-jungle.

You’re welcome, fellas! Hey, this is Kauai.

But before we leave the island, I must share the most charming experience of all, that of witnessing the nesting Layson albatross. Which, by the way, are an endangered species. Here’s a link for you: https://www.google.com/search?q=Laysan+albatross&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Layson albatross spend most of their lives flying over the open ocean and can spend up to six years at sea. They only return to land to breed and raise their chicks on nesting sites on the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, mostly Midway and Layson Island but also on the north shore of Kauai. Albatross have a 20-40 year life span. They return to the very place they were born (called imprinting) and engage in elaborate mating dances until they find a mate at about 8 years old.

We always encounter albatross when we visit Steph and Vic in Princeville because there are usually a few nesting albatross on their street. Sure enough, this year there are two nesting albatross right in the yards of a neighbor 3 doors down. I took this photo from the street just walking past it.

We always encounter albatross when we hike Larsen’s beach. They have a nesting site on top of the bluff at the end of the point. Larsen’s beach is probably our favorite hike on Kauai’s north shore, as we also frequently encounter endangered sea turtles and Monk seals sunning themselves on the beach. I’ve blogged about our hikes there several times, but we just can’t leave Kauai (sigh) without me sharing photos and videos from this year. Are you coming along?

They are magnificent in flight

There’s one flying overhead!

Walking back now, we encounter one all by himself, engaging in mating calls, perhaps? Certainly he’ll catch the attention of another albatross!

We encountered a monk seal too. Do you see it in this photo? Look in the sand.

I’m always lagging behind. Do you see Eric and David in this photo? We’ve almost made it to the point at Larsen’s beach.

Find Eric in this photo:

Here’s a photo of Megan as we head back toward the trail head at Larsen’s beach.

Enough already. Get your butts home to Idaho! Okay…

Aloha, Kauai.

Thursday evening January 26, 2023, and we’re headed to the airport in Lihue to catch the red eye to Los Angeles. I’m a little sad and my phone is stowed away in my purse. Enough photos! We land in LA without a hitch (thank goodness) about 7am Friday and catch our second flight to Salt Lake City. We land in Salt Lake before noon. Of course I just don’t sleep well on the red eye so I’m glad I’m not the one driving us the 200+ miles home to Idaho Falls. Accompanied by ‘old man winter.’ I pull my phone back out and capture a few photos of our drive home from the back seat. Here we are nearing Malad, Idaho. David is driving.

Make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened. It gets messier.

Eric takes over the wheel. David didn’t sleep well on the red eye either.

Near McCammon, Idaho now. Snowplows are a welcomed sight! Well, if you have enough visibility to see them…

Near Inkom, Idaho now. Uh-oh.

Dropping into Pocatello

Oh goody! How many miles to Idaho Falls??

We’re just a few miles from home now. Oh no!

There were five cars off the road in the last ten miles. Oh goody. A tow truck! Somebody will be vey happy to see him!

Just pulled onto our street.

I’m not sure why the photo is so blurry. The scene did seem a bit surreal, arriving home jet lagged and stressed out from travel after spending 15 days in Kauai.

We hunkered in for the long haul alongside old man winter. After we were home, Victor and Stephanie sent us updates from Kauai. On February 1st, just 5 days after we left, the baby albatross on their street (where I had taken the photo) hatched out. Victor sent a photo:

A few days later the second baby in their neighborhood hatched. It seems like a miracle that these babies can survive – sitting in nests on the ground. It’s possible because everyone in the neighborhood is on guard for their safety, keeping their dogs leashed, (what about cats? Yikes!) and there are no mongoose (hopefully) on Kauai.

On February 27 we received this video from Steph and Vic. The baby is now almost a month old. A time for celebration! Watch the video carefully and you will see the baby in the nest to the right of the sign in the video:

Here in southeast Idaho we’ve experienced one of the coldest, snowiest winters in 20 years. We still have mountains of snow in our front yard, accumulating since November with not much melting in between. We have been hopeful for signs of spring and by golly I saw one the other day when a magpie flew past our front window with a large sprig in its beak. Sure enough a pair of magpies are working feverishly on a 2-story magpie bungalow in our front may tree.

In case you don’t know what a magpie looks like, I just captured this picture of one of the pair. Boy have they been busy.

Oh, and did I mention that I also captured a photo of a robin in our back yard? Tough bird, that one. A sign of spring? Hey, I’ll take it!

And what’s the current weather forecast for Idaho Falls? “A return of snow on the first day of spring.”

And now you know why I’ve had such a hard time leaving Kauai.

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The Magnificent Laysan Albatross

February 21, 2022

January 2022 Kauai trip – Part 5. No, no! Can’t leave Kauai yet! It’s so hard to say goodbye to the incredible sea birds that return to the north shore of Kauai every year to mate and breed and raise their young. The Laysan albatross arrive in November from as far north as Alaska and the Arctic to begin their 9-month mating and breeding season. Whereas, the majority of the world’s Laysan albatrosses live on Midway and other small islands around no humans at all, during the past 50 years several hundred nesting pairs have established their breeding grounds in Kauai. Many of them return to the National Wildlife Refuge at Kilauea Point. A few pairs have built nests in already-established residential neighborhoods in Princeville, scratched out their 3-foot wide, shallow nests on the ground, in grassy front yards, under people’s shrubbery. It’s a hoot to be walking in a neighborhood and see an Albatross sitting on a nest near someone’s front porch. Do they have a dog?? A cat? How does that nest survive?

I’ve fallen in love with the albatross, learning more about them each year we visit Kauai. I couldn’t wait to see them this year, witness their crazy elaborate mating displays, their awkward wobble on land; watch them take off in a little run to launch into flight, then soar overhead. We stay with my sister Stephanie and husband Victor on our 10-day visits every year, and they have a perfect location for albatross watching – on a golf course built on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. Except the golf course is closed for extensive repairs after a huge storm several years back. There are three albatrosses sitting on nests just on their street. A close friend and neighbor has a nesting albatross at the end of her front porch. Well, it is a front porch, and so, well, just walk to the end of the porch, point your camera down, and capture a photo. I did it quickly and told her (him?) thank you for sharing your life experience with me!

That white corner is the porch railing!

Our second afternoon in Kauai I took a walk on a golf cart path behind the private residences and heard this big racket. Three albatrosses having a patio party, near a bedroom window of someone’s home, hey, we’re taking a nap here, please stop disturbing the neighborhood! I took a video:

Don’t wake up the person in the next room playing this video!

All of the birds without mates will participate in elaborate mating displays that include a piercing whistle, a loud rapid clacking of beaks, bobbing, pointing their neck straight up and placing their head under their wing. Hey, they are picking a mate for life! Laysan albatross don’t mate until they are 8-9 years old. But then, the oldest known bird on earth is a 70 (71?)-yr-old albatross named Wisdom, on Midway Island. Here is a link to Wisdom. She gave birth to her 40th chick in 2021 (at 70 years of age!):

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/05/wisdom-the-albatross-the-worlds-oldest-known-wild-bird-has-another-chick-at-age-70

That article is 11 months old – written last March, maybe we will hear an update this year – At age 72 did she birth yet another chick?

The couples are extremely committed to each other.

They build a nest about a yard wide and 2″ deep and by the end of November, have likely laid one egg. That egg has a 50 per cent of being viable, but both parents take turns sitting on it for the 60-65-day incubation period. One parent will roost while the other goes on foraging trips lasting up to 17 days, flying as far as 1600 miles over the ocean, landing on the ocean’s surface and plunging with its beak to capture squid, fish eggs and crustaceans, and of course, sometimes plastics, which are lethal to the birds. The foraging parent returns to the nest and takes over the roosting and frees the other to forage.

Meanwhile the single birds are busy, busy! One afternoon I heard them out on the golf course. I shot out the back door of the house. A group of them had gathered about 3 houses down right in the middle of the course. A meet up? Speed dating? The group started with four, then five, then, well, I was taking a video, zooming in from a distance, when number eight arrived.

Oh boy, now Charlie has arrived, further complicating this social situation

One by one they each take flight. They run into the wind to launch their bulky bodies

Until finally there’s one left. She (He?) wobbles toward the edge of the course and takes flight.

Just seems like it’s a ‘she’

There are several albatrosses nesting in a neighborhood near Sea Lodge Beach and if you visit there you might see nine or ten.

Mr. Big Stuff checking out the scene

I have several fantastic links about albatrosses to share with you. First of all, a fascinating YouTube video by Robert Waid will take you through the whole breeding season in Princeville from the moment the albatross return in November to when the chicks fledge in July.

That YouTube video is embedded in this web site: http://www.albatrosskauai.com

– Written by Bob Waid who lived with his wife on the North Shore of Kauai From 1998 to June, 2016. Their home was located in a neighborhood which has been chosen by the albatross as home.

Another Princeville local, Cathy Granholm, kept a running blog containing news about the Laysan albatrosses in Princeville. Really fun! Here’s the link: https://albatrossdiary.com

Meanwhile, back to our trip, the last day of our visit, Saturday, January 29, big news came from the neighbor’s house three doors down. The chick had hatched! She took photos off her front porch.

The parents will stay with the chick for two weeks, and then both of them will leave the chick alone in the nest while they forage for food. One parent will return every 4-7 days to feed the chick. The chick will remain in the nest for about 165 days, while it develops into adult size. It will wander a bit off the nest to exercise its wings as it prepares to fledge. In late June or July, the time to fledge has arrived. The adult sized chick finds a path to a 15-story bluff overlooking the ocean. Then runs and jumps off and takes flight for the first time. It heads out to sea where it will remain for 3-4 years, never even touching land.

After three or four years at sea, the same albatross will return to its place of birth (imprinted on its brain) and begin to socialize with its peers and engage in the elaborate mating dances over the next 5 years. The albatross return every November and eventually choose a mate by the age of 8 or 9.

Albatross are able to fly over 2000 miles in a single stretch through a process called dynamic soaring and can stay at sea for up to 5 years without touching land. They sleep on the water. No wonder they look so awkward on land.

Such incredible birds!

Meanwhile back here in southeast Idaho we’ve just shoveled ourselves out. Here’s the view outside our front door this morning.

Monday, February 21, 2022

Yeah, well the salmon don’t start returning till May.

Do you really think I’m ready to leave Kauai?

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Winter Albatross

February 8, 2019

February in like a lion

Thursday, February 7, 2019 – Southeast Idaho News headline:

“Snow event declared in Idaho Falls, move your vehicles”

What? Out of the garage? We have to shovel first!

I snapped a photo of David a few minutes ago, shoveling off our back deck

Thursday, Feb 7, 2019

You know, to help us cope with this problem:

Rudy wants in!

I don’t know about you, but I need a tropical vacation. It’s only February and the extended forecast calls for more, uh … Well here, nothing says it like a photo – a screenshot of our extended forecast:

just deal with it

Winter blahs, anyone? Hey, I know! Let’s jet off to my happy place! Kauai!! David and I travel there every January to visit my sister Steph and husband Victor who own a house in Princeville, where they live about half the year. David and I, and my brother Eric have visited Steph and Vic in Kauai every January since 2011 – we returned from our latest trip just a week ago – February 1st. I’ve blogged about our trips every year (45+ Kauai blogs!). So this year I thought, what the heck, forget the blogs. Enough already!

Except, how to get through February? I know of no other way but to jet back to Kauai. Are you on board?? Ready for takeoff…

Uh, not there yet. We’re still on our 6-hour flight from Denver to Lihue, Kauai. My legs have gelled into tingling blobs from sitting so long … looking for scenery now, besides ocean… Oh look! An Island!

Not sure what Hawaiian island this is, just great to see land

Yes! Mid-afternoon, Thursday Jan 17, we’ve landed in Lihue, rented the SUV, driven about an hour to the north shore, and are circling the familiar fountain – Princeville! – just blocks away from Steph and Vic’s house now.

Fountain in Princeville

I don’t know about you, but it takes me a day or two to decompress and relax into vacation. Take in the views, tropical foliage, fauna, and smells. Soak up the sun. Let the ocean breezes caress your face… Breathe in … Release… Relax into your happy place!! Here, let me take you there …

First of all, sit on the patio in a reclining chair, stretch out your legs. Take in this view overlooking the golf course to the ocean:

Paradise

Notice the albatross. Albatross? Yeah, that huge bird out there in the grass – one of the most magnificent birds on the planet. They have to run along the ground, into the wind, to take off but they are highly efficient in the air, using dynamic soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. According to this article, they are capable of traveling 10,000 miles in a single journey and circumventing the globe in 46 days – they manage to fly without expending almost any energy.

Sit a while, and they’ll fly overhead, dip and glide parallel to the ground, swirl back up, here you will see two …

and maybe just maybe, they will land a few feet in front of you.

Adolescent albatross engaging in mating dance

The Layson albatross is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. They fly south from Alaska and the Arctic and arrive on the north and west shores of Kauai in mid-November each year, some to mate and some to nest and have their young. They stay on the island till Mid-July. Kauai is the only place in the world where albatross can be found in residential areas and on golf courses. They are enormously entertaining!

Take a walk in Princeville and you will likely see an Albatross nesting in someone’s yard. We took a walk near Sea Lodge Beach and spotted this one:

Nesting Albatross. The egg hatches in about 60-64 days

Nearby there were several gathering. Here comes one now… Mr Big Stuff. Look at that swagger!

Adolescent males and females bond through ritualized mating dances that may take place over several years. On January 30 I happened to capture their mating dance on video:

Albatross bond for life and do not find another if their partner dies.

Albatross return to their place of birth to begin the mating dance when they are 3-4 years old. They don’t successfully reproduce (1 egg) until they are 9 or 10. The egg hatches in 60-64 days. Adults with chicks to feed take foraging trips that last up to 17 days and travel 1600 miles away from their nest. It takes about 165 days for a nestling to fledge.

Wisdom, an albatross on Midway Island, is recognized as the oldest wild bird in the world. She was first banded in 1956. Check out this link! to learn more about Wisdom who, at age 66, has hatched chicks two years in a row! (Female human’s worst nightmare.)

If you want to learn more about these fascinating birds here’s a link that poses and answers about every question you could think of to ask about the Albatross.

Also, the link to my blog I wrote a year ago about the Layson Albatross on Kauai with my photos, videos and commentary.

Oh, ahem, one last note on the Albatross, FYI, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the killing of a ‘harmless albatross” dooms the ship’s crew.

Okay, time to kick your cardiovascular system into gear with a hike down to Anini Beach! Yes, the sign is still there…

Tourists angry. Hike too steep!

David and Eric hike down to Anini Beach, coming back up is the killer…

Anini Beach is serene. Wade in and catch sea cucumbers!

Anini Beach

Something is always in bloom in Paradise

Hibiscus and orchids


Pick mandarin oranges off the trees in your own yard

Okay, are you there yet? Relaxed? Basking in the wonders of Paradise? Good!

Back in Idaho today we did get shoveled out!

Feb 7, 2019

Me, personally? I’m looking forward to waking up tomorrow to a Kauai sunrise

And maybe checking out Hanalei Bay. Are you coming along?

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Aloha, Kauai – Hello Winter

February 21, 2018

In the words of Nelly Furtado:

Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end?

Alas, the sun is setting on our 10-day trip to Kauai. I try to stave off the melancholy that worms its way into my consciousness toward the end of our trip. As a culminating celebration on the evening of our last full day, the five of us – David and I, Steph and Vic, and my brother Eric – always go out to dinner at the Baracuda in Hanalei. My brother Eric sits on the end of the table, to my left, and I turn to him. “Do it, Eric …”

Eric knows. It’s become a yearly ritual – his duty to cheer me up with his “My heart beats for you” routine:

There. You’re feeling better now too, aren’t you? So sad to leave Kauai.

Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll share a few last photos before we head to the airport.

A last Kauai sunrise:

And Steph and Vic’s bird feeder – which not only attracts hoards of birds, but Nene geese and an egret as well:

One Layson albatross hung out about every day behind Steph and Vic’s house, as if waiting for the swoop of an interested suitor, making the mating noises with the clapping of its beak, and the whining – one day another albatross swooped in several times and then landed and they danced together.

Often though, this albatross would wait there patiently, occasionally flap its wings and finally fly off.

The Albatross is a totally different bird in flight:

Layson Albatross in flight above Larsen’s Beach

Our last day, Saturday, Jan 27, Eric, David and I climbed the Nounou Mountain Trail East to the top of Sleeping Giant. You don’t want to do this hike under wet conditions. We had had a couple of sunny days and decided to do it. The path that takes you up on top of the Giant’s head is about 4 miles round trip with about 1000 ft elevation.

Sleeping Giant’s Head

The hike is considered moderately difficult, but you’d better wear good shoes:

David

Eric and David

Almost to the top of his head now..

You can do it!

On top!

Here’s my video of the panoramic view on top of Sleeping Giant

Eric on top:

Headed back down now.

David

We beat Eric down. I caught a picture of him coming out at the trail head.

Saturday, Jan 27, 2018

Okay, time to wash the mud out of our shoes, take a shower, get our shit together for the airport.

Wait! One last photo of Kauai – near Anahola …

And my favorite photo of Eric on Larsen’s Beach:

And my sister Stephanie with the sea turtle:

Larsen’s Beach

Stop it, Jody.

Okay. Facing the inevitable. We’re at the airport in Lihue now – waiting to board the 11:15 pm red-eye to L.A.

Goodbye, Paradise!

So sad…

Vacation’s over!

Except Eric. Eric is interminably happy.

David and Eric fall off to sleep as soon as the plane to L.A. takes off. I know because I’m wedged between them, in the middle seat, hardly able to move my arms or legs, wide awake. The plane is pitch black dark so we can sleep. But of course, I never can sleep. Or I perceive that I’m totally not sleeping. But I must doze a bit. How else to endure that petrified seated position for six straight hours?

Descending for the landing in L.A. – 6:30 am, Sunday morning:

We arrive at Gate 50 or something and just need to go to 52A to catch our flight to Salt Lake. Great – look it’s just ahead there to the left! Oh… then down this staircase…

Into a long line to an outside door to … catch a bus?

Outside now on the tarmac … Waiting for the bus…

‘Good morning, L.A.!’

Get a seat on the bus!! We did. Sat and watched the line and luggage pile in, one after another – cramming into the seats and then filling the standing room in the aisle clear up to the bus driver. I picked up my phone from where I was sitting and captured a photo:

Happy happy joy joy

It was a ten minute bus ride to our gate in the far flung American Airlines terminal. We unload and head into the terminal – oh that’s right, I remember! There is one food concession in the whole terminal. Jump in line! We’re starving.

We thought we were half nuts to get in line since we were about 20 people back. But we still had a good 45 minutes until boarding our flight to Salt Lake. No. We were totally sane. Look at the line piling up behind us! (Yes, I took photos. How else to entertain myself as the line inched forward?)

I stepped out of line and took a photo of David, with the line ahead of us –

David in line with his calm ‘whatever’ face

Then photos of the line building behind us

Eric, David and I ordered 3 ham, egg and cheese mcmuffin type sandwiches with coffee – so hot we couldn’t drink it. But it didn’t matter so much, when it cooled down enough to take a sip it was so bitter I couldn’t stomach it anyway. Not that I didn’t try. I knocked a wave of hot coffee on my leg before boarding our flight to Salt Lake.

Here we are in flight:

Flight to Salt Lake, Sunday Jan 28

11 am – landing in Salt Lake!

From here we drove the nearly 3-hour drive home to Idaho Falls.

This area of the country has enjoyed one of the mildest January’s on record. These peaks are usually blanketed in snow this time of year. In Idaho Falls the temperatures have been hovering in the 40’s, 10-15 degrees above normal.

We’re home in Idaho now. A consistent ‘Where’s Waldo’ activity keeps our minds and bodies busy in the back yard, complements of our miniature poodle, Rudy.

Find the dog turds:

There’s actually two of them, should I zoom in?

Yea, getting back into the routine. Here’s what our back yard looked like yesterday:

Feb 20, 2018 – 11:19 am

A skiff of snow hoisted on 20 MPH winds with a forecasted high of 16 degrees.

So yeah, winter in southeast Idaho is not going anywhere …

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The Day of the Layson Albatross

February 16, 2017

Sunday, January 22, 2017 – our third full day in Kauai. It’s cloudy and blustery today.

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We’re hanging out at Steph and Vic’s house contemplating plans for the day, when we hear a racket outside on the golf course. Albatross!

There’s three of them. One is waddling alone near the back patio

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While two more are engaged in an elaborate synchronized mating dance. I capture some of it on video:

The pair carried on for several more minutes. What a treat it was to witness! According to this link, Albatross courtship is unique among seabirds, both in its complexity and its duration. Males and females engage in a coordinated dance, facing each other, and what you are witnessing in my video is bill “clappering” (in which the bill is quickly opened and closed repeatedly); “sky calling” (in which the bird lifts its bill to the sky, uttering a call like the “moo” of a cow); and fanning the wings while prancing in place. These displays are performed in repeating cycles for up to an hour each, numerous times per day. This behavior allows potential mates to evaluate each others’ suitability as long-term partners.

Albatrosses appear to bond for life. After the initial courtship phase is over, the elaborate courtship rituals are much reduced or abandoned altogether in subsequent years. Researchers believe that this mating dance functions more in choosing a mate than in the long term maintenance of the pair bond.

Here is a youtube video with a closer view of the mating dance taken on Kauai on Valentine’s Day, 2015. Hmmmm. Considering the 50+ percent divorce rate in America, (higher for second and third marriages), maybe we should mimic the mating ritual of Albatrosses. Instead of lavishing our heart’s desire with valentines, chocolates, flowers, jewelry, and expensive dinners on Valentine’s day, we should engage each other in a face to face mating dance involving synchronized hoots, flings, grabs and bends, claps, slapping our teeth, strutting, and skyward calls in hour-long sessions, repeated throughout the day. You know, to test our compatibility with a new love interest. Plus, think of the added bonus of counting each step on our fit bits!

I Googled “Albatrosses on Kauai’ and came across this very interesting blog by Cathy Granholm, “My Albatross Diary” , documenting current news about the Layson Albatrosses in Princeville, Kauai. Cathy lives in Princeville from November to July. She has had an albatross nest in her yard for three years in a row. She monitors the Laysan albatross nests in yards and on golf courses throughout the community of Princeville. Her last blog was published on Jan 2, 2017, featuring Kirwan, the most photographed Albatross in Princeville. I wonder if my photo of the solitary albatross is Kirwan?

On the afternoon of that same day, Eric, David and I decided to take our favorite north shore Island hike, to Larsen’s Beach, home of a large nesting area for Albatross. The nesting area sits atop a rock cliff and is off limits to humans. We saw many Albatross flying overhead and I caught several photos. Whereas Albatross waddle and look clumsy when they walk, they are magnificently graceful sea birds when they fly. Here’s some of my photos of Albatross in flight:

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Of course, Larsen’s beach is also a napping spot for endangered monk seals and sunbathing sea turtles. We met both of these magnificent species on the beach as well. I have photos. And action videos. (Of napping monk seals?) You betcha. And of sunbathing sea turtles. Here, I’ll give you a teaser:

Okay, well, not a lot of action there. And the sea turtles will have to wait. Somehow their introduction here would pale against the captivating life-force of the Layson Albatross.

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Annini Beach, Princeville (Kauai-3)

February 1, 2015

We spent a lot of time in and around Princeville where Steph and Vic own their home. Every morning David, Eric and I walked down to Annini beach, you know, to whip our bodies into shape. The path down to the beach is right next to the Westin Resort, just a short cut across the golf course from Steph and Vic’s house. Here is the entrance to the path:

David starts down

David starts down

It’s hard to capture how steep this walk is – but it’s basically like climbing five stories in about 400 paces. It’s extremely treacherous after a rain. Slip and land on your butt just once to experience in full measure the ‘anger us conditions.’

We’re down now, at the beach.

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There’s a huge sand bar so the waves crash very far out. The first time we came here we waded in and caught some sea cucumbers, which, basically look and act like … cucumbers.

I always trailed behind making it back up. I snapped photos of Eric and David ascending the path above me.

Eric is half way up

Eric is half way up

climbing the other half - back to the top

climbing the other half – back to the top

Whew! Check that one off!

You can hardly navigate Princeville without circling this fountain in the roundabout.

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And spotting Layson albatross either circling overhead, doing their courting dance, or nesting. They tend to return to the same place to nest every year. There are two albatross pairs nesting on Stephanie and Victor’s street. One pair is nesting right in a neighbor’s front garden.

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Albatross bond with a mate for life. Their courtship entails especially elaborate dances that have up to 25 ritualized movements.

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They can’t breed until they are five years old. Both birds incubate the egg – the male does so first. There is a 65-day incubation period and the chick takes about 160 days to fledge. To mate and raise a chick requires a big commitment! Maybe that’s why you see a lot of single Albatross hanging around.

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Looking studly and regal.

Albatross live a long time. The oldest known live bird, a female named Wisdom, is at least 63 years old. She recently hatched a healthy chick, believed to be her 36th (to summarize some of the information in the linked article above).

We always try to earn our keep at Steph and Vic’s house to the best of our ability, you know, stay in their good graces so they might invite us back! Although by our second day here, Eric was already getting us in trouble.

“What’s the deal with those chairs you sent, Eric?”

Eric had sent Victor and Steph two antique dining chairs from his store back in Idaho and promised Victor they would arrive the same day (or before) we did – He had shipped them in a single box. Well, they didn’t arrive; not yesterday and … not today either. “You have spider duty, Eric, if they don’t arrive soon.” Victor tells him.

Oh wait! A package has arrived!

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“Is this the chairs, Eric? You just add water to expand them to normal size?”

Two more packages arrive. No chairs.

Victor is also unhappy about a certain detail concerning the antique round oak table Eric had sent two years back. It pulled apart to add leaves but one edge of the seam down the middle stuck up about 1/16th of an inch – it was annoying, and Eric had worked on it last year and declared it fixed.

“The edge is still sticking up Eric.”

Eric fiddled with it. Unscrewing screws underneath, screwing them back in. Adjusting this and that. Finally David, being a physicist, volunteered his expertise.

two hunky dudes

two hunky dudes

Voila! Table fixed.

The chairs did finally arrive. They worked out great.

Eric got out of spider duty. But he had to install the new birdfeeder. Fill it with organic birdfeed.

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Then work on it again to straighten it.

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The birds caught on really fast – “Hey, new hot spot open for lunch!”

Happy birds

Happy birds

Happy birds make happy Steph and Victor. Happy Steph and Victor makes happy world. Jody, David and Eric’s world: Incredibly happy.

I sneak in to capture a picture of the masses of happy birds, including those gathered on the ground around the feeder.

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Oops. No worry. Within 60 seconds they’re all back and everything is happy again.

So ends another day in Paradise.

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Life is good.

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