Big Year Birding in Hawaii - Part 5

I arrived in Kona for the third time on the evening flight from Lihue (Kauai) on Friday, October 20, 2023. I rented a high clearance pickup truck for three days. I figured I would need it to drive the four-mile dirt road to the Palila Discovery Forest on the flank of the Mauna Kea volcano. The Palila, a critically endangered endemic finch, was one of my principle targets. A sign at the entrance to the access road reads “4WD vehicles only”. The other targets for this visit to the Big Island were seabirds. I had signed up for pelagic boat trips on Saturday and Sunday. Four petrel species had been reported to eBird recently that would be new for my Biggest Year quest: Black-winged, Cook’s, Mottled and Bulwer’s Petrels. I found my rented apartment quickly just 20 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from Kona harbor where the boats are docked. I went straight to bed as I wanted to be fully rested for Lance Tanino’s half day trip the next morning.

I woke up Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 5:30 AM. I prepared and exited the apartment quickly. I stopped by the MacDonalds in Kailua for breakfast to go. I rolled into the harbor area at 6:40 AM thinking I was 10 minutes behind schedule but still with plenty of time for a 7 AM departure. After driving around the docks, I approached the one boat with passenger activity. “Are you birders?” I asked. “No, divers.” Could this be happening to me again? I called Lance on his cell phone. “Hey Nick, we missed you this morning,”. “I’m here at the dock. Is it too late to join you?” “Yes. We met at 6:15. We are well on our way. Sorry,” I had misremembered the meeting instructions. Once again this year, I had messed up a great opportunity for a pelagic boat trip. I promised myself I would not do the same tomorrow.


I redirected my pickup towards the Mauna Kea volcano and drove an hour to the entrance road for the Palila Discovery Forest, arriving about 8:30 AM. I would spend 6 hrs searching the complex of trails and dirt roads on the skirt of the massive 10,000-foot Mauna Kea volcano, exploring the vast Mañame tree forest where Palila once thrived. In recent years, draught has reduced the quality of the food supply for the attractive yellow-headed finch. It is feared that only hundreds now remain. I hoped to get lucky but it wouldn’t be today. I did add one bird to my USA and Territories Biggest Year list: Japanese

Bush-Warbler (number 807).


The next morning, Sunday, October 22, I arrived at the docks on time and joined Thane Pratt and a half dozen other birders on a sporty speed boat. We covered about 75 miles in about 5 hours, and tallied 13 species of sea birds: Brown Booby, Red-footed Booby, Masked Booby and Nazca Booby (808); Wedge-tailed Shearwater; Sooty Tern, Brown Noddy and White Tern; Black-winged Petrel (809), Hawaiian Petrel and Bulwer’s Petrel (810); and Hawaiian Storm-Petrel (811). After the boat trip, I followed a tip from Sherman Wing, one of the boat trip passengers, and added Tanimbar Corella (812), a large white cockatoo that has become established on the island. Later in the day I chased a vagrant Bonaparte’s Gull unsuccessfully, but was rewarded with stunning views of a pair of wintering Bristle-thighed Curlew. 


On Monday, October 23, 2023, I returned to the Yamane Forest and gave the Palila an eight-hour effort. Sadly, I found none. I returned the rental truck at 7 PM and flew back to Lihue (Kauai) as I had left several species on the table there. 

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