White Terns! - 23 Feb 2025
Robin and I flew to Honolulu yesterday via Delta 304. We were fortunate to fly 1st Class (one way) and enjoyed the opportunity to relax during the 10+ hr flight. I enjoyed watching Venon: Last Dance, The Wild Robot, and Deadpool/Wolverine between naps. Unfortunately, Wifi did not work on the plane so I couldn’t listen to music or work on the computer. But no complaints.
We arrived mid-afternoon Honolulu time and took a cab to the Hilton Garden Inn in Waikiki where we’d spend the next day and a half before boarding the Disney Wonder for a repositioning cruise back to Vancouver. In the meantime we took a short walk around town and had a late snack (prime rib tacos and island rum punch) at the FireGrill at the end of our hotel. The International Market Place is across the street from our 3rd story balcony so its a bit noisy outside, but very quiet inside. We managed to stay up till 8 pm here time (1 am home time) and sleep until 6 am this morning.
After a quick breakfast I made my way to the balcony w/ the camera and binoculars just to see if there were any birds flying about. Skies were cloudy and a light mist / sprinkle was falling, but the air temperature was comfortable and humidity was welcome. To my utter surprise and delight a pair of White Terns were circling out over the street right in front of me! The surrounding trees and palms made it difficult to track them, but I finally managed some photos when they flew along the street past me.
A single White Tern even landed on the light post across the street and provided some nice portraits even though it was still technically pre-dawn here. I was happy to be getting pics at ISO 64,000! My only wish for this trip had been to see some White (Fairy) Terns and I finally got to see some.
A second White Tern flew in and hovered near the first and the pair provided a nice series of flight shots.
Meanwhile a Java Sparrow sat atop the light post next to my balcony
and I was able to capture small flocks of Rose-ringed Parakeets
and Red-vented Bulbuls flying between buildings.
A White Tern then flew by and landed on a tree branch on a nearby tree, and I was able to get some photos from the corner of the roof.
A Common Myna was perched above it.
Feb 23, 2025 7:00 AM - 7:50 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Patio birding from our room on 3rd floor facing International Market
10 species
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 6
Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) 4
White Tern (Gygis alba) 8
Western Cattle-Egret (Ardea ibis) 5
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) 4
Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) 9
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) 3
Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 4
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
We then took a nice 2 mile walk down to the ocean and the park next to Diamond Head Resort. As it is a Sunday morning the place was packed so we didn’t fight the morning crowds. Incidentally, the lines for morning coffee wrapped around street corners; we found a coffee shop inside a mini-mart and was able to get an iced mocha without waiting…
On our walk back to the hotel we spotted several Zebra Doves,
a fly-by Rock Pigeon (lots of white ones around here)
and a fly-over Red-crested Cardinal.
We’d spend the remaining portion of the morning on our little roof / balcony enjoying fly-by White Terns and a wonderful breeze while I processed the morning’s images.
2375 Kūhiō Ave, Honolulu US-HI 21.27788, -157.82463, Honolulu, Hawaii, US
Feb 23, 2025 8:27 AM
Protocol: Incidental
13 species
Mallard (Domestic type) (Anas platyrhynchos (Domestic type)) 1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 24
Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) 2
Zebra Dove (Geopelia striata) 2
White Tern (Gygis alba) 2
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 1
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) 1
Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) 1
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) 4
Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 12
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 4
Red-crested Cardinal (Paroaria coronata) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
