I am catching up with my birds … before I head to the Hilo Airport to fly myself! Mid week I had the delightful time of watching a new shorebird for me … the Hawaiian Black-Necked Stilt … endangered due to development on the Big Island of Hawaii, but its mainland cousin is somewhat common.  Perhaps the real cool part of the two early mornings I spent with the stilts was talking and learning from the manager of the acqueline wetlands (he has a degree in Marine Biology) that a luxury Hawaiian Robert Trent Jones golf course hired a number of years ago to manage this special habitat that the stilts need to survive. This link is to the Kohanaiki Golf Course on sustainability … well deserved kudos!

Anyhow … an abundance of Black-Necked Stilt photos, or as known locally … the Hawaiian Stilt. In closing the text part of this blog post, the State of Hawaii has a nice resource / web service for birding which even notes where one might find some of their cool feathered friends.