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More Local Fauna, Flora...

HAWAII, Sep 7 - I went for another 4-5 mile hike this morning, this time heading north, in the opposite direction from my last march.

Right off the bat, while still on the Fairmont Orchid grounds, I saw some interesting examples of the local fauna.  First, I found this lazy turtle having a morning siesta on the beach.  She was completely unperturbed by my coming so close to it and taking pictures.  I half expected to hear her snoring.  :-)

Later on this afternoon, as I went kayaking in the area, I saw another turtle swimming in the ocean about 300 yards out.  And this evening, there was another one who seems to like to sleep in the sand on the beach.  So the locals nick-named her "Sandy."  Cute, huh?

Meanwhile, back to my morning hike, as I headed out toward the other end of the beach, a pretty little bird kept flying around my feet, completely unafraid of a human.  (Or does he know something about my DNA I don't?)  :-) I took this shot of him with a zoom lens.  The bird was actually smaller than a warbler.  Wish I knew its name...

(Just did some research into that.  It looks like it might be a yellow canary).

After a while, the beach became too rough to walk on.  Having twisted my ankle (slightly) once, I got the message, and I walked over to the road that runs parallel to the shoreline.  There I discovered a cute little neighborhood, the town of Puako (leftmost thumbnail).  It reminded me of a similar area in Dunsborough, Western Australia, along the Geographe Bay (the name of a part of the Indian Ocean).  Even the plants looked alike.  But that lawn-lined stone driveway was certainly unique (right).  Have never seen anything like it before.

After a couple of miles of walking along the main Puako road, I cut across to the beach again. It happened right around an area that's obviously popular for snorkeling, as you can see from the two right photos. 

But what I found especially interesting were some enormous driftwoods, like the one in the left photo.  They attest as to the power of some of the storms that must pass by here. 

Also, ever seen grass grow in an ocean?  I have not.  Not before today.  But as you can see in the second photo from the left, anything is possible in Hawaii, including grass growing in the middle of the sea.

When I got back to the hotel, I found an e-mail from a friend of mine in Canada, Ted Wooten ("Woots"), who recognized the golf course in Chapter 1 from one of their earlier trips here.  Woots also told me about the purpose of the giant flood lights that I noticed on the shore around the hotel.  It is to attract the giant manta rays at night (right photo).  They look like sting rays, but are much bigger, shaped like a small fighter jet.  Their wing span is around 8 feet, I've been told.  And they are not poisonous like the sting rays.

Anyway, I went out to those spots on the beach where the flood lights were and waited and waited for the manta rays to show up.  No luck tonight (so the above is a "file photo").  But several locals confirmed Woots' story about them sometimes coming out at night close to shore.

Did see some flying fish, though which was also fun.  And I saw two kingfishers trying to catch a late dinner (around 9PM - see above shots).  Plus there was a gray pussycat was sneaking around behind one of them.  She blended it perfectly with the charcoal-colored rocks.  It was only the reflection of the light off her eyes that gave her away.

One correction to Woots' story.  The security guard that seemed very knowledgeable about manta rays said the purpose of the lights was not to attract manta rays.  That's a coincidence.  "The lights are here because of security," he said.  "In case someone tries to sneak into the resort at night from the ocean." 

UPDATE, Sep 10-11 - Guess what?  Tonight, shortly after midnight, I did see a manta ray flapping its giant winds in the lights.  Alas, it was after a midnight spa/Jacuzzi on the beach, so I did not have my camera with me.  Anyway, it was a sight to behold...

To be continued... CLICK HERE to go to CHAPTER 4...

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