December, 1992
Jerry R. Oldenettel
P.O.Box 1714
Wailuku, Maui, HI 96793

Dear Bob,

Hope you're feeling better after your surgery. Sorry I haven't called, but not much has been happening here since Kealia filled in early September.

Kealia Pond began drying down quickly after refilling in mid-July. By the first of September it was back to about half full and excellent shorebird habitat. During August, I made almost daily checks of Kealia, 2-3 times weekly checks of Kanaha Pond and the Maui Sod Farm, and 2-3 times weekly checks of other areas (a pond at Haiku, and grassy areas along the shore near Hookepa). During the first week of September, rains in the West Maui's began refilling Kealia and by the 10th, there was no shoreline left and a large accumulation of birds simply disappeared. Kealia remained full throughout the rest of the period (road workers actually dammed the outlet and prevented it from draining while working on widening the bridge). The water level in Kealia rose high enough to back-fill the low areas at Maalaea Flats.

After Kealia filled in September, I made 2-3 times weekly checks of Kanaha Pond, Maalaea Flats, and the ponds across from Azeka Place (referred to hereafter as "Long's") in Kihei, and weekly checks of the Maui Sod Farm, Hookepa, and Haiku. Also in September, I looked at the area of Wiahee Farms where there used to be a marsh, but this area had been drained. I made trips around the west Maui's (checking the rocky north shore and grassy slopes) on 8/22, 9/5, and 9/26, trips to the Keanae Peninsula on 8/23 and 9/27, a trip to Nu'u Salt Pond, Hana, and Keanae on 9/7 and trip to the ponds at the Ahihi Kinau Nature Reserve on 8/22. I also spent about 2 days at Hosmer Grove at Thanksgiving.

Enclosed are 11 documentary slides of several of the birds of the fall (Osprey, Brant, Short-bld. Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Red-n. Stint, Semipalmated Plover, Wilson's Phalarope, and Ruff). Sorry the stint photo is not better. The Osprey photos should be a significant improvement over those I sent previously. The Baird's photos did not turn out to be worth anything. These are for the archives and you need not worry about duplicating them or returning the originals.

OBSERVATIONS.

The observations below were made between 1 August and 30 November, 1992 on Maui.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater. The first fall birds were seen on 8/3 cruising the Maalaea shore just off Kealia Pond. Flocks of 20-30 birds were intermittently seen in the same area throughout August. No shearwaters were seen along the north coast of Maui on my trips of 8/22 and 8/23. Occasional Wedge-tails were seen off Hookepa in late September and quite a few (10's) were offshore at Keanea on 9/27.

Sooty Shearwater. After a call from Pete, I checked the shoreline off Hookepa and had Sooty Shearwaters streaming by at the rate of 3-10 per minute on 9/25, and 1-2/minute on 9/26. No seabirds had been off Hookepa when I was there on 9/20 and only occasional Wedge-tails were seen after 9/26. I was with Fren and Ranata when they released the injured Sooty Shearwater at Mama's Fish House and took several photos of the bird. It was immediately differentiable from Short-tailed shearwater by the long, thin bill. A look at the white (somewhat restricted) underwings confirmed the identification. I was also able to see some Sooty's in a feeding flock of birds off the Keanae Peninsula on 9/27.

Shearwater/Petrel, sp. A large feeding flock of seabirds off Keanea on 9/27 was unfortunately at the horizon, so that identification of other than Sooty's, Frigatebirds, and Wedge-tails was impossible. In addition to the above, I did see white bellied (and underwings) shearwaters about the size of the Sooty's (Pink-footed?) and small petrel-types with very white undersides (probably Cookilaria or possibly (?) Little Shearwater). Very frustrating. With the Sooty's at Hookepa on 9/26 I had a flock of about 6 small all dark birds which acted like storm-petrels. While they were distant, I should have been able to see any white rumps if present. It is also possible that they were Black Noddys or Bulwer's Petrel. I also had 2 of the white bellied shearwaters at Hookepa on 9/26.

White-tailed Tropicbird. A trip along the north shore of the west Maui's produced 11 tropicbirds on 8/22. Only 4 were seen on the 9/5 trip around the West Maui's (and 3 on 9/26). Four were seen at Moku Manu Rock on 8/23.

Great Frigatebird. At least 35 were present at Moku Mana Rock on 8/23. Two were seen along the north shore of the West Maui's on 8/22.

Black-crowned Night Heron. 1-2 are occasionally present at Long's. Seventeen there on 9/15 was exceptional.

Goose, sp. Two large geese, fairly obviously released, appeared at Kanaha Pond on 10/8. My duck books are packed away, but they looked rather like Swan Geese with huge knobs at the base of the upper mandible. They were seen intermittently through the end of the period.

Black Brant. The bird which had summered was last seen on 8/2.

Northern Pintail. The first bird was seen at Kealia on 9/19. Numbers have remained considerably below those of last winter with 10 at Kealia on 10/31 and 20 on 11/26. Most of the birds seem to stay hidden in the weeds at the mouth of Waikapu Stream where they are difficult to see and impossible to accurately count. No Pintails were seen at Kanaha during the period.

Northern Shoveler. The first bird was a ragged female in the flood control channel between Kanaha Pond and the airport on 9/11. As with Pintails, numbers were low throughout the period with 2 at Kealia on 9/19, 26 at Kealia on 10/1, 13 at Kanaha on 10/1, 1 at Longs on 10/1, 42 at Kanaha on 11/4, 10 at Kealia on 11/7, 45 at Kanaha on 11/26, and 5 at Kealia on 11/26.

American Wigeon. One was at Kanaha Pond on 11/4. Five were present at Kealia on 10/31 and 6 on 11/7 with 1 there on 11/26.

Lesser Scaup. Two female/immature plumaged birds were present at Kealia Pond on 10/31 and 3 were present on 11/7. A single female type was at Long's on 11/14. Possibly the same bird was at the Kahului sewage pond on 11/22 and 2 were at Kanaha Pond on 11/26.

Osprey. A single adult bird arrived at Kealia Pond on 1 August and was seen intermittently through 8/7. Probably the same bird appeared at Kanaha pond on 8/26 and was seen intermittently (about every third visit) throughout the period.

Ring-necked Pheasant. A single adult male walking along the south shore of Kealia on 9/3 was at an unusual location.

Hawaiian Coot. A count of 65 birds was present at Kealia on 8/15. A maximum of 10 birds has been seen there since the pond filled in early September. A single downy chick was seen at the south end of Kealia on 11/26. Approximately 47 coots were present at Nu'u Salt Pond on 9/7, 15 of which were of the red-shielded variety. While at Nu'u, I took the opportunity to study the visible differences between the two coot forms. The red-shielded form has yellow-green legs, a variably colored (bright red to magenta), generally small shield, and a black ring near the tip of the bill. The white shielded form has gray to gray-green legs, an all white, generally larger shield, and an all white bill. I could see no obvious differences in the plumage.

Black-Bellied Plover. A bird still partly in breeding plumage appeared at Kealia Pond on 8/31 and 9/1. Possibly the same bird (in full winter plumage) was at Maalaea Flats on 10/25. Two winter plumaged birds were on the Maalaea Bay shoreline across the road from Kealia on 11/13.

Golden Plover. Birds bagan arriving in early August with high counts of 350 at Kealia and 50 at Kanaha on 8/10 and 350 at Kealia on 8/30. After Kealia filled, the highest concentration seen was 75 at the Maui sod farm on 10/17. There are typically 15-20 Plovers at the sod farm.

Semipalmated Plover. The summering bird was last seen at Kealia on 9/4. What may be the same bird was at the Kahului sewage pond on 9/11 and 9/14. After this point it became difficult to track individual birds. Sightings involve 3 or more birds and were scattered with 1 at Maalaea flats on 10/1 and 10/21, 3 at the Kealia outflow on 10/25, and 3 at Kanaha Pond on 10/31-11/4, 3 at Kealia on 11/7, 1 at Kanaha on 11/12, 2 at Kealia (Maalaea beach) on 11/13, 3 at Kanaha on 11/14, 2 at Maalaea flats and 1 at Kanaha on 11/15, 1 at Maalaea flats and 1 at Kanaha on 11/21, 1 at Maalaea flats and 2 at Kanaha on 11/22, and 1 at Maalaea flats on 11/26. All birds appeared to be in winter male plumage. If one sorts through these sightings carefully, it will be seen that probably only 3 birds were involved after 10/1.

Black-necked Stilt. A count of 170 were present at Kealia on 8/15. Two late downy chicks were at Kanaha pond on 8/26. Three downy chicks (different from the previous two) were present on 8/30. 5 adults were present at Nu'u Pond on 9/7. The ponds at Long's had 16 on 8/17, 20 on 8/31, 50 on 9/13, 17 on 9/13, 6 on 9/15, 51 on 9/18-19, 27 on 9/26, 32 on 9/29, and settled to 10-20 throughout the rest of the period. Two color-banded birds were noted with the flock on 9/18 (One bird: wide red on left leg, red over white on right leg. Other bird: green over orange on left leg, red over white on right leg.) These birds remained at Long's throughout the period. After noting these birds, I looked closely at all other birds I found on the Island, but could find no others with bands. A few (5-20) birds could generally be found at Kealia and Maalaea flats.

Lesser Yellowlegs. Two juvenile plumaged birds were present at Kealia pond on 8/14. A third juvenile joined the first two on 8/19 and 6 were present on 8/30, all juveniles. A single bird was seen on 9/4 and none thereafter.

Ruddy Turnstone. Flocks arriving at Kealia in late July continued into August with 120 present on 8/5, 60 on 8/10, 80 on 8/14, and 250 on 8/30. After Kealia filled, the largest concentrations seen were at the Maui Sod farm with 60 on 9/19, 35 on 10/3, 250 on 10/17, and 40 on 10/25. When there is habitat at Kealia, there are typically fewer than 10 turnstones at the sod farm.

Rufous-necked Stint. The immature plumaged bird which arrived on 31 August was last seen (description in summer notes) on 9/4. Through August, the bird was molting into winter plumage, having several tracts of uniform pale gray mantle feathers by the first of September.

Least Sandpiper. A single juvenile appeared at Kealia Pond on 8/29. Two winter adults were at Kanaha Pond from 10/31 through the end of period.

Baird's Sandpiper. A single juvenile plumaged bird was present at Kealia pond on 8/15 and was last seen on 8/23. See description below.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. One bird was at the sod farm and three birds were seen at Kanaha Pond on 10/25. Three were on the mud trails along the north west corner of Kealia on 10/27. One to two birds were seen in the same area at Kealia throughout the following week with 8 present on 11/7. One was present at the sod farm on 11/15. One was seen at Kanaha 10/31 with 2 on 11/1, and up to 5 being seen through late Nov., and 1 present at the end of the period.

Dunlin. A single winter adult was at Maalaea Flats on 10/21.

Ruff. Two juvenile females arrived at Kealia pond on 9/1. See description below. A single juvenile female (possibly one of the Kealia birds) was at the Kahului sewage pond on 9/11. A juvenile male was at the Maui Sod Farm on 10/3. Possibly the same male was at Kanaha Pond on 10/10.

Short-billed Dowitcher. A single juvenile plumaged bird arrived at Kealia Pond on 8/30 and was last seen on 9/4. See description below.

Long-billed Dowitcher. A single winter plumaged adult was present at Kanaha Pond from 10/25 through the end of the period.

Wilson's Phalarope. A single winter plumaged female appeared at Kealia Pond on 8/29. See description below. The bird was last seen on 9/3.

Black Noddy. A flock of about 600 birds were seen at Moku Mana Rock on 8/23.

Pueo. A single bird hunting along the south shore of Kealia Pond on 9/1 looked somewhat out of place. The bird remained at the south end of Kealia, being seen frequently through 10/1, and occasionally through 11/18.

Red-billed Leiothrix. After visiting Hosmer several times over the last two years and seeing none, they were suddenly common there and in Waikamoi on 11/27 and 11/28.

DESCRIPTIONS

Rufous-necked Stint. See summer report.

Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) While birding at Kealia Pond, Maui on the early morning of 15 August, 1992, I had a largish buffy peep which I spent some time chasing down and finally identified as a juvenile Baird's Sandpiper. The skies were partly cloudy, but the lighting was good with a light northeasterly breeze. I spent about an hour with the bird and got a couple of distant photographs which may be suitable for identification confirmation. The bird was very jumpy, so approach to closer than about 60-80 feet proved impossible. I was able to get a good plumage description using my scope at 30-60 power. The description below is taken from notes made immediately after leaving the bird.

On the ground, the overall look of the bird was buffy brown, particularly about the head and chest. On closer inspection with the scope, the head, neck and mantle were streaked black on tan, the nape being less contrastingly streaked. There was an inconspicuous buffy eyeline and some white in the forecrown and loral areas. A post-ocular spot was contrastingly darker brown than the rest of the relatively clean, tan face. The sides of the throat and breast were finely streaked with black on a buffy tan background. The chin was clean whitish. The belly and undertail coverts were clean white. The scapulars and all coverts had large dark brown centers with broad pale tan to whitish edges giving the bird the typical scaly look of juvenile Baird's. The tertials also had dark brown centers with whitish edges. The legs and feet were black with no evidence of palmation.

On a couple of occasions, I had the bird with a Sanderling for a good size comparison. It's overall length, bill tip to wing tip was about the same as the Sanderling, however, the body bulk was about half that of the Sanderling, giving the bird a long sleek look of a long distance migrant with considerable wing extension. The bill was straight and black and the same length as the Sanderling's, though much thinner and more pointed at the tip.

I flushed the bird several times while approaching for photos and on several occasions it gave the typical soft staccato pr-r-r-r-rt call of Bairds (similar to Pectoral Sandpiper, but softer). The bird looked quite long-winged in flight with an inconspicuous buffy wing bar. In flight, the central tail feathers looked brown with white outer feathers or fringes to the outer feathers. I did not note the underwing pattern in flight.

The bird seemed not to be particularly associating with any of the other birds, often preferring to stay by itself and pick at the surface of the mud flats about 40-60 ft from the water's edge. It's arrival did coincide with a large increase in the number of Sanderlings and the arrival of two juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs.

Wilson's Phalarope. (Phalaropus tricolor) This bird was found at Kealia pond on the morning of 29 August, 1992. It was feeding among the numerous (300-400) other shorebirds on the mud flat at the south end of the pond. It remained in the area for about 10 minutes, then moved off by itself to a grassy area along the west shore of Kealia. I later got a few distant photos of the bird when it was in this area. It was clear and sunny with no wind and I had the bird in good light with a scope and binoculars. The following description is expanded from notes taken just after viewing the bird.

The bird was a tringa like shorebird, about the same shape and slightly larger than a nearby Lesser Yellowlegs, but much paler overall (looked almost white compared to the Lesser Yellowlegs). It fed very actively, dashing about the mud and apparently picking flies, etc. by lowering it's head to almost parallel to the surface and sweeping it's bill sideways, typical of Wilson's I have seen at the Salton Sea and elsewhere. The bird also had the habit of standing very erect with it's breast puffed out to look around. The bird was very flighty, and I never got closer than about 40-50 feet.

The birds crown and nape were uniform pale gray, contrasting poorly with the very white face, foreneck, and underparts. There was a dark gray and somewhat inconspicuous post-ocular bar. The mantle and wings were uniform pale gray, slightly darker than the nape and crown. Some patterning was visible at the rear of the wing coverts. The bill was very thin, straight, pointed and black, about the same length as a Lesser Yellowlegs. The legs and feet were yellow. In flight, the rump and tail were white with an inconspicuous dusky area near the center of the trailing edge of the tail.

Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus). A single dowitcher arrived at Kealia on the morning of 30 August, 1992, feeding among the other shorebirds at the south end of the pond where the runoff from the fish ponds enters the main part of the pond. I at first passed it off as a juvenile Long-billed with a relatively short bill, but not having flushed the bird or studied the plumage that carefully, I got nervous about the short looking bill and went back to get a better study on the evening of 1 Sept. . In good light with moderate trades, I was able to approach to within about 30-40 ft. and study the bird with my scope at 30-50 power. The bill was black, straight and less than twice the length of the feathered portion of the head. I particularly studied the mantle feathers, scapulars, tertials, and tail feathers. The mantle feathers and scapulars had wide chestnut edges with some internal chestnut patterning evident on at least the scapulars. The tertials were barred deep chestnut, and the tail feathers were evenly barred black and white, the white may even have been a little wider than the black. All marks which indicate Short-billed Dowitcher. Having looked at the bird for a while and satisfied myself about the plumage characters, I flushed the it and it gave a series of 3 to 4 too-too calls, diagnostically Short-billed.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax). Two juvenile plumaged birds were first seen at Kealia on the evening of 1 September, 1992. The birds were studied in good light with a 30-60 power scope. I have some distant standing and flight photos from the morning of 9/2. The following is a composite of notes taken on 9/1 and 9/2.

Both birds were actively feeding at the mouth of the outflow from the fish ponds. Feeding behavior consisted of dashing about and picking at the surface, and occasionally probing. The birds were slightly larger than the nearby Wilson's Phalarope (i.e., Reeves) with a notably heavier body and heavier bill of about the same length as the phalarope. When standing or feeding, the neck often had a "snaky" crook at the base, as if it left the body more horizontally than on other shorebirds . The bill was black and the legs were long and a dusky yellow or dusky flesh colored. The forecrown, face, nape, throat, and breast were uniform buffy brown without streaking or spotting. The crown was darker giving a capped look. The mantle, scapulars, coverts, and tertials were brown centered with wide golden-creamy edges, providing a very scaly look. The belly and undertail coverts were white. In flight, the wings were very long and narrow. There was a long white wingbar along the trailing edge of the upperwing which became more diffuse near the tip. The underwing was white with a dark leading edge and diffusely dusky tip. The rump and tail were dark above with white at the sides extending up beside the rump.

Addendum: The male(s) later seen at the sod farm and Kanaha Pond were considerably larger than the two birds above and the legs were yellower and the throat and breast brown rather than buffy brown.

OTHER OBSERVER REPORTS

On the evening of 11/20, I received a call from a birder (from Ohio, I believe) reporting a Long-toed Stint and a Barred Godwit at Kanaha Pond. Since these are quite rare, and similar to the Short-tld. Sandpipers and Long-bld. Dowitcher which had been present at Kanaha for some time, I inquired further. When I asked why the Long-toed Stint was not a Sharp-tld. Sandpiper, the fellow asked if Sharp-tails had yellow legs. When I answered yes, he quickly dropped the subject. When I asked why the Godwit was not a Dowitcher, he would only say that the bird was not a Marbled Godwit and that he could tell a dowitcher from a godwit. I was unable to extract further details.

On Saturday morning when I went to check Kanaha, I ran into a fellow named Chris Corbett and his girl friend. He is evidently a forest ranger from Southern Australia. We talked for about 40 minutes and I found him to be quite knowledgeable. He had evidently gotten a report of the birds from Fern. He and his friend had covered the pond area and found only the birds which I had been having for several weeks (4-5 Sharp-tld. Sandpipers, 2 Least Sandpipers, 1-2 Semipalmated Plovers, and a Long-bld. Dowitcher). From this, I would strongly tend to discount the original report.

Chris called me the following Tuesday (11/25) evening to let me know that he had had Maui Parrotbill at Hosmer Grove (that's why I spent 11/27 and 11/28 there).

copyright 1992, Jerry R. Oldenettel, all rights reserved, do not reproduce without permission.