8 August, 1993
Jerry R. Oldenettel
P.O.Box 1714
Wailuku, Maui, HI 96793

Dear Bob,

  Kealia and Kanaha Ponds started to dry down in mid July, but Kealia partly refilled after the remnants of Eugene passed through, dumping quite a bit of rain in the West Maui's.  The Maalaea flats area dried down entirely in late June.

  I was on the mainland from 26 July through the end of the period

OBSERVATIONS

The observations below were made between 1 June and 25 July, 1993 on Maui.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater.   One bird was flying off shore at Hookepa on 6/21.  Loose flocks of 4-8 birds every 5 minutes were heading east from Hookepa on 7/24 and 1-3/minute were moving by on 7/25.  A flock of 150-200 were working the shoreline at Maalaea Bay just off Kealia Pond on 7/25 were the first ones seen on the south side of the island.

Great Frigatebird.   An adult male and two immatures were along Maalaea shoreline at Kealia Pond on 6/13.  A single female was off Hookepa on 6/21 and a single unsexed bird was far off shore on 7/24.

Shoveler.   A single bird was at Kealia Pond on 7/24.

Hawaiian Coot.   Summer counts included 6 at Kanaha Pond on 7/6 and 7/10 and 75 at Kealia Pond on 7/24.  See narrative at end of report for a discussion of the birds at Long's mitigation ponds.

Golden Plover.   Summer counts included 1 at Maalaea flats on 6/12.  42 at the Maui Sod Farm on 6/13, 28 at the sod farm on 6/20, 24 at the sod farm on 6/21, 29 at the sod farm on 7/5, 26 at the sod farm on 7/10, and 4 at the sod farm on 7/24.

Black-necked Stilt.    Summer counts included 21 at Kealia (mostly Maalaea Flats) on 6/12 and 30 there on 6/13, 2 chicks at Kanaha and 2 chicks at Kanaha sewage pond on 6/12, 17 at Kanaha on 6/20, 12 at Kanaha on 7/10, and 110 at Kealia on 7/24.  See narrative following species reports for a discussion of the birds at the Long's mitigation ponds.

Ruddy Turnstone.   Summer counts included 3 at Maalaea flats on 6/5 and 1 there on 6/13, 20 at the Maui Sod Farm on 6/13, 6 at the sod farm on 6/20, 10 at the sod farm on 6/21, 13 at the sod farm on 7/5, 8 at the sod farm on 7/10, and 25 at the sod farm on 7/24.

Wandering Tattler.   A single bird was present along Maalaea Bay shoreline on 6/12, 6/20, 7/5, and 7/24.

Sanderling.   Summer counts included 8 at Maalaea flats on 6/5, 9 there on 6/13, 7 along the shoreline on 6/20, 12 there on 6/21, 2 there on 7/5, 4 there on 7/10, 4 there on 7/23, and 7 there on 7/25.  5 additional birds were at Kealia pond on 7/25.

Mitigation ponds activities

  I spent a fair amount of time tracking activities at the Long's mitigation ponds over the summer.  These two ponds are located behind Long's Drug Store in Kihei.  Each pond is fenced and about 50 meters square with 16 small islets at 10 meter intervals.  The tables below show the summer's activity beginning in mid May.

  The first table shows the population of stilts on the north pond.  The south pond typically had 1 to 2 adults and no chicks were ever seen there.

The designations A(m/dd) indicate the brood and the beginning of the week in which they were hatched.  I thought at first that a mongoose was getting at the chicks, but then I realized tha two night herons had appeared at the north pond and began to wonder if night heron perdition was not the problem.  It is well known in California that herons will perdate small rails, and a Great Blue Heron in Mission Bay Park was photographed over a period of weeks taking ground squirrels on a regular basis.  On 7/10, I could see a dead stilt on one of the more distant islets in the pond.  While I could not get close enough for a defininte identification, the more or less brownness of the plumage suggested that it was probably the single remaining chick from brood A.  Not a good summer for stilts, 8 hatched, none fledged.

  This points up a serious problem with mitigation efforts that are too small.  When a predator finds one, all it has to do is stand in one place and wait.  Eventually it will get all of the checks because they have nowhere else to go.

  The second table shows the population of coots over the same period.  AD.N and AD.S refers to the numbers of adults on the north and south ponds respectively.  The brood designations include the beginning date of the week hatched, which pond, and the pairing of the parents (WW=white- X white-shielded, WR=white- X red-shielded).  The red-shielded parent of brood C had been observed sitting on the nest for at least two weeks prior to hatching.  On 7/4, brood A suddenly acquired a 4th chick which had completely escaped my notice.  These 4 birds were completely molted into the gray phase juvenile plumage at this time.  At the end of the period, I could not tell which, if any, of the young birds were going to turn out to be red-shielded.

Other Observer Reports

  On 8/1 when I returned from the mainland, I ran into a group of 3 Britishers at Kanaha Pond. They are staying with Fern and waiting permits to do forest bird work at Waikamoi.  They reported that migrant Golden Plovers and Turnstones had begun arriving during the week and that they had had a Semipalmated Plover at Kanaha.  I saw what was probably the same bird on 8/8.

copyright 1993, Jerry R. Oldenettel, all rights reserved, do not reproduce without permission.