Birding Life List…update

I left “My Life along the Gulf Coast” for a few days with my husband and headed to Oahu, HI with binoculars in my carry-on.  I’m glad I did.  Not only was the trip awesome and fun, I was able to add to my birding life list.

Here’s what I saw: Common Fairy Tern, Feral Pigeon (totally white or slightly browned on the breast), Pacific Golden Plover, Common Myna, Zebra Dove, Spotted Dove, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Yellow-fronted Canary, Red-crested Cardinal, Yellow-billed Cardinal, Red Junglefowl cock, Red Junglefowl hen, 5 Junglefowl chicks, Common Waxbill, and the Red-billed Leiothrix.

Red=crested Cardinal

Red=crested Cardinal

Bulbul

Bulbul

I’m very excited about these additions to my list.  These birds were beautiful to see and while I couldn’t photograph all of them, I did get a few photos.  The Plover was in a park which I spotted with binoculars.  The Leiothrix was on a STOP sign across the street from the Pearl Harbor parking lot. The Myna, Zebra & Spotted Doves, Feral Pigeons, Cardinals, and Junglefowl were very common on Ohau. Rock Pigeons are very common around the U.S. and the white Feral Pigeon (a descendant) is listed in H. Douglas Pratt’s A Pocket Guide to Hawai’i’s Birds as Native Hawaiian.  The Bulbuls were both spotted on Diamondhead, and both the Waxbill and Canary were in trees on the North Shore.  There were other common birds there: house finche, cattle egret and house sparrow. My one disappointment is that I didn’t get to see the Hawaii state bird, the Nene, which looks like a goose.  And while I’m sure ducks were everywhere, I just didn’t notice them.

One day I’ll return to Hawaii and take a nature birding tour so I can have a chance to see the rainforest birds.  Until then, I have my additions to my birding life list and wonderful memories.

4 thoughts on “Birding Life List…update”

  1. The Birding Bunch

    Congratulations on all the new birds. We suspect we will not add many to our list unless we do travel elsewhere. So what is your number? I didn’t want to count all those. 🙂

  2. Ashlye

    Hi,
    I stumbled on your site searching for places around Mobile Bay to search for sea glass. Where have you had success?
    Also, I saw what I think was a Western Meadowlark in Daphne yesterday. I’ve never seen one before. Are they common here?

    1. eileensaunders Post author

      Thanks Ashley, The Eastern and Western Meadowlark are very similar and unless you have binoculars handy to view the bill and eyes it’s hard to tell which you are seeing. Safe to say that you most likely saw an Eastern Meadowlark. There was a spotting of the Western a few years ago nearby. Contact the local Audubon or talk to the folks at 5 Rivers to see if anyone has see a Western lately. As for sea glass, some people swear on Dauphin Island. I’ve never found any but if you want to try it go after a tropical storm. I collect from the shoreline around Fairhope so it’s technically beach glass but fun to collect anyhow. You can find pottery shards on the shores near Daphne. Happy hunting.

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