Rain in the mountains

After visiting Hanalei NWR I decided to make my way around the island and up Waimea Canyon to Koke'e State Park to reach some higher elevations.  These high elevation sites include much more native vegetation and host some of the more rare endemics that can be found in Hawaii.

The drive up was beautiful.






But of course, by the time I reach my destination the rain had started and birding was not really an option.  I did scurry around in the rain until it became a downpour, spotting my one and only Apapane, a beautiful red, black and white honeycreeper.




I decided to spend the night up in the mountains, hoping rain would subside by morning.  It did not.  So I missed out on some great species and headed down hill to the coast again.  Along the way I did score some crappy pictures of these two species!

Erckel's Francolin


Nutmeg Mannikin