Good news and Bad news from Hanalei wetlands. The good news is that the bout of avian botulism reported on here recently has ended. The bad news is that it took out 304 birds. As mentioned before, the bacteria remains a mystery in many ways but it is believed that the recent floods of early March helped flush the fields.
Hanalei Valley
The wetland count (on refuge property) of living birds is as follows:
314 Koloa Ducks
438 Moorhens
641 Hawaiian Coots
190 Hawaiian Stilts
72 Nene
198 Golden Plover
The Coot number is probably high because they are about to breed and brought in "extras." This guy is clearly solo.
Hawaiian Coot
Hawaiian Stilts
The Moorhen or Gallinule
The Plovers are about to leave - late April or Early May - to breed in the arctic.
They will fly 3100 miles in 3 days of non-stop flapping!
Winter colors
We know they are leaving when they put on their tuxedos - or travel feathers. Ooh La La!
Speaking of Nene - we got the estimate for their population recovery.
There are approximately 2500 state-wide and 1500 of those are here on Kauai
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