The Queen's Bath

Just around the corner

from where I am living 

in Princeville Kauai

is a steep path

that descends to the ocean

Daily dozens of car loads of tourists

come to bathe

in the Queen's Bath

Curious, I thought it was time

I took a look at the Queen's bath

so early one morning

I made my way 

down the red dirt track

passing little waterfalls

tumbling over lava rock boulders

that made their way into small pools

but hardly what you would call

a regal bath

and finally emerging at the ocean

mindful of the fact

that it was almost a year to the day

that I broke my left ankle

I decided not to clamber over 

the rugged lava rock

in search of royal ablutions

but it appears that in the past

others have taken 

greater risks than me

so I returned up the pathway

under the pandanus trees

and following the call 

of little brown birds

I walked along the bluff

above the ocean

hoping I could see what it was 

that enticed the holiday makers

down onto the hot black rocks

I could not see much 

other than the brown nameless birds

and the plainer coloured females

and then I noticed that I was in 

Wedge-tailed Shearwater territory

I skirted a patch of cactus

and almost fell down a hole

the Shearwaters nest in burrows

up to two feet long

that the birds make

in the cliff top

They are a dusky brown bird

with white breast feathers, 

thin wings, a hooked bill

and wedge shaped tail

They lay a single egg in June 

and take turns at incubation stints

The father does the honours first 

while the mother goes to sea to fish

for about 10 days at a time

Hawaii Information Image

The chick hatches after 50 days

and initially is fed stomach oil then solids

At 3.5 months the parents stop feeding the chick

For two weeks they go without food

testing their wings and learning to fly

When they have all their adult feathers they fledge

and go off to to sea

to find their own food

the neighbourhood dogs are a problem

in this colony

The birds cannot stand upright on their legs

and have difficulty moving about on land

The Hawaiian name 

for the Wedge-tailed Shearwater is ua'u kani

which means calling or moaning sea bird/petrel

due to their long oooo-errr call

I cautiously return to the ascending path

grateful that it is a dry day

and the red dirt is not slippery clay-mud

through the jungle

and home

No, this is not my house

but I love the gardens...

and proceeded to look up Mr Google

for pictures of the Queen's Bath

which does look rather enticing 

on a calm day

but the sea is unpredictable

and the waves 

can come crashing through

I think I'll do my swimming

in the safety of Hanalei Bay

*

Of Birds and Beauty...

The first week we lived

in our new neighbourhood

I heard the happy shouts 

and squeals of children

playing in the streets 

and empty blocks around

And then one evening before sunset

I saw the cockatoo

from where all the raucous calling came...

I went out to talk to him

as he sat in a palm tree

in my yard

and he grabbed 

a couple of leaves of the palm

and swung around upside down...

twirling...

spinning...

like a trapeze artist in a circus

what a show off you are Mr Cocky

He belongs to a family close by

and has frequent sorties

about the neighbourhood

This beautiful Plumeria in my yard

begins as a red bud

and as it unfurls the red

seems to appear 

on one side of the petal only

what a beauty...

this one is a soft pinky whitewhen unfurled

but the simple yellow centred plumeriaremains my favourite  *

He prayeth well...

He prayeth well

who loveth well

both man and bird and beast...

I went to check 

on the albatross chicks

First this one

with a mane of feathers

like the wig of a court judge

and further along

I found this watchful chick

- only the two remain in this bluff area

do you remember 

how they looked back in February

so fluffy and small..(above)

We were asking a

neighbour

how often the parents returned 

to feed the chicks

when from the cliff bluff block

exited a parent

and 

with her ungainly waddle

she drunkenly lurched

across the road

gave a sort of call

and made her way towards 

the first of the chicks

who peered out from behind the tree

in hungry anticipation

she eyed the chick

clacked her beak

like a set of castenets

and rapped the chick 

over the head

uh oh, I thought

wrong chick

but I was wrong

This must be the traditional 

 albatross way to greet

one's young

so she set to

and regurgitated

squid

fish

krill 

eggs of the flying fish

plus stomach oil

for her youngster's dinner

The albatross nests in October

and spends a year raising the single chick

both mum and dad

sharing the duties of parenthood

they return every few weeks

to feed the chick

Give me more...

The chick will grow heavier than the parents

using the reserves 

to build body condition 

and growing flight feathers

in preparation for fledging

They fledge on their own

with no help from the parents

who will return to the nest 

and not even know the chick has left...

The chick has innate migratory behaviour

genetically coded navigation routes

which help him 

when he first sets sail

in the big wide world

Not now...I need a rest...

this one is a Laysan Albatross

with pink feet and pink bill

Another species,

the black footed albatross

the Ka'upu

also lives in Hawaii

The Albatross is pelargic

which means open oceaned.

Sailors have always regarded the albatross 

as a good luck sign

convinced that land was near

This is something of a myth

as the albatross can spend 

up to five years at sea

never touching land

He mates for life

and can live for 50 years

While awkward on land

and having difficulty

in taking off and landing

the albatross is graceful 

and impressive in flight

So well designed is he

that he can travel for miles 

without flapping his wings

and he sleeps 

while coasting along on the winds.

The information I read 

stated that he can travel 

2000 miles a day

in search of food.

That is 83 miles per hour

Is that possible?

My New Neighbourhood

*

Come with me

and I'll take you

for a pre dinner stroll

around my new neighbourhood

through an empty block

and across the verdant golf course

we can see the peak

of Bali Hai

along the road sides

the beautiful Frangipani,

called Plumeria in Hawaii,

is now flowering

in whites

and various shades

of pink and red-yellow

while the air is filled 

with gorgeous perfume

and the lawns littered 

with their spent petals

and over here

strident Birds of Paradise

claim their patch

I think

I shall be very happy here

in my new neighbourhood

for a few months...

*