Photo Collage ....

Here's a collage of images, compiled last month, as a gift (only swapped out one of the images.) Can't say that these are the best, as I am still working on editing a lot of what I have captured in the last year and a half, but thought it shows a good variety of the birds and landscape in the area of the Kilauea Lighthouse, Hanalei Valley and an image or two from Princeville. This is for the volunteers and workers at the lighthouse, many of which have not seen my work and must be wondering what I may (or may not!) be capturing. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Baby Red Footed Booby at 11.5 Weeks ....

"Baby" is no longer looking like a baby .... quite a dramatic change from just 4 days ago (see photo below.)

Baby Red Footed Booby at 11 weeks ....

Here's a photo taken yesterday morning just before 8AM. Mom (or Dad) flew in and quickly (a few minutes at most) fed "baby" then flew off, circling and landing on the branch to the right of the photo above, just out of reach of the young one. Stayed in that position for a few minutes, then flew off, circled around and landed on a branch in the near vicinity of the nest and stayed there for the next few hours. From what I can gather, these Red Footed Boobies start flying in about 95+ days, so it's probably another 3 weeks before this one will take flight.

Baby Red Footed Booby at 5 Weeks ....

Here's a photo taken a little over a week ago, which would make the baby (on the left in the photo above!) about 5 weeks old. Baby is spending a lot of time on it's own, only seeing mom or dad for feeding and preening, which doesn't seem to be too often as I will be at the lookout for a few hours and sometimes don't see an adult at all! I should of posted a photo taken a week or two before this photo to show the growth progression and possibly the cutest phase of the baby. Stay tuned as I will check my photo archives.

Baby Red Footed Booby at 2 Weeks ....

Here's the baby Red Footed Booby at 2 weeks old ....

Red Footed Booby Chick - Only Days Old!

Here's the first look of a 3-4 day old Red Footed Booby chick! Very small as you can see in the photo and that is the challenge (and also not being able to get closer, either physically or with a longer lens.) Not a great shot with any "tender" moment or even feeding, but still had to wait 3 hours to get this shot. I made it easy on myself and put the camera and lens on a tripod and used a radio remote to release the shutter. A day earlier, during the Kilauea Lighthouse May Day event, more specifically the lighting of the lighthouse at dusk, I did witness the mate fly in and swap places, so my guess is that feeding is happening at night. Also had a much better and longer look at the chick, but it was quite dark, so no way to take any photos. Hopefully better chances and more frequent opportunities in the weeks and months to come.

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii!

Here's an image I captured, a few months ago, while the Red Footed Boobies were just starting to build their nests for the season. The birds would find just about anything they could use (and at times, they would be picky and seemed to be looking for a certain size, shape or?) and that would include twigs, small branches and in this case, somewhat fresh (either already cut or pulled out!) green foliage. It very much looks like a maile lei and that is what I find so great about this image - just the shear size and freshness, but maybe you need to be there to appreciate it! Enjoy your May Day!

Photo Book March 2009 - Final Edit!

View Project at Shutterfly