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!