If you are a birder, and you plan to visit any of the Hawaiian Islands, I would strongly recommend including the Big Island in your visit, and signing up with Hawaii Forest and Trail to visit Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge. It is a NWR, as is Prime Hook in Delaware, but Hakalau is in a far more unique environment, and dealing with far different challenges (see last pic below).
Hawaii has such a powerful message about what humans can do to seriously degrade a once magnificent environment. But now, there is also the message that with strong efforts from those in charge (our GOV'T), further degradation can be halted, and even better, some significant restoration can be achieved. This is happening at Hakalau. Following are a few pics from our visit there. The bird is the endemic honeycreeper, the I'iwi, and is a magnificent bird. (click on pics for a larger image)
Hawaii has such a powerful message about what humans can do to seriously degrade a once magnificent environment. But now, there is also the message that with strong efforts from those in charge (our GOV'T), further degradation can be halted, and even better, some significant restoration can be achieved. This is happening at Hakalau. Following are a few pics from our visit there. The bird is the endemic honeycreeper, the I'iwi, and is a magnificent bird. (click on pics for a larger image)
