Book Club 3

Another installment of the book club I'm afraid, covering all the things I've read since the last time I posted. It's a surprising amount actually, I guess I just really like reading, and it makes my commute to work and other travel I undertake pass that much more quickly. On a recent journey I went on I'd finished the one book I had taken with me by the end of the first flight and had to swing by a bookshop and stock up. It is rare I even switch on the fancy entertainment systems on a plane these days - maybe at a push the moving map, but I'm perfectly content just reading and listening to music. Ensure a regular supply of gin and tonic and I am an extremely fuss-free traveller. It has to be real book by the way, made of paper and so on. A bit old fashioned these days but I doubt I would read half as much if the sole option were a Kindle or whatever. 

So, what have been perusing?

A Single Swallow - Horatio Clare

You might think this is about birds, and in a way it is, but actually that's just a pretext. The author leaves a life of material possessions behind and attempts to follow the northbound migration of the Barn Swallow from South Africa to the UK. So it becomes an overland journey through Africa with a passing nod to Swallows from time to time, and is mostly about the people he meets, the physical travel and landscape involved, and how the journey changes him. And this is of course what makes the book. I'm fascinated by the continent, yet have only visited the very top and the very bottom. Horatio Clare does too, indeed he starts off at somewhere I've been birding. I enjoyed it a great deal, though it is not in the same league as Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux, which is the same journey north to south. 

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

This was one of those moments where you're working your way along a shelf of books with your head cocked awkwardly and the title jumps out at you and your inner voice says "Oh, wasn't that a film?", and reached out for it. Like me, most people will know or know of the film starring Anthony Hopkins, and so as I'd never watched it I gave it a try. And it was rather good, without being exceptional like some books I've read recently. Despite it being a novel in which not a great deal happens, it is just very well written as a character portrait. A butler in a once great english country house relives past glories of professionalism, loyalty and dignity, but at what cost did they come?

The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim

This was a real left field choice, picked up in hurry whilst trying not to miss a flight, but it proved to be one of the very best things I've read recently. At first glance a 1920s novel about four unacquainted and very different ladies who leave their lives behind and together rent a castle in Italy for month was not exactly something I would normally reach out for, but somehow it sounded, well, enchanting. And it was, in fact it was completely wonderful. The writing is superb, the comedy understated, the characters expertly formed, and the eye for human frailty, small-mindedness and various other personality traits fantastic. Like the book above, the storyline is quite banale and simply to do with happiness, but that doesn't matter in the slightest and it is quite charming. Pick it up, and like Mrs Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Lady Caroline and Mrs Fisher, let the sun and the Italian riviera work its magic.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

This was another loan from a friend of mine, very different to anything I might normally read. London Below is a parallel city inhabited by the magical and the occult. You cannot exist both in London Above and London Below, and one evening Richard accidently crosses from one to the other losing his identity in the process. Expect many plays on words, for instance there is genuinely an Angel called Islington, an Earl holds court, and there some Black Friars and old man called Bailey. See what I mean? Richard is taken on a whirlwind tour of this alternative and scary London by the Lady Door, hunted by ruthless assassins. Hard to put down, but ultimately not a book I can rave about for some reason. Nothing wrong with it, just not really my kind of book.

Pathfinders, The Golden Age of Arabic Science - Jim Al-Khalili

This was hard work but rewarding. I learnt heaps about heaps, and not just about the scholars, philosophers, scientists and polymaths of 9th century Baghdad. If you thought you knew about "modern" science, think again. Copernicus, Kepler and Newton and the like might be the ones we know in the west, but Arabic scientists had established the circumference of the world to within a percent of the actual distance by the 11th century, and much of the work of the court of the Abbasid Caliphs laid the foundation for much of what is known today. Algebra, Algorithm....just think for a moment where those words might have come from. I am completely hopeless at science and [real] maths, and I know far less than a middle-aged man ought to know about the laws of the universe, so this was a massive eye-opener in basic terms as well as for the historical story Jim Al-Khalili tells. If you have not heard of the enlightened Caliph Al Mamun and the House of Wisdom, well, you have a lot to learn. Fascinating.

The shape of water

The theme is water. The rain in Wanstead, indeed much of the country, has been torrential this past week. I predicted last night that the short break in the deluge that we were due this morning would be good. Little did I know. I met Bob first thing and together we surveyed the SSSI, water squelching underfoot. A small flash had developed in the area near what was, pre-conflagration, the heather clump, but sadly held no waders.

Bob carefully surveys our newest pond for any signs of Jack Snipe

A short while later we found ourselves at the rather-more impressive fairground flash, which we think is mostly due to a leaky pipe but has been significantly enlarged by the recent rain. Excitingly this held two Egyptian Geese and some Gulls. Ahem. Still, more rain forecast for the next few days, so this could be a lake next time I look.

We met Tony and Rob in the brooms. Rob is Shetland bound, and Tony has promised him a pint for every Yank passerine he sees, so we passed some time predicting how many evenings down the pub we would need for Tony to make good on his promise. As Bob and I had not checked the Jubilee Pond or the burnt bit, we all crossed the road back to the SSSI, chatting away. This is the reality of patch birding, seeing not very much and gassing. Possibly the two are related. Luckily Tony is ever alert, and a large bird flapping down Centre Road was not the GBB he thought it would be. 

"OSPREY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Told you it was all about water. Rather amazingly it had no accompanying corvids, and simply flew into and subsequently out of our air space in under a minute. Blink and you would have missed it. How many birds do this? What if we had still been facing the other way, admiring the returning Norwegian-ringed Common Gull? This is the second Osprey I have seen on the patch, so I have been happily able to unitalicise it on my list. Of my list of 154, there are 16 species I've only seen once in 15 years - this is what is all about. For the others however, including Bob, this was a full-fat tick! Patch gold! 

Boston

The other day I found myself in Boston. By design of course, not an accident (that would have been very odd), and so I had a day to explore the city. My sister lived there for a while and had good things to say about it, plus of course it has a sculpture of “Make Way for Ducklings”, a perennial children’s favourite for those of American heritage, which I was very keen to see for a small panther-related reason.

As I had other things to do I arrived quite late on Saturday evening and went straight to a bar that a family member had recommended. It did not disappoint, especially the guy behind the bar who had probably behind it for 40 years – a proper character. Whilst I would have liked to have stayed all night, that would have ruined the following day which was when I planned to charge around the city like a mad man. Plus of course I am now properly middle-aged and don’t do all night drinking any more.

So as planned I managed to get up early enough to see the sun rise over Boston Harbour from the North End, and scoffed down a traditional American breakfast to fuel my day.  Hashbrowns, bacon, poached eggs and caw-fee.  Sated I rolled off into the empty streets near the Coast Guard station and walked at least a bit of it off around the wharves before joining the Freedom Trail near the Paul Revere House. I don’t intend to give a huge history lesson here, but Paul Revere was quite an influential person in the early stages of the American Revolution and the various skirmishes with the English which of course eventually led to the founding of the USA with the July 4th 1776 Declaration of Independence.

I will come back to (and did) the Freedom Trail later, as I was keen to visit Beacon Hill before the crowds arrived and perhaps take a few photos without people in them. Beacon Hill is one of the oldest districts in Boston, a delightful suburb of old house set in leafy streets, some of which remain partially cobbled.  It is also the location of “Cheers”, if anyone remembers that, right on Beacon Street.

Across from Cheers was the main event of the day, in the north-east corner of the Public Garden.  They did not disappoint. I was read the book very frequently when I was a child, and made sure that our house had a copy when our kids were little, though it probably did not have the same appeal as The Gruffalo. It was still very early with few people about, so I was able to mess about to my heart’s content without shame or embarrassment.

I then took a very lengthy walk along the south bank of the mighty Charles River to MIT on the north side. The weather was great and with a nice breeze blowing it was extremely pleasant. Not much bird activity beyond Common Grackles and eponymous Mallards, but then I did not have bins and wasn’t in birding mode anyway. 

MIT is very grand, especially the massive Dome, and I have to say it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I guess the name “Massachusetts Institute of Technology” conjures up images of gleaming space-age buildings. Whilst there are some of those, actually it was founded in 1861 and so a lot of the campus is old and imposing. By now it was mid-morning and a lot of the students were beginning to wake up – I am not sure how many students there are but the campus is enormous.

I pushed on – literally, I rented a bike – to Boston’s other major campus, Harvard. Technically it is in Cambridge, but there is no telling where Boston ends and that begins. This is much older than MIT, and you can see why the town’s name was changed to mirror that on which it was modelled. I’m from the original Cambridge, and was keen to see if lived up to its namesake. I did and it didn’t – it clearly felt like a university town, and the campus squares with lawns also emulated my home town, but fundamentally it is just not as old. Harvard was founded in 1637, some 400 years after Cambridge, and that is quite telling when it comes to buildings and architecture. What it does have in common is the number of tourists wandering around, of which today I was one! Still, it had a nice feel about it, and I spent some time listening to a choir rehearsal in the chapel, and then a pleasant half hour in the world-famous Harvard Book Store where I added to my meagre luggage.

By now it was time for lunch, so I hopped on the tube and went back south to China Town.  Sunday is a big day in China Town, and the city’s Asian residents were out in force enjoying their afternoon. I watched a bunch of old guys playing cards and chain smoking, and window-shopped numerous bakeries. This along with all the walking and cycling I had done confirmed that my large breakfast had completely disappeared and I was in need of more food. Nothing enormous and American, just a snack, so what better than Dim Sum? The Empire Garden was enormous, a sea of tables between which staffed pushed trollies of fresh steamed dumplings and other treats. It used to be a theatre, and it has all the faded opulence that you would expect. Dim Sum comes in baskets of four, which obviously wouldn’t be enough, whereas eight would probably be too many. I had eight. And an egg custard tart for good measure – I had a lot of walking still to do. 

Finally I found myself at Boston Common and the start of the Freedom Trail that I had intersected in the North End. The Freedom Trail is a self-walking tour that takes you from the Common and past numerous historical markers to Bunker Hill, site of a famous revolutionary battle between the English and the American colonists and today of a huge obelisk. Boston has a huge amount of late-colonial and revolutionary history. Some of its most notable residents were instrumental in the founding of the United States (13 of them in 1776!), and indeed some of their signatures are to be found on Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence (Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness etc etc. )

Founding Fathers like Samuel  Adams (after whom the beer is named) and John Hancock were from Boston, and are interred in the Granary Burying Ground, which is perhaps the second or third stop on the trail. South Church Meeting house is also on the trail, and is where the Boston Tea Party (not actually a social event!) and other acts of resistance were organised. Anyway I followed this trail almost all of the way through the city, zigzagging from historical waypoint to waypoint (via a canoli in the Italian district!), before finally finding what I had been looking for all along just over the North Washington Street Bridge, a bar! 
Perfect. Time to try a selection of north-eastern American pale ales. Although the concept started in the Pacific northwest, I was delighted to find that one of the first pioneering beers was brewed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Boston’s own Paul Revere’s midnight ride in 1775 when he snuck across the river to warn the colonists that the English were on their way. The tradition is alive and well in New England, and I enjoyed two great beers from Maine washed down with some Clam Chowder. While in Boston….

And that was it really. I had a quick look at Bunker Hill and at Old Ironsides, but I needed to get to Logan for my flight home and work on Monday morning. Due to striking pilots I had to go via Dublin which wasn’t much fun as it’s a five hour flight which results in a fairly meaningless amount of sleep, but I was able to freshen up on arrival and get myself ready for work before the short hop to London City. 

Hawaii Big Island - Trip Report

Hawaii again I'm afraid. Big Island. I actually cancelled the last trip I had planned for various reasons, and this one very nearly went the same way. In the end I decided to go, and once again it was terrific, albeit with a terrible ratio of time on the ground to time in the air. My Hawaii list continues to grow, and the Big Island is incredibly interesting for non-avian reasons. 

Logistics

• A four day trip in mid August, leaving on a Saturday morning via Stockholm (obviously), and arriving at Kona about mid-morning local time on Sunday. I left again late on Monday evening after a whirlwind tour of the island, arriving back in London on Wednesday morning and going straight to work.
• Flights were mostly American Airlines, with the transatlantic component being British Airways who thankfully were not on strike. They also took me to Sweden and back which turned this into an affordable trip - I think it is something to do with wanting to compete with the home market of budget carriers like Norwegian.
• Car hire via Thrifty this time, where I went for a "wildcard" which was an extremely cheap option whereby they give you whatever car they happen to have spare. My luck was in and this was a red Camaro convertible which I have to say improved my trip significantly.
• I stayed in the village of Volcano next which is right next to the Kilauea Crater rim, in a rather odd guesthouse, but as I wasn't there for any length of time it really didn't matter. I met a nice group of German agri-ecology students staying there who were studying trees on the islands, with a ratio of about one day of actual research to a week of time off having a ball. 
• I visited five key birding sites on the island; Aimakapa Fishpond on the west coast, Kipukapuaulu on the slopes of Mauna Loa, the Pu'u O'o Trail which is part of the Upper Waiakea Forest Reserve, Hilo Pond, and Kahoa Restoration area on the west side of Mauna Kea. The rest of the time was spent admiring incredible views, waterfalls, beaches and snorkelling.

Day 1: Travelling

Day 2: Arrival at Kona, south to Aimakapa Fishpond in Kaloko Honokohau State Park, then Kahalu'u Beach Park for some R&R, followed by a quick stop to view the Captain James Cook Monument in Kealakekua Bay. Further quick stops at Whittington Beach and Punalu'u Black Sands, before a couple of hours birding the Kipukapuaulu Trail. Overnight at Volcano.

Day 3: Early start down Chain of Craters Road stopping off frequently, ending at the cliffs at Holei. Then another circuit of the Kipuku before descending to Hilo and Waiakea Pond. Tourism at Rainbow Falls and then up the Saddle Road to the Pu'u O'o Trail where I spent the afternoon in amazing birding habitat. Late afternoon not finding at Palila at Kahoe, and then back down to the western shore for more R&R at Hapuna Beach, flopping about in the Pacific whilst watching the sun set. Evening flight to Los Angeles.

Day 4: Travelling, lost most of the day to time changes and then another overnight flight from New York to London.

The stars are the places I visited or planned to but didn't

Days 1 and 4 I am not planning to cover as they do not involve Hawaii at all, and descriptions of sleeping on airplanes are very dull. Days 2 and 3 were the main event.

Day 2: The arrival into Kona was superb on Sunday morning. Big Island is the most volcanic of the lot, and the tropical shore on the west side of the island is punctuated by huge lava flows originating from Mauna Loa and flowing all the way down to the sea in vast black rivers. I soon picked up my car and with the first birding stop mere miles away I had binoculars to my eyes in no time at all. I left the car at the marina at Kaloko Honokohau (turn right after the petrol station, signposted Honokohau Harbour, and then take the first right) and took the short path out to the beach, walking along the warm sand to the Finshpond which is perhaps a quarter of a mile north up the beach. There was a Pacific Golden Plover on the path, and several Grey Francolin in the scrub, and on the beach Turnstones and a Red-crested Cardinal foraged. Aimakapa Fishpond had a large number of Hawaiian Stilt, more PGPs, lots of Cattle Egret, two Black-crowned Night Heron and a few Hawaiian Coots, but armed only with a toy lens on this trip I wasn't able to take advantage. Around the pond were lots of tiny Zebra Dove, a Yellow-fronted Canary, but the dominant species of passerine was Common Waxbill. This is basically the story of Hawaii. There was a dead Orangespine Unicornfish on the beach which was rather a shame, but I would see a lot of far better looking ones very soon.

Pacific Golden Plover

Orangespine Unicornfish

My next stop was Kahalu'u Beach, identifed as good and safe spot to go snorkelling. Being a Sunday it was quite busy, but a significant portion of my luggage was my swimming stuff so there was no way I was going to miss out. Parking was easy, and soon I was happily zipping about in clear warm water amongst tropical fish and Green Sea Turtles. The 24 hours of travel and some killer small hours in LAX were swiftly forgotten, this is why I put myself through it. The fish were amazing - Humuhumunuknukuapua'a, Yellow Tang, Orangespines, Four-spot Butterflyfish, Lined Butterflyfish, Hawaiian Spotted Boxfish, Bullethead Parrotfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, Convict Tang, Hawaiian Sergeant Major, Moorish Idol, Hawaii Whitespotted Puffer, Black Triggerfish.... most of them in large numbers, in other words monumentally fantastic. It is a great shame that my little underwater camera is so crappy.

Sated, for now, I hauled myself out, and without waiting to dry off, jumped back in the car and with the roof down drove off along the coast road. I made a quick stop at a supermarket for some regulation Poké and a few beers for later on, and then made my way down to Kealakekua Bay and the James Cook Monument. Unless you take a boat tour you can't really get to this easily, but it is a white obelisk that marks the spot where Captain Cook was killed by natives in 1779 after a confrontation. I ate my Ahi Poké from across the bay in a contemplative mood. My first proper tick occured at around this point - as I was driving up towards Keokea via Pu'uhonua O Hanaunau, an 'Io flew over the car. This is the Hawaiian Hawk that is only found on Big Island, Buteo solitarius, and it was the only one I managed see whilst I was there and a major prize given there are only a few thousand of them. I watched it for a while as it soared against leaden skies, and just as it flew behind a ridge for the last time the heavens opened and I was forced to dash back to the car and put the roof up. I made it just in time, the rain was of biblical proportions, but a few miles up the road it was completely clear again. 

By now it was mid afternoon so I continued my anticlockwise journey around the island, very much enjoying the quiet roads. There are no major settlements in the south west corner of the island, consequently it is fairly wild and free of people. I made a short stop at Whittington Beach State Park, where a local BBQ was in full swing and birds were nowhere to be seen. Back to tourism mode, as a few miles further on is the very famous Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. This I had to see, and it was indeed very black. Again lots of locals enjoying the sand and the sea, and barring a number of Muscovy Ducks on a small pond just inland there were no birds about. The main birding site of the day was only half an hour up the road however.

A kipuka is a tract of old growth trees that has been cutoff at some point by a flow of lava and thus exists as a pocket of habitat. One of the best known of these is the Kipukapuaulu just outside the village of Volcano, just off the Mauna Loa Road. It is a circular track that is very easy going and it is crawling with birds. I had just enough time to do a leisurely circuit before dusk. The first birds I hit upon were Apapane, probably the most widespread Hawaiian Honeycreeper and distributed across all the islands. I counted probably around 20 in small groups around the parking circle, but once in the forest saw no more. I did jam upon a Hawaii 'Elapaio, a species of Monarch Flycatcher endemic to Big Island, so another pleasing score. The uber-sepcies is present on three of the islands and was split in 2010, and I had previously seen the Kauai species. However one school of thought also subdivides the Hawaii species into three further sub-species - Kona, Mauna Kea and Volcano - I was looking at the latter. Overall the circuit was quite quiet - a handful of Kalij Pheasants and some Red-billed Leiothrix which whilst both imports are very beautiful. At last knockings I tried the Mauna Loa viewpoint but the road was quite bad and went high enough that the final mile was in a cloud I couldn't see anything. I returned to Volcano and found my accommodation, chatted to some German students off to study the trees in the Hakalau Forest Reserve, had some more Poké (which I cooked because it had been in the hot car all day) and drank my beers whilst planning the next day.

Hawaii 'Elepaio

Day 3: I was up early, keen to make the most of what was my last day before the marathon journey back home. I had read that the Kipuka was better slightly later in the morning, which meant I had time to drive the Chain of Craters Road down the leeward side of Mauna Loa down to the sea. As recently as last year this was where you would go to see the lava flow crashing into the sea, but the eruptions of 2018 unfortunately shut all of that down. I had the road entirely to myself, and with the top down it was a magnificent drive as the road gradually descends to the sea. I didn't see another car either on the way down or the way up. I am not a big driver, and nor do I have much interest in cars, but in certain situations I can see the attraction. I stopped at all the various craters, seeing a few Apapane at the Pauhai Crater, but missed out on the Petroglyph site. At the Holei Sea Arch I parked up and walked across the lava to the cliffs to be presented with a fabulous sight - Black Noddy swirling around tremendous waves crashing against the rocks, with the sun rising above the horizon. 

Black Noddy - the birds on Hawaii are another potential split

Kilauea Crater

I stayed here a while it was so stunning, but really I needed to be at the Kipuku so I dragged myself away. What I hadn't forseen, despite the signs, were two Nene on the road back up to Kilaue. Whilst I had seen some of these on Kauai, I felt that the birds on Hawaii were perhaps 'better', and I had seen eBird reports on pairs seen on the slopes of Mauna Kea. The birds were completely unafraid (even of small Panthers) and fed contentedly by the roadside as I admired them and took a few photos. One was ringed, the other not.

Back at the Kipuku later than intended, I found it overrun with Kalij Pheasants. Battling my way through these I found another Hawaii 'Elepaio but for the life of me could not find an 'Oma'o. I met a volunteer on the trail who was able to identify all the birds on call, and whilst we heard several we couldn't actually see one. Bummer. Instead I had to make do with a Hwamei, another introduction.

Mauna Loa Road

Kalij Pheasant

The Bird Trail at Kipukapuaulu

I descended into Hilo for lunch, grabbing a pot of rice from a local diner and eating it at the pond. Here there were more PGP, lots of Nene (albeit looking less kosher than the ones on the volcano), a pair of Canada Geese, a Wandering Tattler, Mallards and Hawaiian Coots, and lots of House Sparrows. All good stuff! A brief stop at a thrift shop to buy another maxed-out Aloha shirt and I felt ready for a bit of genuine tourism at the nearby Rainbow Falls. This was heaving with people, but was still excellent.

From here I found my way to the start of the Saddle Road that crosses the centre of the island, looking for the Pu'u O'o Trailhead. This had been recommended by the volunteer at the Kipuku. Parking was extremely limited, and also rather exposed, but I hoped that there was enough passing traffic to deter any opportunistic thieves. There were of course warning signs all over the place saying to leave nothing etc, so as an afterthought I put my passports in my pocket before I headed down the trail. Initially you pick your way over broken lava before entering the native forest. At the beginning the trees are extremely gnarled and stunted, but as you pass through the lava and into a more open area they begin to get bigger. I could hear native Hawaiian birds everywhere, including the whistles of 'Oma'o. The trail is helpfully marked with cairns along its entire length, so I followed these across the open glade to the denser stands of native trees. As I entered the treeline I knew I was in the right place - there were Honeycreepers all over the place. The most common of these was the Hawaii Amakihi, another endemic species which has equivalents on some of the other islands. 'I'iwi were all over the place as well, chasing each other through the branches and making all sorts of weird and wonderful noises, and I finally set eyes on an 'Oma'o as it sang from just below the top of the canopy. And the best bit? There wasn't another person there. Other birds included more Leiothrix and also Japanse White-eye.

Native forest at 6000ft on Mauna Loa

The Pu'u O'o Trail

Hawaii Amakihi

The weather seemed to be closing in and I wasn't dressed ideally for 6000ft, so I made my way back to the car rapidly and avoided getting drenched. It was then only a short drive further along Saddle Road to the Kahoa Restoration Area, a Mamane Dry Forest where the last remnants of a population of Palila live. In short I couldn't find one, although there were lots of Amakihi again despite the completely different habitat to Pu'u O'o. I was also driving along in a convertible saloon car, rather than the 4x4 that was strictly required. I am not quite sure why as the dirt road was in excellent condition but I guess if it rains it is another story entirely. And with that threat of rain I did not linger, so Palila will need to wait for another trip - hopefully they will not become extinct before I can get back although as there are only a few thousand of them that is a distinct possibility.

The heavens did open as I made my way back down towards Kawaihae, the deep water port that a lot of Hawaii's goods come in via. It was so heavy at times that the wipers could not keep up, but again it seemed to be just on the leeward slope, as if it had washed over the top of the mountain and then come crashing down. Once back down at sea level it was perfectly clear and sunny. I found some food and hurried to Hapnua Beach State Park. I had planned more snorkelling around the edges of the bay but found the waves too much fun in the middle of the beach. I might be 44 but I know how to act like a small child when called for. Gradually the sun sank below the horizon and my day was over. All that remained was to drive back down to Kona, fill up the Camaro and give it back, and then wait for my flight to Los Angeles. The airport is typically Hawaiian, an open-air affair, so I was able to sit about and have a beer before getting on board and going to sleep.

Day 4: Los Angeles, New York, London...and back to work. :-(. An exhilarating trip once again, with some good birds seen and some better birds missed, but no complaints whatsoever. The Hawaiian endemic Honeycreepers are critically endangered and very hit and miss, to see any at all is a real treat and I've now managed to see seven along with plenty of other birds unique to the islands. 

Trip List