Cold

It certainly is. Arrived back in the UK on Sunday 11th mid afternoon and spent the rest of the day trying to get back into "normal mode". Retired to bed early evening and woke up at 03.30 - jet lag has set in!

Ok, down to business - here's a rough list of the species seen while I was away. Departed UK on 29th December for 2 nights in Los Angeles - birding was restricted to a morning at Santa Monica beach, then onto Hawaii (the Big Island) for seven nights at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. During the stay on Hawai'i we were able to take a full day excursion with Hawai'i Forest & Trail to the permit only Hakalau reserve - more on this great biring day in another post. Departing Hawaii on the morning of the 7th we headed to San Francisco for 3 nights via a few hours stop over at Honolulu on Oahu.

I've taken a heap of photographs, these will creep onto the blog over the next few weeks.

The unofficial "list", probably with spelling mistakes etc:

1. great white egret



2. american crow



3. anna's hummingbird



4. black phoebe



5. yellow rumped warbler



6. western gull



7. western scrub jay



8. bushtit



9. house sparrow



10. starling



11. mourning dove



12. sanderling



13. brewers blackbird



14. heermann's gull



15. double crested cormorant



16. brandt's cormorant



17. pacific diver



18. surf scoter



19. marbled godwit



20. willet



21. brown pelican



22. glaucous-winged gull (SM/Hawaii (Waikoloa imm on 3rd Jan, rare but annual on Big Island)/SF))



23. herring gull



24. forster's tern



25. california gull



26. common myna



27. nutmeg mannikin



28. spotted dove



29. zebra dove



30. pacific golden plover - unbelievably common and tame on Hawaii: car parks, grass verges on roads, garage roofs.... !



31. saffron finch



32. wandering tattler



33. black-crowned night heron



34. japanese white-eye



35. yellow billed cardinal



36. northern cardinal



37. african silverbill



38. bristle-thighed curlew (star bird on trip, single at Waikoloa throughout stay - oblivious to humans, many, many photographs taken!!)



39. short-eared ("hawaiian") owl - seen at close range on Saddle Road



40. ring-necked pheasant (inc green morph)



41. erckel's francolin



42. skylark



43. hawaiian hawk - pale and dark morph seen



44. wild turkey



45. kalij pheasant



46. red-billed leiothrix



47. house finch



48. yellow fronted canary



49. 'elepaiao - ridgwayi form



50. 'omao



51. 'akepa



52. 'amakihi



53. hawaiian creeper



54. 'apanane



55. 'i'wii



56. nene



57. java sparrow



58. ruddy turnstone



59. hawaiian stilt - 5 on pools north of hotel



60. grey francolin



61. red-vented bulbul



62. red-whiskered bulbul



63. red-crested cardinal



64. mew gull



65. ring-billed gull



66. western grebe



67. orange-crowned warbler



68. red-masked parakeet



69. great blue heron



70. greater scaup



71. ruddy duck



72. bufflehead



73. pied billed grebe



74. eared (black-necked) grebe



75. killdeer



76. least sandpiper



77. song sparrow



78. white-crowned sparrow



79. goldened-crowned sparrow



80. california towhee



81. american coot



82. snowy egret



83. northern mockingbird



84. red-winged blackbird



85. mallard



86. canada goose



87. chestnut backed chickadee



88. american robin



89. common yellowthroat



90. townsends warbler



91. ruby crowned kinglet



92. dark eyed junco



93. hermit thrush



94. raven



95. red-tailed hawk



96. red-shouldered hawk



97. american wigeon



98. pygmy nuthatch



99. red-breasted nuthatch

Annoyingly 'akiapola'au was only heard in Hakalau.