2018—Nēnē

Hawaii’s state bird is the Nēnē or Hawaiian Goose.  On the verge of extinction a few decades ago, the bird is considered an endangered species but is slowly gaining in numbers.  Evidence that the bird is beloved here in Kauai is everywhere, and the yellow diamond shaped Nēnē Crossing signs along the highway warn drivers that the goose has the right of way to cross in front of them. When we visited a small Hawaii State Wetlands Refuge near Waimea on late Thursday afternoon, as the sun dipped out of sight, we watched a small flock of Nēnē circle overhead and land directly in front of us. It couldn’t have been a more perfect setting.   How exciting it was for all of us to not only see these birds up close but to be able to photograph them in an ideal setting as they nibbled on local flora and settled in for the night.