Testing eBird Checklist App

I finally loaded the eBird app on to my phone; I had to delete 3 videos since I have not been able to figure out how to download them to my laptop. The app did slow down my walking from 2.8 mph to 2.5 mph; it took me 36 minutes today versus 33 minutes yesterday to do the same route. Here's what the morning checklist that I submitted looks like online. I saw 10 species and 57 individuals.


I started my walk about 3 minutes before sunrise; it was also overcast so it wasn't too bright. As I was driving in I had seen both Steph & Lorraine, separately, walking down the hill; I did not cross paths with either of them while I was walking. In fact, I saw no regulars this morning. But that was probably a good thing since I was distracted trying to figure out how to use the eBird app while I was walking.

1 minute before sunrise on Maunalani.

From Sierra.

Earlier I had mentioned that I was going to try to identify the slugs that I find. I have tried, but have found out that the 2 most common species have highly variable color patterns and can only be definitively identified by dissecting and looking at their sex organs. So I won't be identifying slugs I see. But here's one to illustrate twisted biologist humor.

Q: What do you call a slug that has been run over by a car? A: Platyhelminth! (platy = flat, helminth = worm)

For breakfast Dad ate most of his papaya but only 2 bites of his scrambled eggs. He drank all his supplements.

There is definitely a difference in birds seen between the morning and mid-morning walks. It is also more difficult to do data entry because of the glare on the phone screen. I saw 11 species & 68 individuals; one was a large flock of Java Sparrows (Lonchura oryzivora). As I was starting my walk I saw Mike & Henry for the 3rd day in a row. They were on their way down to the park so Henry could have some social time with other dogs. Later Suzette stopped as she was driving by.


I took a photo of the ironwoods (Casuarina equisetifolia) that are just below the park. The wind moving through the branches has a different sound than it does moving through the leaves of other trees; it reminds me of the Big Island where ironwoods are along either side of the Kohala Mountain Road.


Mushrooms are beginning to come up in several lawns. So far the ones i have found look like they might be Conocybe species which are not edible. And even if they were, they're kind of small so you would have to pick a bunch of them. Not really worth it.


Lunch today was Chinese style steamed fish, Steamed rice, Sesame garlic eggplant, Tossed salad, Almond float, and Egg drop soup. It looks like they ran out of Almond float and gave me fruit cocktail instead. Dad ate half of his peanut butter & jelly sandwich for 25% and half his supplements.


The weather during my afternoon walk was similar to the mid-morning walk but a slight bit warmer. Still a lot of glare on the phone screen; in fact I accidentally added a Black Swan to my checklist and said I saw 17 Kolea! Not! I corrected those before I submitted my checklist. By the way, you can set the language in eBird to one of about 60 languages; one of them being "English (HAW)" meaning that Hawaiian names are listed along with the English and scientific names. I'm using that one; it will help me learn the Hawaiian names of the species I see. During my afternoon walk I saw 10 species and 120 individuals; there were flocks of Java Sparrows and Scaly-breasted Munias (Lonchura puctulata).


During my cool down stretches I have also been noting what birds I see. Because I am only spending about 10 minutes and I am stationary I see far fewer species and individuals. But I can use the binoculars so I can get a better identification on the individuals that I do see. I am thinking I might just do a checklist for the morning walk, then checklists for the cool down stretches for the other 2 walks. I'll be doing checklists for all my walks and cool downs for the next couple of days and see how it goes.

I took a photo of Luna tonight. Right now she's being isolated in the bathroom for a week or so to get acclimated. When I first saw her I thought she was full Siamese but after she was out of the carrier I could see that she was only half Siamese. She is about 8 months old. Hopefully she and S'mores will become good playmates so that Chibi can get a break.


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to my niece Sarah and also to Jesse, Lynne, Eric, & Ava! And also my Fitbit which is 1 year old today.