No Cockatoos

My morning walk was peaceful again; Lynnette and I agreed that it is the best time of the day to walk! I also saw Lorraine twice and LaVie in the distance. Cody & Rollie were just finishing their walk as I came down the hill; they were back home by the time I got to where I had seen them. I did not see or hear the cockatoo this morning. Last night I discovered that no cockatoos are included in the Bishop Museum list of birds of Hawaiʻi; that is because the list does not include introduced species that have not become established. I'm very glad they have not become established!

Thirteen minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Five minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

At one point during my cool down stretches there were 5 non-native bird species perched in the tree across from the covered viewpoint. I could see them clearly, but the photo isn't as clear so I have labeled it for you.

 Clockwise from top: Rose-ringed Parakeets (red), Common Myna (yellow), Java Sparrow (blue), 'Ehakō (Spotted Dove, pink), and Red-vented Bulbuls (orange).

Dad was up & eating when I got to his room around 7:45; he had eaten about 1/4 of his fried egg sandwich and about 1/3 of his papaya. He had no banana, his drinks were apple juice & water, and there was a straw in his juice; this was CNA Rebecca's first time working with Dad. I removed the straw & let Rebecca know about the "no straws" policy, the juice was fine since he is eating more solid food he doesn't need the supplements as regularly.

I'm feeling better today; no chills and much more rested. But I was informed that over the weekend nephew Brent helped with Grandpa Maui who had to go to the emergency room for a respiratory infection; last night he was feeling under the weather so I need to be cautious about early symptoms. And Curtis texted that Jenny was sick today so he was watching Grandma Maui who was sick but better than yesterday; Grandpa Maui is still in the hospital.

During my mid-morning walk Kelly drove by, it looked like he was returning from a morning of surfing. Near the end of my mid-morning walk I saw Suzette moving some boxes in to her new place; she invited me to come in for a quick tour so I helped her carry a box in. It's a cute little place, much like her previous place but with some noticeable improvements. For one the stairs from the street to the front door are solid concrete not rickety old wooden stairs that move when you step on them!


I saw a Cattle Egret flying down Lurline during my mid-morning walk. It looks like the air currents along Lurline are beneficial to more than just the Manu-o-Kū. I also saw a flattened Red-vented Bulbul; not sad about that. I have listed what I look for to make an identification. Making identifications on things that have been damaged is more difficult but it is possible. That's why I like to take photos when things are freshly flattened, then continue taking photos as they become more deteriorated. I guess its my version of a body farm. One of my managers used to call me the "Forensic Wetlands Biologist" since he would send me out to figure out if there used to be a wetland or stream on a site that had been bulldozed. I would pick up plant pieces and throw them in a shallow pan of water in my back yard and see what grew from the pieces. Then later I would know what plants I was looking at after they had been bulldozed.

Note the cupped wings, bent neck, long bill, and long trailing legs; these are obvious in flight.

The red portion of the vent was mashed beyond recognition, but the overall size and very dark color of the wings and other feathers point to this being a Red-vented Bulbul.

Lunch today was Chicken fettucine alfredo, Key West blend vegetables, Tossed salad, Orange pound cake, and Minestrone soup. I requested the Lemon baked fish & Brown rice alternate meal. Although I did get the alternate selection; it took a while & there was some confusion over it. I think I shall not ask for the alternate again; I'll just learn how to control eating the carbs that show up at lunch on my own. I already don't eat the white rice because I prefer brown rice; I could do similar with the pasta & just eat the meat topping. Dad ate all of his 1/2 peanut butter & jelly sandwich, 2 slices of the orange pound cake dessert (I gave him mine), and drank 240 ml of his Plus supplement.


Today I met Myriam, the new speech therapist; she will be working with Mr. Yamada. I found out she likes papayas! I will be bringing some in for her tomorrow.

During my afternoon walk, at Miss Paula's house there was a box of stone eggs at the end of her driveway; she wasn't around so I couldn't ask her what the story is behind the eggs.


During my mid-morning walk the hāpuʻu was not as moist as I would have liked it to be; but I think the water was going to go on shortly. In the afternoon it was nice and moist. I also found that one of the new fronds was beginning to unfurl; I will be watching it closely to see how it does in the increasingly warming weather.


I saw 3 cats today. One was the shy one I saw on Saturday; it stuck around today. The other was a very friendly cat that came up to me to get pet. The last was lounging under a car in the heat of the afternoon.

Cat #1 Shy Cat. There's a cat-sized door in the garage door out of the photo to the right.

Cat #3 Friendly Cat, coming to get pet.

Cat #4 Laid back Cat.

This evening I was supposed to meet with Michael from H & R Block for Dad's & my taxes for 2018. I don't mind paying them to do the taxes, especially Dad's with all the investment stuff that Mom had set up. And mine has gotten a little complicated also with investments that Harold has made for me. But because of all the stuff going on last week I was unable to get all the paperwork together; I ended up dropping it off yesterday so Michael did not have enough time to finish things. But he did call me this evening to ask some questions about things that appeared to be missing; he recalled a conversation last year where I said we were closing out some of Mom's accounts & consolidating them.

On Sunday we began taste testing the chocolate bars that I picked up as omiyage. We started with the Theo Black Rice Quinoa Crunch 85% Dark Chocolate bar. I found it to be too bitter and the crunch from the black rice & quinoa did nothing to improve the experience. Michael uses Theo's plain 85% dark chocolate bar as an ingredient for his dark chocolate low carb desserts. Last night I opened up Mānoa Chocolate's Hawaii Chocolate which is a 70% cacao dark chocolate; it needs to be eaten also. I like this one better, I found it smoother & better tasting than the Black Rice Quinoa Crunch.


Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Chad, Bev, Garrett, Stef, & Maya!