Hawai'i Wildlife Center, Part 2

I volunteered at the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center again this morning; I only go for the 1st 2 hours when they are busiest with food preparation and giving medications. Heidi was off today, so I was working again with Jayce but there was another volunteer there, Jacque. I helped Jayce feed and medicate one of the Red-footed Boobies; I had to hold a towel up to keep the 4 other boobies from coming and stealing the fish as she was tending to the injured bird that is now well enough to go out to the large outdoor aviary with a big swimming pool but not strong enough to fight for her own food.

Fish for the boobies and Manu-o-Kū.

The patient; she has an injured left wing.

The other boobies. How many do you see? Answer in tomorrow's blog!

I also helped Jayce feed the 2 Nene. The female has now gotten strong enough that she flies to the top of the temporary divider that confines them closer to the entrance. One of the birds had some feathers removed for surgery, but as they grow in he has been pulling some of the blood feathers out prematurely, causing bleeding. Keeping them in a smaller area makes it easier to check on its condition.

The male on the ground if the one plucking his feathers out.

Frankie Lynn, the Gray Francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus) with the deformed beak, has been laying eggs. Because there is no male they are not fertilized so they have been collecting the eggs. So far there are 3 of them.


On the way back I stopped at Minnieʻs to pick up lunch. Today's catch of the day was mahimahi. Today is also Friday when they have their prime rib & lobster dinner; you have to order ahead for it, so I did. Then I gave them a 25% tip; I have been doing larger tips during this time so I can help keep them in business.



This morning was dry again, I guess whatever weather system was offshore bringing us nightly rains has moved on.

Twenty-one minutes before sunrise.

When I returned I found that Grey had husked and shelled the remaining macadamia nuts. When I put them in the dehydrator I moved the other rack of nuts and turned them 180 degrees to get more even drying. I can't wait to taste them!


Grey made dinner tonight, he's trying to use up a lot of the supplies that he bought for his stay on land, things that would be more difficult to prepare on the boat or that take up too much space. He had a pizza for lunch (one of about 4 or 5 that he had in the freezer). Dinner was frozen fish fillets with a coleslaw with a mayonnaise and shoyu dressing; Grey also ate the rice from my lunch plate. Sorry no photos.

Today there were 34 new cases for a total of 319 cases of COVID-19 statewide; there are 20 cases on Hawai'i Island. Three more people have been hospitalized for a total of 18 and another person has died for a total of 3. On the plus side, 6 more people are now out of isolation for a total of 78. 


I think the epidemiological curve provides some hope that people have been practicing good hand hygiene & social distancing. So far, the daily new cases based on onset of symptoms has been no higher than 25. If we can continue that for the remainder of the gray box on the right, that would indicate that we are doing things right. Only time will tell.


Earlier the caption for this map indicated it would only be updated every Monday; that does not appear to be the case since April 1st was not a Monday. I will post it whenever there is a new version. FYI Pay attention to the legend at the lower left; as the number of cases increases, the number of cases represented by each color may change.


Answer to yesterday's question: There are an average of 11 slices in the variety of tangerines that grow here; I am not sure if this is the same for all tangerines. Of the ones I butterflied yesterday one had 9, one had 10, one had 13, and the remaining 5 had 11 slices.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Debi!