Two Bird Pick-up

I got a text from Dr. Juan this morning; Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center needed someone to pick up 2 injured  birds & transport them to Feather & Fur. I was able to pick up both birds; one was at the Navy Exchange in Pearl Harbor & the other was at the Hawaiian Electric central office.

While picking up the bird from NEX, I remembered one of the reasons why I don't shop on Black Friday; the parking lot was crazy! It took me a while to even get turned around so I could park in the temporary pick up area so Dallas from NEX could bring the bird out to me. 

Both cars right in front of me were parked with their flashers on, blocking the lane.

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater that Dallas picked up.

Picking up the other bird was less busy; I had to go to a secured area with a guard & gate to check in at. I'm glad they gave me the alternate address; I never would have found it with the mailing address.  

The HECO central yard.

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater from HECO.

The 2 birds ready to got to Feather & Fur.

The main reason I do not shop on Black Friday is because I observe Buy Nothing Day; I've been doing it since about 1999. So I don't buy anything (except for last year) & usually I don't drive either since I am burning fuel that will have to be paid for down the line. But because I volunteered to transport the injured birds I needed to drive today.

Today is weigh-in day. I was not surprised that I gained 0,8 pounds over the last week. After all, last night was Thanksgiving & I ate more than I usually do on a Thursday night.

For lunch I finished off the last of the bread & crackers with the Cranberry Cinnamon Goat's Milk Cheese from yesterday. There's still about 1/3 of the roll left; it will be part of my late evening high protein/high fat/low carb snack. 

I also ate all the crackers that were left; there were about 8.

Later in the afternoon Dr. Juan sent out another text looking for someone to do transports on  the weekend & Monday. I told him I could do anytime on the weekend but only the afternoon on Monday.

Still later in the afternoon I got 2 emails from Marjorie; the 1st was confirming that I would be working at the clinic in Wahiawa. Anne & I have already been in touch on that one; we'll be having lunch together after the clinic.

The other email from Marjorie was about 3 more clinics next week. All are on Wednesday with 1 in the morning & 2 in the afternoon. I told her I could do either of the afternoon ones & send me to the one where she needs more help. 

For dinner I had some of the deli items I picked up at Kokua Market earlier in the week; I had the Turkey Chili with Mushroom & Artichoke Salad and Sauteed Broccoli & Kale.

Although Kīlauea volcano is still erupting it does not look like the lava lake got any larger today. 

The Aix weather app forecast partly cloudy all day for Honolulu and was accurate today. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast drizzles all day, turning to rain after dark; Big Island Now forecast mostly sunny with isolated showers & a 20% chance of rain. I did not get any live cam shots but the Honomū weather station at 10 p.m. had not recorded any precipitation today. For Marysville, Aix forecast rain all day; news reports seemed to comfirm this.

Kaimukī looking easterly at 9:58 a.m.

The high surf along the north facing shorelines was close to advisory levels & few surfers were out there this evening. Surf along other shorelines was smaller. 

Laniakea (N) at 5:28 p.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 5:24 p.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 5:48 p.m.

Banyans (W) at 5:24 p.m.

Dr. Libby Char, head of the State Department of Health, was interviewed this morning. She clarified that the vaccination numbers that have been reported are a little wonky. Apparently, some vaccinators are listing the 3rd dose as a 1st does if the patient did not get the 1st 2 shots from the same provider. Which would be my case. She said they are working on fixing the problem. Dr. Char also talked about today's case count; apparently the automated reporting system is still having issues & not reporting a bunch. She said they will be updated in the next couple of days.

 

Dr. Char also talked about the new variant out of South Africa; now called the Omicron variant. She confirmed that at this point WHO does not know much about it but it appears to be more contagious but that's about all. They are not sure how effective the vaccines will be against it. She also said that surveillance testing has continued & so far they have not found the Omicorn variant here.  

She also said herd immunity is not here & it is not endemic yet. Dr. Char said about 390,000 residents are currently not vaccinated but felt that as people see that vaccines give protection & are safe they will move towards becoming vaccinated. Regarding testing, she said earlier PCR & diagnostic tests were used to diagnosis infection; now at home antigen tests are being used as a public health tool. A future mitigation measure is to use frequent antigen testing to help keep others safe. She recommended mask wearing indoors until new case numbers decline to endemic levels; she said it will probably be the last mitigation to be removed since it is easy to do & very effective.

There were 27 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 87,210; this is an artificially low count due to interruptions to the State's automated lab reporting system. The missing case counts will be added next week. There was 1 new death reported increasing the number of fatalities to 1015; currently there are 1318 cases considered active. There is no new vaccination information due to the problem with the reporting system; hopefully it will be straightened out by next week. The 7-day new case average for the State is 75 with a positivity rate of 1.4%. The 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 35 with a positivity rate of 1.2%.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Michelle and to Sydney & Esco who celebrate their 1st birthday today!