We have been having some beautiful sunsets recently and wanted to share photos with you. (Video and Photos by Neil.)
Sunset on February 21st was lovely. Lucky I had the camera with me as we sat watching whales from the beach at the end of the driveway. I had been hoping to capture the momentary legendary green flash at the moment the sun drops below the horizon. I’ve seen much better ones than the weak one I caught here, even so, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Video and Text by Neil
Here’s the male cardinal who asked me to put some sunflower seeds out. He visits several times a day and chirps while he eats. The female comes too, but she is more skittish. Like many females I know, she does not like her picture taken — especially when she is eating! She also talks a lot while she eats. We can tell their voices apart and know who is visiting without even looking. But of course, it is more fun to watch them! (I’m pretty sure if we would take each one of their cheeps and slow it down enough we would hear “thaaaannnnkkkkssss!”)
The more I observe this male Cardinal the more impressed I am with him. I have lived here for 14+ years and never put food out for the birds. Then, a few weeks ago this male Cardinal started visiting this bush and calling to us as we sat whale watching over morning tea. It took about 3 days for me to get the idea to put food out for him. As soon as I did, he would visit several times a day, serenading us with joyful song. When he left he usually took an unopened seed with him. Why??
At first, the cautious female would stay at a distance and the male would fly seeds over to her, sometimes more than once during a feeding session. Eventually, the female would come on her own. It definitely appeared as if he was patiently teaching her how to be an adult.
He seems to be a good mate. Surprisingly often he will show up bringing her some treat. At the end of this clip we see her spit out a sunflower seed to make room for one. She opens her mouth for it like a young bird. Hopefully they will show up one day with some little ones!
My bonding time was with Quentin. I took care of him for almost three weeks in January and another week the end of February. The reason is Quentin’s grandmother, Marjorie, was diagnosed with a brain tumor late in 2011. Her major surgery took place in mid January on Oahu. I am happy to say that the doctor feels he got out the majority of disease and Marjorie is stable and happy at home again. Vajra accompanies her mother to Oahu as caregiver. Vajra also look the Certified Nursing Assistant course on Oahu in January while her mother was recovering from the surgery.
After the surgery Vajra and Quentin moved from Kula back to Paia to share the house with Marjorie. Quentin remains at the same school and is very happy about that. I helped with packing and cleaning the Kula home, then spent another week with Quentin in Paia when Marjorie needed an emergency surgery. All successful.
Neil has continued to explore the cool features of our new camera (Sony Cybershot HX9V) including the HD video features. He shot several segments and has edited a three and a half minute video of whale activity viewed from our lanai. [Clicking on the link will open a window in youtube. You can click on the gear looking icon in lower right of the play screen to choose HD 1080p (high definition) if you have fast bandwidth downloading and then expand to full screen.]
While Quentin and Sophie were here, they got to open their Christmas gifts from us, Quentin’s dad, grandparents, and great-grandparents. There was much more excitement about that than watching how the fish settled into their new home! Imagine!
Sophie specifically requested to visit the aquarium. Quentin has been there “a thousand times (he says with a dramatic sigh)” and has no interest in going anymore, but of course he wanted to come too when he found out I was going to take Sophie on one of her last days here. We all had a great time exploring and moving from exhibit to exhibit. What a fun visit!
