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Hawaiian Airlines had a great article on the kolea in their inflight magazine last December 2004. It's probably tough to find an issue of it here in April 2005, but if you can locate one, the article about the kolea in it was extremely interesting.
I have also read about the kolea that the day they leave Hawaii for Alaska, usually April 26th, is the most precisely held scheduled migration departure date in the animal kingdom. Anybody know anything about that?
Plover lovers
Nadine Kam, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Monday, April 25, 2005
When I spoke to Annette Kaohelaulii of the Sierra Club to inquire about the bird, she was suspicious. "Aren't you the one who writes about food?" "Yes, I am, but I have many other interests." "Oh." "Why?" "You know they used to eat kolea in the past," she said. "I wouldn't want that to come back." I didn't know. But then, there's a lot that humankind doesn't know about the kolea...
I should have posted this last week, but there's one more Kolea lecture, for those of you who are interested in hearing about the work of Wally Johnson and his crew, who monitor kolea every year. I attended last Monday's lecture at St. John's Hall at UH-Manoa. Here's part of the blurb as it appeared in the Star-Bulletin.
Wally Johnson, of Montana State University, brings a team of
researchers each April to tag kolea in Hawaii with temporary radio
transmitters that track the birds after they migrate to Alaska for the
summer.
Johnson's talks will be:
April 18 (monday) 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. @ UH-Manoa
April 22 (friday) 7 to 8 pm at Waimea Falls Park
April 26 (tuesday) 7 to 8:30 pm at Windward CC
I highly recommend it, if you can make it out to WCC. The slides alone are worth the trip, and the info is just fascinating. Perhaps later I'll post a few of the interesting facts I picked up. I took notes, of course. I'm a teacher.
But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza) GrouchyTeacher.com
Saw one walking around the main walkway at Honolulu Community College during lunch today. I guess it's not ready to leave yet.
Originally posted by from Bob Krauss's article
Of course, the $64 question is, how do they find their way to Alaska without a compass or radar?
Flying to Alaska should be the easy part, the land mass is big enough so it would be easy enough to spot, it's flying the other way around is the real mystery, the Hawaiian Island chain are specks compared to Alaska.
Yeah I saw one yesterday... Kahaluu. Apparently, someone didn't let him know.
Does anyone remember a few years back that there was a Perigrine (sp?) falcon cruising the highrises in the Aiea/Pearlridge area? Apparently, the Golden Plover is like a loco moco to these falcons. Residents reported seeing this bird harvesting GPs right out of the air.
I saw my first kolea of the season this morning--he was hanging out on the front lawn of the Valkenburgh fire station, near Moanalua Shopping Center and Holy Family School. Saw two more later the same morning.
This morning, I saw the same first kolea! He was right there on the lawn in front of the fire station. He didn't seem as happy to see me as I was to see him.
Then, a few minutes later, I saw two more but I can't say if they were the same two more as last year. Last year it was August 18 that I saw them; this year, it's August 10. It's nice to have them home.
But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza) GrouchyTeacher.com
I think the Kolea came back to Hawai'i early this year for a reason:
"Fossil evidence suggests that the kolea have been flying between Hawaii and Alaska for at least 120,000 years, and their appearance in the oral traditions of pre-contact Polynesian societies has led to speculation that some Pacific islands, perhaps even the Hawaiian Islands themselves, were discovered by Polynesians following the migrating birds. O ka hua o ke kolea aia i Kahiki goes an old Hawaiian saying: The egg of the kolea is laid in a foreign land. Among native Hawaiians both ancient and modern, the kolea is a protector spirit, or aumakua, and the birds’ feathers were once used to make cloaks and kahili for the alii. Kolea are woven through Hawaiian stories, chants and hula; in one myth, the kolea is an incarnation of Koleamoku, a god of healing and a message-bearer to the alii. Some of the mythology persists today as folk belief: If a kolea circles your home while calling, you can expect a death in the family. If one flies across your lawn, you will have a visitor.
To many in the Islands, the kolea symbolize a deep connection to the land and the traditions of those who first settled it. The migration of the kolea represents the unbroken continuity of the world’s ancient rhythms. "It’s easy to take for granted how incredibly well the universe is put together, but kolea remind us of how amazing the natural world is and why we need to take care of it," says Annette Kaohelaulii, amateur birdwatcher and president of the Hawaii Ecotourism Association. Kaohelaulii takes small groups of birders to Alaska to observe kolea. "The Alaskan cultures see in the kolea a deep connection with the Earth," she says. "The same is true for Hawaiians. It’s a very old wisdom."
"Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain
Originally posted by Miulang who got it from Hana Hou (Hawaiian Airlines Magazine)
Fossil evidence suggests that the kolea have been flying between Hawaii and Alaska for at least 120,000 years, and their appearance in the oral traditions of pre-contact Polynesian societies has led to speculation that some Pacific islands, perhaps even the Hawaiian Islands themselves, were discovered by Polynesians following the migrating birds.
Wouldn't the pre-contact Polynesians be sailing from south to north while the kolea be flying north to south?
Last edited by helen; August 10, 2005, 11:59 AM.
Reason: correcting the source of the quote
Wouldn't the pre-contact Polynesians be sailing from south to north while the kolea be flying north to south?
Yes, but Hawaii is not the only place in the Pacific where Kolea live. They are scattered all over the mid- and south-Pacific, including in New Zealand and Australia. So it's quite possible that Polynesians saw the birds flying north, disappearing for the summer months and the reappearing in August, and perhaps they figured there must be somewhere worth visiting, up north.
I have some very interesting notes about the migration, from that lecture last spring. I'll dig them up by the end of the week and share them.
But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza) GrouchyTeacher.com
The reason why the early return of the kolea may be significant to the kanaka maoli is because in Hawaiian mythology, Koleamoku is the patron of the kahunas and is thought to bring messages of healing. The kanaka maoli are very spiritual people, and the arrival of the kolea may be timed to the current turmoil afflicting KSBE, just as the schooling swarms of aweoweo were supposed to presage turmoil or times of change.
Miulang
"Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain
The kanaka maoli are very spiritual people, and the arrival of the kolea may be timed to the current turmoil afflicting KSBE, just as the schooling swarms of aweoweo were supposed to presage turmoil or times of change.
Anyone remember anything of major significance that might have happened two years ago?
Anyone remember anything of major significance that might have happened two years ago?
I searched through the Hawaii news annals for the year 2003, and around the time of the aweoweo swarming, the first KSBE suit had just been filed in June, 2003:
"...The Kamehameha Schools' renewed Hawaiians-only
admission policy is being challenged as a civil
rights violation under a lawsuit filed yesterday
in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of an unidentified
non-Hawaiian student says federal civil rights
laws prohibit private schools from denying
admission on the basis of race.
"They bring this action anonymously on the basis
of their reasonable fears of retaliation by
(Kamehameha Schools) students, their parents and
members of the public for challenging (Kamehameha
Schools') preference for applicants of Hawaiian
ancestry," the lawsuit reads..."
Could the aweoweo have been the warning sign of trouble and the kolea a sign that everything would be made pono for KSBE? How much more coincidental can you get?
Miulang
"Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain
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