A Farewell to Tsuki 月 — Part 2 of 4

04.21.22 - 04.25.22

If you enjoy Where’s Waldo? you might have fun with “Where’s Tsuki 月?”

Tsuki 月 has distinctive eyes. She has beautiful, long eyelashes!

To get you started finding Tsuki 月, the first photograph in the 04.25.22 set shows off Tsuki’s 月’s gorgeous eyes!

04.21.22

Sometimes I think that the point of birdwatching
is not the actual seeing of the birds,
but the cultivation of patience.
—Lynn Thomson (author)

Birds will give you a window, if you allow them.
They will show you secrets from another world–
fresh vision that, though it is avian,
can accompany you home and alter your life.
—Lyanda Lynn Haupt (author)

Birds are indicators of the environment.
If they are in trouble, we know we'll soon be in trouble.
—Roger Tory Peterson (ornithologist)

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.
—Aesop

Adopt the pace of Nature; her secret is patience.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (essayist, philosopher)

04.22.22

Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines.
It's the closest you can come to being a bird.
—Neil Armstrong

5 white terns in one frame!

5 white terns in one frame!

5 white terns in one frame!

‘Carpe Diem,’ does not mean ‘fish of the day.’
—Unknown

So long, and thanks for all the fish.
—Douglas Adams

Once you have tasted flight,
you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.
—Leonardo Da Vinci (inventor, artist)

04.25.22

I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful —
an endless prospect of magic and wonder.
—Ansel Adams (photographer)

As children, we are very sensitive to nature’s beauty, finding miracles
and interesting things everywhere. As we grow up, we tend to forget how beautiful
and magnificent the world is. There is magic and wonder for eyes who know
how to look with curiosity and love.
—Ansel Adams (photographer)

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
—Aristotle (philosopher)

In nature, we find silence and tranquility, yet nature has its own language
by which it speaks to those who are paying attention.
—Radahath Swami (monk)

A Farewell to Tsuki 月 — Part 1 of 4

04.04.22 - 04.14.22

Remarkably, Tsuki (月) is still around, usually sleeping and warming up on a high branch of the makai playground kukui nut tree nearest to Starbucks.

Mum and dad still bring her fish, which she gobbles down in faster than you can raise a camera and get a shot. We all hope Tsuki will come back to have her chicks with us!

On the bright side, the kukui nut trees on the makai playground are routinely scrutinized as potential “nesting” spots. Manu-o-Ku (white terns) do not make nests!

One pair, in particular, looks ready to settle down in one of the trees over the front gate. So much so we removed dead branches that looked like they might not be safe for a fluffy little tree angel.

Enjoy a few photographs taken since the last tern post, April 2, 2022.

04.04.22 — A Busy Day

One reason that birds matter—ought to matter—is that they are our last,
best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding. They’re the most
vivid and widespread representatives of the Earth as it was
before people arrived on it.

—Jonathan Franzen (author, bird lover)

There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window.
You’d be a fool to miss it.

—Charlotte Eriksson (author, songwriter)

04.06.22

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

—William Shakespeare (playwright)

Watching birds has become part of my daily meditation.

—Carol P. Christ (historian, theologian)

Birds are the most accomplished aeronauts the world has ever seen.

—David Attenborough (natural historian)

Nature is not a place to visit, it is home.

—Gary Snyder (poet)

I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly
and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence –
that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.

—Lynn Thomson (author)

The bird thinks it a favor to give the fish a lift in the air.

—Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali polymath)

04.08.22

In order to see birds, it is necessary to become part of the silence.”

– Robert Lynd (author)

I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than aeroplanes.

—Charles Lindbergh (aviator)

04.11-22 - 04.14.22

Birds are, perhaps, the most eloquent expression of reality.

—Roger Tory Peterson (naturalist, ornithologist)

I hope you love birds too.  It is economical. It saves going to heaven.

—Emily Dickinson (poet)

Tsuki Can Fly!

Tsuki (月): “This is me one month ago, small and fluffy.”

DON’T BLINK!

Tsuki, our manu-o-Kū (white tern) chick has grown like a weed.

  • Tsuki (03.01.22) is pictured above

  • By the time you reach the bottom of this gallery (04.01.22) you’ll see Tsuki beginning to fly!

HNS student: “We don’t grow that fast!”

Here’s a quick catch-me-up over the last month…

03.07.22 — week of

Still a fluffy little tree angel.

Tsuki (月): “Hello! Here I’m still a fluffy little tree angel.”

03.17.22 — SPRING BREAK

Tsuki’s white feathers begin to show amidst her brown & gray fluff!

03.28.22 — GOT WINGS!

What a difference a week makes!

Tsuki the fluffy little tree angel now has white feathers & wings!

Tsuki (月): “See me stretching my wings?”

Tsuki: “Hello world!”

03.30.22 — WHAT A DIFFERENCE 2 DAYS MAKES!

Student question: Why does Tsuki grow so fast?

Answer: For many species, the faster you attain adulthood, the less likely you are to be eaten by a hungry predator!

Tsuki (月): “I’d rather not be eaten by a predator.”

03.31.22 — MANU-O-KŪ DOG FIGHT OUTSIDE STARBUCKS!

Manu-o-Kū (white terns) fly about with the speed and agility of fighter jets.

On 03.31.22 a stranger manu-o-Kū thought s/he might secure a foothold in Tsuki’s kukui-nut tree.

Tsuki’s parents initiated an aerial dog fight!

Tsuki, parent 1 & agitated parent 2: “Intruder alert!”

Parent 2: “And stay away!”

03.31.22 — SNACK TIME (HOW ‘BOUT SOME FISH?)

The transfer of big fish from parent to child is now so quick it’s no wonder we see fewer feeding sessions.

Gulp!

And the fish is down the gullet in seconds!

Parent: “Fish? Big fish? It’s fresh.”

Parent: “That didn’t take long.”

04.01.22 — “I CAN FLY"!”

Parent: “Just flap a lot and glide. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

Tsuki (月): “First, I think I’ll eat a piece of wood.”

Tuski (月): “I can do this!”

Tsuki (月): “Where to now?”

Tuski (月): “Wow.”

Tsuki (月): “I think I’m getting the hang of this!”

Tsuki (月): “Let’s see if I can get to that branch over there.”

Tsuki (月): “Watch out HNS, by next Monday I’ll be flying—and maybe crashing—in the playground!”

Parent: “And before long, you’ll be soaring. And catching your own fish.”