Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Hawaiian gallinule

This is the 'alae 'ula, a small native bird from the Hawaiian islands. Apparently, there are only about 500 of them left in Hawaii. This family lives in the Waimea Valley in a protected area, and they seem to like to spend their time deep in the wetland cover you can see in the background. Fortunately, they came out to explore and scurry across the lily pads for a little while when we first arrived. Of course, it wasn't long before the little one was getting in trouble with mom, I assume for wandering too far.