More on the Fauna

"Lolo" Rooster

Albatross in the Neighbourhood

“Lolo” is what the native Hawaiians call those roosters – crazy! Why? Because unlike most roosters who crow primarily at dawn, the Kauaian variety are mostly quiet during the day but crow all through the night and early morning hours. I’m sure I mentioned this before. I found out from our helicopter pilot that, apparently, many were “liberated” during Hurricane Iniki which hit Kauai on Sept. 11, (!) 1992. The fancy roosters bred with local varieties and now (over)populate the island. They are handsome indeed but ... Anne lives at Princeville, somewhat like a gated community (they have gates but don’t man them) just south of Hanalei. She says they don’t have the lolo birds there because they trap them and relocate them, should they be foolish enough to venture onto the perfectly manicured golf courses and lawns of this development. We have news for her – they are hiding in the forest on the hillside just above Kaweonui Beach where we took an earlier hike. There were plenty down lurking down there in the undergrowth. Shall we give them away?
Princeville is also the nesting ground of Albatrosses. Developers constructed the ultra modern homes, condos and hotels, but surprisingly the birds return each November to raise their chicks right in the front gardens of a few of the residents. Apparently the chicks return after a few seasons to repeat the process. Miraculous!
There are signs in the vicinity of Anne’s house indicating Albatross Crossings and issuing warnings about penalties for molesting these legendary birds. To me, dare I say it, they looked a bit like giant seagulls on growth hormones! We stopped to let one waddle, slowly and slightly off balance, like a drunken sailor, in front of our shiny little red Chrysler PT. It wasn’t bothered by us humans at all.