Fledglings and nestlings.

This is the chick (yes baby) Laysan albatross. You may recall way back on one of my original blog postings I wrote about an adult albatross sitting on a nest in a yard. That nest failed. Turns out they were 'just practicing' since these birds do not start reproducing until they are 7 years old! However, here is a successful nest (when I say nest I mean trampled spot of bare ground) with its sole chick waiting for mom or dad to return from the pacific ocean to vomit flying fish eggs, squid, or whatever Fear Factoresque cuisine into its mouth. It reminds me of a scruffy teenager who is really old enough to be on his own, but he sticks around because the fridge is stocked and his clothes get washed. This nestling has almost all his feathers, but his neck and head sport fuzzy gray baby-chick down feathers. It looks ludicrous to me. This bird is huge - as big as a house cat - and it is sitting there waiting for mom or dad to return and bring home some take-out dinner.

So when an endangered species makes a "nest" in your yard (actually I am hesitant to call the matted grass spot a nest), you are obliged to install an informational sign to warn off the ornithological onlookers. Then wait....months for their sole chick to fledge the nest. I guess it could be a bragging right - "Did you see the endangered albatross chick in my yard?" Well you better hurry, it'll be gone in like 3 months. 

In this one neighborhood there are at least 5 nests scattered in the back and front yards of three houses. These oversized fuzz headed 'babies' look so out of place in these well manicured yards. Fuzzy versions of the plastic pink flamingos of my youth. Awaiting for these chicks to fledge the nest and strike out on their own reminds me of my own children. 

Shayne, like most girls in this age of accelerated development, is 9 going on 15. My hope is to keep her from fledging until she is 19. This past weekend she decided she wanted to surf, we borrowed a beginner surf board from a random lady on the beach (I had done a good samaritan deed for her a hour before). Anyway, Shayne got up on the board immediately. After a couple of hours of this we returned the board to the lady but Shayne was not done with the surf experience so we asked an aquaintance named Mitch (he owns Hawaii Surf & Adventure - use him when you are in Hanalei, excellent surf instructors) and he lent Shayne a short board. The new board was shorter, faster and was not like the starter long board she was just using. Somehow I hid my doubt from her and she proved me wrong by getting right up on the board (and falling right down, but after 5 tries she was riding it like she owned it). Anyway, she surfed the rest of the day and had me take her back out Sunday morning. She was hot to surf but the weather was miserable. Rained us out. Come Monday, Shayne has no interest in surfing. So I take the board back to Mitch. Hot and Cold she runs. Damn mystery to me. 

I have a feeling this nestling will never fledge and he knows it as well. 

Max is the strangest of the nestlings, he is both an introvert and an extrovert. I imagine that is a typical trait of a successful actor, and I could see Max following the path of the angst ridden artist...or should I say Artest.


By the way, my favorite part of this picture is the ultra cool background caused by water ripples over beautiful blue pool tiles.