Snapshot: Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters or ‘Ua’u Kani (Puffinus pacificus) are some of the most common seabirds here in Hawai’i. But seeing them amongst human habitation, well I just had to make a post about it.

There are many nesting sites in the northwest islands and smaller islets. There are few colonies on the main Hawaiian Islands themselves. However at Black Point, on the South Shore of O’ahu, a small colony persists right in the middle of an upscale neighborhood. Birds and people coexisting, always a good story. And, thanks to the donated land by the Freemans, the colony has a bright future.

Links – Hawaii Audubon Society April 2011 (pdf), Star Bulletin Oct. 2007

Posted in Sharing the planet | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Movie Review: African Cats

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

I can’t even count the number of wildlife documentaries I’ve seen over my lifetime. Heck, I was sadden when John Forsythe passed away; he played a big part in my childhood. Not for Dynasty, but for his role as narrator in the television series The World of Survival. So when I found out that Disney was coming out with an animal documentary, African Cats, I had to check it out.

Continue reading →

Posted in Nature | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Books & Tangents

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

Tangents are a marvelous thing. Specifically, tangential thoughts and discussions. We’ve all been there, something comes up in discussion that takes the conversation on a completely different track. And, with the internet, that is even easier to do. For instance, you were searching for great pirogi recipes and ended up reading about Napoleon III’s blundering in the Franco-Prussian War. While bing has made humorous commercials on this very fact, I think tangents are great for finding interests in areas you might have never come across before.

So, in the spirit of finding tangents, this post is going to be a list of memorable books I’ve read in the past few years. Perhaps you will find things of interest in different areas, or perhaps my tastes are dull and predictable. We’ll soon see.

Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged | Leave a comment

Getting to know your Hawaiian Lobeliads #12: Cyanea hirtella

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

Cyanea hirtella

  • Conservation Status: Apparently Secure
  • Distribution: Kaua’i
  • Date photographed: 9/22/2010
  • Ease of viewing: Easy
  • *Identification: Form– Unbranched or sparingly branched shrubs 1-6 m tall. Leaves– oblanceolate to oblong; blades 10-27 cm, 2-6 cm wide; margins minutely callose-denticulate to callose-serrulate; petioles 2.5-6 cm long. Flower– hypanthium obconical to to obovoid; 6-11 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, pubescent; calyx lobes narrowly triangular, 1-3 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide; corolla pale white to pale purpulish with purple longitudinal stripes, 30-40 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, densely pubescent
  • Phylogenetic comments: 2022 update — Cyanea hirtella is part of the hirtella clade; a monophyletic group endemic to the island of Kaua’i. This group is sister to all the other Cyanea sect. orange fruited clade.
  • My Notes: I saw this plant off the side of the Pihea Trail. Unfortunately, I had just missed the infloresence. From interacting with the good folks on Flickr, it appears this individual had flowered in June.
  • Links: A Monographic Study of the Hawaiian Species of the Tribe Lobelioideae Family Campanulaceae
  • Additional Photos:

cyanea hirtella

*From Manual of Flowering Plants of Hawai’i

Posted in Botany | Tagged | Leave a comment

My Favorite Gentian

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

The far Southeast of O’ahu is known for its surf. Whether it’s Hanauma Bay, Sandy’s, Makapu’u, there are plenty of places to get outside and enjoy the ocean-side of nature. But what of hillsides? Well, there is still a ghostly plant that makes its appearance from time to time when conditions are right. It is one of the few annual plants native to the islands. So join me on a quest for G: the Gentian, Schenkia sebaeoides that is.

Continue reading →

Posted in Botany | Tagged , | Leave a comment

You say gaudichaudiana, I say gaudichaudii

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

Today’s short post is all about duality. The number two can up for a few plants we saw on today’s hike. Well duality and one pretty native vine.

Continue reading →

Posted in Botany | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The treasures of Hidden Valley

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

looking at the unsuspecting world below...

I went with the O’ahu Plant Extinction Prevention folks to help with 2 very endangered plants found on the windward side of the island: Schidea kaalae and Cyanea truncata. We hiked up a ridgeline to Makaua Gulch, or also known colloquially as “Hidden Valley”.

Continue reading →

Posted in Botany | Tagged , | 2 Comments

C. angustifolia blowing in the wind

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

Every hike I go on, I’m always on the lookout for lobeliads on the rare chance that I actually come across one. Over the weekend, I challenged myself by searching the Pia-Niu Valley area specifically for lobeliads with nothing but my eyes and the modest experience I’ve gained recently for field identification. Let’s see if I’ve actually learned anything…

I was looking for Cyanea lanceolata, hoping dreaming for C. superba subsp. regina (Pia valley was one of the last places it was found back in the 60’s), but this was an unexpected surprise. Cyanea angustifolia is still one of the more common lobeliads. Although I guess that is relative. In all my hikes here, I’ve only seen it in 3 places: ‘Aiea Loop, Manoa Cliff, and now here in Niu Valley. This guy has the most branches I’ve seen on C. angustifolia yet.

10+ hrs hiking, 1 individual. I searched gulch bottoms and windswept ridges without much success. If anything, this shows just how much the lobeliads have declined. Here’s a clade that has radiated so spectacularly, expanded into so many different niches, reduced to needing prior knowledge or dumb luck just to find one. Was it the former or the latter that I had? The education continues…

Posted in Botany | Tagged | Leave a comment

Snapshot: Pe’ahi

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

I really need to take some time from hiking and reading scientific literature to learn how to take better pictures.  Anyway, here is one of my better compositions.

Pe’ahi (Microsorum spectrum) is a cute little fern with neat deltate fronds and distinct venation. It doesn’t look like your average fern. Here on O’ahu it is very rare. It is only known from a few scattered locations.

Dan Palmer’s excellent Hawai’i’s Fern and Fern Allies mentions that Pe’ahi can be terrestrial, epiphytic or epipetric, but the few colonies that I’ve seen on my hikes have always been terrestrial with creeping rhizomes. Perhaps in other heretoforth undiscovered locations on O’ahu it grows differently, we just have to find them. Happy searching!

Posted in Botany | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Birdwatching at ‘Iolani Palace

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Sebastian Marquez

I had some time to check out an interesting spot to watch some birds. ‘Iolani Palace is mere blocks from busy Chinatown and Downtown Honolulu. But even though it’s in the heart of a dense urban area, the palace does have some interesting birds.

Continue reading →

Posted in Sharing the planet | Tagged , | 3 Comments