Kauaʻi Internship Video Tour - Environment for the Americas

02 Jul Kauaʻi Internship Video Tour

Posted at 12:41h in Intern Blog, USFWS by Samantha Garcia 2 Comments

Aloha and welcome to another blog! Today, I will be taking you on a visual tour of what the past few weeks have been like for me at the Kauaʻi National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Prepare to see videos of a stunning waterfall, a Hawaiian Stilt chick, a rainbow, Hawaiian Geese surveys, and a native plant!

I cannot believe that I have already reached the half-way point of my summer internship on Kauaʻi. Time flies by when you are having fun! These blogs have been a great way for me to reflect on all the amazing opportunities that I have had, and I hope that you are enjoying them too.

Hawaiian Stilt Surveys

Let’s start with Hawaiian Stilts. Stilt surveys have been one of my favorite projects of the summer! We do surveys 3 times a week in order to monitor the numbers of these birds since they are an endangered species. Click on the video below to learn more!

Now that you know about this project, here is the egg and chick that I found! Since the parents are being very defensive over their nest, let’s give them some space!

Hawaiian Goose Count

Each year, the DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources) conducts a statewide Hawaiian Goose (nēnē) count. I was able to contribute by going out and counting the nēnē that I saw in one section of the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge. Some nēnē have a band around their leg with a specific color and a set of letters and/or numbers on it. They can also have an aluminum band on their other leg, which helps to identify if the bird is male or female. In the photo below, we are using binoculars to see the band number on the nēnē, which will then be written down a datasheet.

Habitat Restoration

Now, let’s plant a native Hawaiian plant into the ground! Lots of the native plants that we plot at the refuge are either endangered or critically endangered to Hawai‘i.

Kauaʻi Scenery

To end the tour, take a look at some of Kaua‘i’s natural beauty. The first video is from a beautiful morning at the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge. The second video is from an 8-mile hike that I did to Hanakāpī‘ai Falls after finishing up a great work week.