A few weeks ago, the nesting season of the Laysan Albatross is finished at Kaena Point (Oahu, Hawaii) and since then I’ve been focusing on photographing birds in the Hawaiian rainforests.

In the past, Hawaii has a very unique forest bird fauna with many endemic species. Over the last 100 years, lot of alien bird species were introduced to Hawaii. These birds compete with native forest birds for limited food resources. This is one of the reasons, that many native birds became extinct and the remaining species became very rare.

One of the few places on Oahu where native forest birds still can be found is the Waahila Ridge in the Koolau Mountain. I’ve taken some observation tours in the mountains and seen some native birds in the canopy of the Hawaiian endemic ohia lehua trees (Metrosideros polymorpha). I found an enticing place on the ridge to photograph birds and yesterday I spent some hours there with my photo equipment for waiting for the birds. Unfortunately the native birds didn’t show up, so I could only photograph this Japanese White-Eye (Zosterops japonicus). This species was introduced from Japan to Oahu in 1929 and now it is the most abundant bird on the island.

Gear: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 300mm F/4 lens, Canon 1.4x extender, Manfrotto tripod