Cow-Duck-Frog: Maui's answer to Man-Bear-Pig

I woke up in the middle of the night to the overwhelming sweet scent of gardenias fillling our bedroom.  It was quiet outside, except for the strangely misplaced sound of some creature which I can only describe as a cow-duck-frog.  Its intermittent call is a combination of a moo, a quack, and a croak. As the dawn approached, a crescending symphony of birds began to waft into our room - first the occasional rooster, then the cheeping of hundreds of little birds, and finally the louder sounds of bigger tropical birds which I like to imagine are large parrots or even toucans, although I haven't actually seen any yet.


Bob and I are finishing up some work projects and then we'll probably head into Pai'a and the beach for some exploring. Below are a couple of pictures.



The basalt rock cliffs and banyan roots

 


Chickens:  the REAL birds of paradise