Drone versus ʻIo

This bird did not like the drone.

I have flown around big birds before. Bald eagles, ravens, seagulls, other hawks… few had taken more that a moments notice of the drone. This attack surprised me, I did not even see the hawk coming, and it came in hard.

An iʻo or Hawaiian hawk takes exception to my drone in the forest near Kalamanu
An ʻio or Hawaiian hawk takes exception to my drone in the forest near Kalamanu

I was on the return leg of an exploration into the ʻōhia forest behind Puʻuwaʻawaʻa and having a little fun with the drone. Simple plan… Set the drone to hover and then bike past through the camera view.

I had left the drone to hover for the moment as I moved to the next spot, when I look up to see a flash of white slashing at the drone. It hits and the drone staggers in the air before recovering.

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Kalamalu

When standing atop Puʻuwaʻawaʻa the scenery is breathtaking. Five massive vocanoes dominate the skyline… Haleakalā, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and the looming Hualālai immediately to the south. It is easy to overlook the smaller, overshadowed features of the landscape. Sitting for a while resting, rehydrating, and enjoying the view atop the grassy puʻu one begins to notice more details in the landscape.

An ʻōhiʻa lehua bloom in the forest above Puʻuwaʻawaʻa
An ʻōhiʻa lehua bloom in the forest above Puʻuwaʻawaʻa

A couple miles southeast of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa are a line of more modest volcanic features, dwarfed by the enourmous mauna but still significant, monuments of rock that tower over the surrounding ʻōhiʻa forest. These old vents are clearly arranged along a rift of some sort in a neat line trending north to south with the southern end pointing directly at the peak of Hualālai.

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