A Hawaiian owl was released on Lanai last week after it was found emaciated and badly injured alongside the highway.
The pueo, or Hawaiian short-eared owl, had a nine-month recovery after it was found in November with traumatic head and eye injuries, Hawaii News Now reported.
The bird was found on Lanai and taken to the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, but it was transferred to Hawaii’s only native bird and bat hospital, the Hawaii Wildlife Center on Hawaii island.
The pueo’s recovery seemed miraculous to some of the people involved in its rescue and treatment.
The bird’s neurological and visual damage was initially so bad that rehabilitation manager Judi Ellal wasn’t sure it could ever return to the wild.
“It was amazing to witness these deficits reverse where he was able to adapt and improve,” Ellal said. She cited “the victories, including being able to eat on his own, fly purposefully in our flight enclosure, aim for the perch and successfully land on it, and focus visually on prey.”
The pueo is Hawaii’s only native owl. The non-native barn owl was introduced.
The pueo is on all the main Hawaiian Islands, but it is rare and considered endangered on Oahu.
“This incredible success story demonstrates that no matter which island you’re on when you find a sick or injured native bird or bat, we are here to help,” said Hawaii Wildlife Center Director and President Linda Elliot.
No tsunami expected from Alaska quake
A magnitude-6.9 earthquake shook the Aleutian Islands on Sunday evening but generated no Pacific-wide tsunami.
The quake was centered 47 miles east-southeast of Yunaska Island, Alaska, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It struck at 6:50 p.m. Hawaii time.
Shortly afterward the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement that no tsunami was expected in Hawaii “based on all available data.”
In April 1946 the Aleutians were the epicenter of a magnitude-8.1 earthquake that generated a tsunami that killed 159 people in Hawaii.
Fatal accident closes dump
Kekaha Landfill on Kauai was closed Sunday after an employee fatality, a Kauai County spokeswoman said in a statement.
A man died after the “industrial accident,” which is under investigation, the statement said.
The man’s name will be released when next of kin have been notified.
Big Island fire investigated
The cause of a fire that destroyed a three-bedroom home Saturday in Laupahoehoe remains under investigation, Hawaii island firefighters said.
No one was home when the fire started at about 8 p.m. at 36-2679 Hawaii Belt Road, and the single-wall, single-story structure was engulfed by the time firefighters arrived three minutes later, firefighters said.
Nine firefighters extinguished the fire in about an hour.
Firefighters estimated the blaze caused $250,000 in damage.
Valley Isle winery renamed
WAILUKU >> For 41 years, locals have known Upcountry’s winery as Tedeschi Vineyards or generically as “the Ulupalakua winery.”
But now it simply will be MauiWine, the Maui News reported.
In 2000 company President Paula Hegele decided to attach the tag line “Maui’s Winery” to some marketing and advertising pieces. In May the transition to MauiWine began with an overhaul of the winery’s website. Signs at the winery later were changed.
This month the winery starting doing business under the name MauiWine.
