Serendipity strikes at the Vailima Botanical Garden
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| Entrance to the Vailima Botanical Garden |
On a recent weekend I decided to
go down to Mulinu’u Peninsular to take some photographs of some plants and
landmarks (I will be posting the photos in a number of posts later on). Afterwards
I decided to go on for a drive on the East Coast Road and take some photos.
However, I had this strong feeling of unease about going and just after the
bridge at Letogo I decided to listen to my intuition and turned around opting
to go up to the Vailima Botanical Garden instead and maybe up to Tiavi also.
When I got to the Vailima
Botanical Gardens there were two cars and a motorcycle parked in the small parking lot and not a
soul to be seen. I took a couple photos of some Ixora that were in the parking
lot and made my way through the main entrance although to be honest I was
already disappointed as for a botanical garden what I could see through the
chain link fence was pretty dismal.
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| Ixora (flower buds) |
No
doubt Cyclone Evan is in part to blame but there really was not much to be
seen. There seemed to be some effort to make paths and beds but there was not
much growing so I moved along up to where the path to the Pool of Apaula’s
Tears and the start of the trail known as O le ala o le alofa which is usually translated as the Road of loving Hearts although as with Robert Louis Stevenson's Samoan name Tusitala being translated as Teller of Tales I have serious issues about the accuracy of the translation but will address that in my blog "The Blood of Souls" which is about language, etymology and translation since this blog is about plants and critters.
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| Ixora |
Since there are two ways
to get to the top (short and steep or long and gradual) I am not sure which one
is the original trail cut by those bearing Stevenson’s body up to his final resting place.
I know from previous visits that
often there are quite a lot of nice plants that flower along the trails in
ideal locations for photographs. That is no rubbish or other human detritus to
detract from the photos. But as I approached the start of the trail I saw a
sign advising that the trails were closed due to damage by Cyclon Evan and any
entry was at your own risk.
Aside from the questionable legal ethics and issues inherent in an official notice stating that the trail is closed and then leaving it open to people to take at their own risk ... I decided that I did not really feel like scrabbling over fallen trees and missing bits of trail especially in jandals with my camera.
Instead
I decided to go to the pool and
take some photos for a post I want to write for another blog as well as some
other writing projects. But again I was thwarted this time by the sound of
laughter and splashing and the realisation that some people were no doubt
having a Sunday swim. As I did not feel like dealing with people and have never
been comfortable taking photos when people are around staring at me I decided
that the whole trip had been a bust and that I would do better to come during a
week day when the only likely visitors would be tourists if anyone is there at
all.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
I was just near the gate when a
movement in a tree caught my eye so I stopped and all of a sudden the whole
trip was salvaged and more than worthwhile because perched up there without a
care in the world was a bird I’d never expected to see. A Many Coloured Fruit
Dove (Ptilinopus perousii) known in Samoan as a Manuma.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
Although the distance was perhaps
ten meters or so and the lighting not the best due to the angle of the sun not
to mention that the dove was partially hidden by leaves I managed to zoom in
and take some photos. Then as I fiddled with the camera, keeping it focused on the dove as I tried to switch through the options to video (to get a clip for the Internet Bird Collection) I accidentally got a setting that greatly improved the lighting and contrast.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
After taking a number of photos I
decided to try and get some photos from the other side of the tree. Exiting the botanical
gardens I saw that I could actually get a much clearer shot of the dove even
though it was from behind. Still, it turned its head a few times as if to let
me get it in profile. Then lo and behold it turned around and gave me an
excellent frontal view turning its head to either side every now and then as if
posing for me.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
When it finally flew off I was
quite satisfied as now I had some pretty decent photos of a bird I had been
hoping to see but doubted I would ever get to see.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
I ended up going up to Tiavi as
well as Papapa Falls and got some more excellent photos including some of a
Cardinal honey eater ... which I will share in a later post.
Incidentally after looking it up on the internet to confirm my identification and find the binomial name I saw that it was indeed a Many Coloured Fruit Dove but more specifically a female as the males have more white plumage and lots more colour as well.
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| Many-coloured-fruit-dove Ptilinopus perousii |
Getting There
Take the Cross Island Road up to
Vailima. When you approach the big white concrete and Iron fence of the Vailima
Estate take the small road that runs along the side towards the mountain. The
car park is clearly marked.
Additional
Information:
Binomial Name:
Ptilinopus perousii
Common names:
Many Coloured Fruit Dove (English) Manuama (Samoan)
Taxonomy
- Order: Columbiformes - Family: Columbidae - Genus: Ptilinopus - Species: Ptilinopus perousii
- Order: Gentianales - Family: Rubiaceae –
Subfamily: Ixoroideae – Tribe: Ixoreae – Genus: ixora
References:
Wikipedia Entry on Many-coloured fruit dove
LINK
Flora and Fauna - Plants and Critters Blog by Vincent Albert Vermeulen is
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My other blogs
· Flora
and Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as
gardening, conservation and environmental matters):
http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
· The
Blood of Souls (language, translation and etymology) :
http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
· Whiskers
on Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) :
http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/
