NDomer73's photostream  

The breeding habitat of the Pacific Golden Plover is Arctic tundra from northernmost Asia into western Alaska. It is migratory and winters in south Asia and Australasia. A few winter in California and Hawaii, including the Big Island where this photo was taken.

The Erckel's Francolin was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands as a game bird in 1957. Francolins are partridges with spurs, and members of the pheasant family.

Jason captured this portrait of an unidentified newt at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Washington State.

In what might have been the wildlife photo opportunity of a lifetime, this manta ray leaped out of the water along the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii within 50 feet of a small whale-watching boat and DID AN INSIDE LOOP BEFORE OUR EYES! Jason captured the ray fully inverted and heading toward the boat an instant before it splashed back into the water. WOW!

The Pueo is a subspecies of Short-eared Owl that is endemic to Hawaii. Pueo inhabit forests and grasslands throughout the Hawaiian Islands, although their numbers are declining rapidly, especially on the island of Oahu where they were once prevalent. Pueo are now listed as an endangered species. They can be found along the western part of the Saddle Road (HI 200) on the Big Island, where Jason captured this one in flight.