[Tweeters] Hawaii birding RFI

[Gary Bletsch via Tweeters]

Dear Tweeters,
In a few weeks, I will hang up my snow shovel and depart Western New York for Hawaii. I will ask the pilot to waggle the wings if we fly over Skagit County.
It's silly that Mrs. Bletsch and I never made it to Hawaii when we lived in Washington, but oh, well. We are finally getting around to it. I went there with my parents in August of 1973, six months before I started birding, so it will all be tabula rasa for me, as far as the birds go--not counting the hordes of introduced species, I reckon.
I have a few questions about birding in the Aloha State.
I. On just about any trip, I usually take my scope and tripod, but sometimes I do enjoy a break from the burden, and go with just binoculars and zoom camera (the later being what I call "the poor man's scope"). Will I kick myself if I leave the scope home?
II. On my bookshelf, the only field guide that covers Hawaiian birds is Peterson's A Field Guide to Western Birds,  second edition, 1961. That book has a little section on Hawaiian birds at the back. It is, of course, wildly out of date. Lots of the native birds shown in this book have either gone extinct, or have been split into various species endemic to just one island. 
So, is there a Hawaiian bird book worth buying, or could I get away with just using RTP's old book, with the photos and text of Merlin as a backup?
III. We are visting Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, and Oahu. What would be the most important sites to visit?
IV. Any other suggestions?
Thanks for any help on this.
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch
 
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