Welcome back Kolea

The plovers are back from their summer in Alaska and one has taken up residence on the lawn in front of our apartment. I don't really know if it is the same little fellow from last winter. In pondering this I am reminded of a poem by A.A. Milne, Forgiven in which Nanny let Christopher Robin's beetle out of his matchbox.  When searching for 'Alexander Beetle' they looked everywhere and eventually found Alexander outside:

And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:

"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be

And he had a sort of look as if he thought it mus be ME,

And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:

"I'm very, very sorry that I tried to run away." 

Much the same as Christopher Robin, I greeted our new plover resident as if it was last year's and imagined in my mind that he recognized me too.  Even if it isn't the same individual, it is somewhat comforting that our little patch of urban grass is still attractive to a wild migrating bird that traverses the Pacific ocean twice a year.  It is an amazing feat and one that ought to be celebrated.    

In Fairbanks, Alaska they have a 'Sandhill Crane Festival' just before the cranes depart for the winter.  It is a way the locals mark the end of summer and the onset of the dark, cold season.  When the cranes return it is the signal for the end of the winter.   

If we were to have  Pacific plover/Kolea Festival what would it mean?  What does the coming and going of Kolea mark for us in Hawaii?  I don't think we can adequately say we have a winter or some kind of seasonal change that we should mourn or celebrate.  It really is pretty much the same climate-wise all year.  

Maybe the Festival doesn't have to mark anything except the accomplishment of a pretty fantastic bird.  I wonder, would that be enough?