This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Gate.’ (See more offerings here.) I remembered these two cattle egrets, on a gate separating two cattle pastures. I like how the birds seem to be engaged, like a couple of neighbors talking over the garden fence, or in this case, on the fence.
Also, I like the feet of the bird perched on the gate. Makes me feel like my feet are positively dainty!
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Raindrops.’ (See more responses here.) It was convenient therefore that today, just as I finished waxing some metal parts, a shower of rain passed over. The raindrops beaded up nicely on the shiny surface.
Spathiphyllum ‘Power Petite’ is one of the spathiphyllums better known as peace lilies. These aren’t true lilies. Instead, they’re members of the Araceae family.
Peace lilies are popular houseplants because they’re easy to grow and they’re great air cleaners, filtering out a number of pollutants from the air.
A sea of clouds separates Maui and the Big Island, as seen from the slopes of Mauna Kea. Somewhere under there is Kohala Mountain, which is 5,480 feet high.
These little fish were swimming back and forth in the golden pools of Keawaiki. The gold color comes from a kind of algae that grows in the pools.
Near the entrance to Upolu Airport there is a clump of bird of paradise plants. When the plants are in bloom I make a point of checking out the flowers as they are a favorite of the geckos. I’ll often see geckos on the flowers, especially if they have not yet begun to fade.
In this case, I saw this smaller gold dust day gecko licking nectar off a flower. The gecko noticed me after a few moments and fixed me with its gaze. It never took its eyes off me, but neither did it stop feasting on the nectar.
Last February, I posted about a new monk seal pup being born on the island (here and here). I’m happy to report that the pup, Manu’iwa, continues to do well. Now, her mother, RA20, has returned to the same site and given birth to a new pup.
The new pup is just over two weeks old and so far the signs are good. The pup is nursing well and the mother is being very careful around it. When Manu’iwa showed up to see her new sibling, the day after it was born, RA20 quickly put a stop to the meeting. Monk seal mothers are very protective of their pups.
Mother and pup will likely spend about six weeks in the area before RA20 leaves the pup to fend for itself. During that time, she will lose weight while the pup gains and they will be a lot closer in size than they area currently.
These photos were taken in the early afternoon when the pair were resting and not much was going on. Morning is the best time to see them being active.
Today’s post is in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘For the Love of Reading & Books.’ See more offerings here.
The top photo shows North Kohala’s relatively new public library, which opened in 2010. The library features wind and photovoltaic energy systems as well as a rainwater catchment system. These features helped it gain LEED Gold Certification, the first state building in Hawaii to do so.
The photo below shows the Bond Memorial Library, which served the area from 1929 until the new library’s opening. This building was much smaller – 1,610 sq.-ft. as opposed to 6,000 sq.-ft. for the new building.
When the library moved from the old building to the new, more than 1,000 volunteers lined the road to move the books by hand over the mile plus distance. This echoed the story of King Kamehameha the Great who organized a human chain 20 miles long to carry rocks from Pololu Valley to build Pu’ukohola Heiau near Kawaihae, though I don’t think King Kamehameha’s rock carriers were volunteers.
Back in 2014, there were plans to convert the old Bond Memorial Library to a cultural/historical museum for the area, but nothing has happened yet and the old building still sits there, unused as far as I can tell.
Graham's Island 