I was on my way home from work recently, watching the sun going down as I drove, and wondering whether I should stop and take photos. I’d decided not to when I came to a spot where the sun was about to set and the clouds were starting to put on a show. So I pulled over and took a couple of photos. This is one of them.
Following on from yesterday’s post about the lack of rain at Upolu, it occurred to me that I rarely see Passion Vine Butterflies there these days. They used to be all over the place, but now I’m lucky to see one or two. I don’t think it’s related to the lack of rainfall, but don’t know what other factors might be involved.
I was going through some old photos when I came across this one and was struck by a couple of things. One was the dramatic clouds in the channel and over Maui. The other was how green the grass looks at Upolu Airport. Currently, it is uniformly baked brown owing to the lack of rainfall in this area.
A swathe of Beach Naupaka grows in black sand near Apua Point in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The Bicolor Chub is one of several chubs here, but the only one endemic to Hawaii. While it has a lot of similarities to the Gray Chub, the two-tone coloring makes it easy to identify. Some Bicolor Chubs are dark at the back and light at the front. This one also has the dark top to its head and face. Some of them also have dark backs so that the only light part is the belly area.
This view of Kawaihae Harbor shows the main harbor with its wharf on the left and breakwater on the right. Close to the breakwater are several boats on buoys and the military’s landing ramp and staging area. On the upper right is the relatively new small boat harbor, home to about 25 small boats.
Bottom left is the old small boat harbor which is mostly used for launching small boats and canoes these days, after a storm breached the small breakwater protecting it.
A Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) surveys its surroundings. Easily distinguished by its short legs, long body and tail, and beady red eyes, this mongoose is the poster child for bad ideas in Hawaii. It was deliberately introduced to get rid of rats, which it didn’t do. Instead, it has decimated native bird populations on all the islands except Kaua’i, where it is still, officially, absent.
Another image of ripples in the water of ʻAimakapā Fishpond at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.
Graham's Island 