A paper wasp drinks from a mud puddle.
Author Archives: Graham
Rainbow over the road
Today marks the start of the fourth year for this blog. Post number one was of a rainbow over the northern coast, so I thought I’d post another one on the anniversary.
This rainbow occurred just last week over the road leading up to Hawi. Hawi gets around 60 inches of rain a year. A few miles south, the rainfall drops off to less than 20 inches, and it’s usually dry and sunny there. One byproduct of this climatic contrast is that there are frequent rainbows.
This one occurred in the late afternoon as I was heading home and, even though I see a lot of rainbows, I felt moved to pull over and snap a few photos before heading up into the clouds and rain over Hawi.
Undulated moray eel
Undulated moray eels have a reputation for being ill-tempered. This photo shows why it’s a good idea not to provoke that temper – an abundance of long, sharp teeth.
Happy Holidays
Signs: No goats
These goats, part of a large herd wandering in the environs of a heliport, weren’t authorized personnel. I wasn’t about to go out and point that out to them, in case they didn’t take kindly to the message.
Yellow-billed cardinal on a rock
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Something Red.’ (See more offerings here.) I had a few bird photos that fell into that category, but I chose these yellow-billed cardinal photos for their name.
When I’m out on walks, I’ve run into people who ask me about the name of the little bird with the red head. No one has ever asked me about the name of the little bird with the yellow bill, but that’s the feature that gives them their name. I guess it’s because other cardinals have red heads so calling this one a red-headed cardinal would lead to confusion.
I thought this one, seen on the beach at Pololu, looked particularly dapper.
Honokohau Harbor entrance
Honokohau Harbor, just north of Kailua Kona, is the main small boat harbor on the west side of the Big Island. In addition to private pleasure craft, a lot of charter boats operate out of the harbor, taking guests out to fish, snorkel, dive, and whale watch.
While it looks placid in this photo, once outside this harbor entrance, boaters are in the Pacific Ocean and conditions can change dramatically in a very short time.
Green anole lookout
A green anole keeps watch from the leaf of a ti plant. I like the reptilian look of anoles, the details of their scales, and the colors around their eyes.
Graham's Island 