Author Archives: Graham

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About Graham

I take photos when I'm out and about, recording life on the Big Island of Hawaii.

A walk for the birds

An I'iwi on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
A native I’iwi.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Wild Animal or Bird of the Month.’ See more responses here.

Pu’u O’o Trail is a few miles east of the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, on the south side of the main cross-island highway. It’s all above 5,000 feet and can be cold, wet, and windy, but I’ve had good luck picking warm, sunny days. These photos are from a couple of recent hikes I took up there. Captions on the photos.

A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
The trail enters a kīpuka.
A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
There are open, grassy areas.
A view of Mauna Kea from the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
A view of Mauna Kea.

The trail crosses old lava flows from Mauna Loa, but there are kīpukas, areas of old-growth forest missed by the lava, which are home to several kinds of native birds.

An Apapane on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Apapane.
An Io or Hawaiian Hawk flies above the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Io, the native Hawaiian hawk, glides overhead.
An Hawaii Amakihi on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An Hawaii ‘Amakihi.

On my last visit, I was lucky enough to see an ‘Akiapola’au, an endangered native species, which is only found on this island these days. This one was high up in the trees with the sun behind it. While my photos weren’t great, I was still able to see this industrious bird foraging for a meal. The shorter lower mandible is used to drill into branches and then the curved upper mandible digs out the grubs hiding within.

An 'Akiapola'au on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Akiapola’au.

These native birds make this trail popular with birders, but it’s a good hike for anyone. A 9-mile loop is possible, but I usually do an out-and-back hike through the first two or three kipukas, which totals about five miles.

Hāpu’u Ferns (Cibotium menziesii) on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
Hāpu’u tree ferns (Cibotium menziesii) grow alongside the trail.
A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
The trail winds through a kīpuka.
Kolea Lau Nui (Myrsine lessertiana) on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
Not flowers, but new leaves on Kōlea lau nui (Myrsine lessertiana).
Moss along the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
It’s cool and wet enough for moss to take over.

Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #129

Rain sheets down in front of a Panax hedge.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 746. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Where chocolate ripple ice cream comes from!
A very old tractor.
A passion vine butterfly is marked by fading color and missing chunks of wing
A battered Passionvine Butterfly.
A gold dust day gecko rests on a deep pink heliconia flower.
A Gold Dust Day Gecko on a Pink Heliconia.
A chained salp floating in the waters off the Big Island, Hawaii
A Chained Salp.
These little fish were swimming in Kiholo Bay.
Little fish shimmer just below the surface at Kiholo.

Hawksbill Turtle

A Hawksbill turtle swims in the waters off Hawaii

I’ve seen this little turtle a couple of times recently and realized it wasn’t one of the usual Hawaiian Green Turtles seen around here. The pointed bill is clear from above, and the edge of the shell is jagged, not curvy. These are both clear indicators that this is a Hawksbill Turtle. I think I’ve only seen one in this area before, but perhaps this one will stick around.