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.

Potholes

Potholes and patches in a road in Kohala Hawaii

Earlier this month, Brian posted photos of his road being regraded (here). It made me think I should do a post on the renewal of the main road to this part of the island, and here it is.

When I first moved here, the county had just finished a major resurfacing of this highway, a project which stopped about seven miles short of Hawi. For the past 11 years, those last seven miles have been patched and repatched. Every few months, a small crew in a truck parks by the side of the road, shovels asphalt into the holes, and tamps it down. A lot of semi-trucks and heavy equipment use the highway, so the repairs don’t last long. I’ve seen chunks missing from new patches within 24 hours.

It wouldn’t be so bad, but these days I drive a little Nissan hatchback and, when I hit one of these potholes, the car shudders like I would if I’d just been punched in the face by Mike Tyson. I’m just hoping proper repairs happen before my little car goes down for the count.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

Potholes and patches in a road in Kohala Hawaii

Soon be leaving home

A Juvenile Saffron Finch looks out from its nest in Hawaii

I saw this juvenile Saffron Finch looking out from its nest under a roof. It will not be too long before it makes the great leap forward and hopes those wings really work. In the meantime, it was suitably suspicious of the odd-looking creature watching it.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #22

A Bristle-thighed Curlew snags a snack at Kiholo Hawaii
A Bristle-thighed Curlew moves forward to grab a breakfast snack.

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 143. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

An Indonesian Wax Ginger glows in the sunlight
A burgeoning Indonesian Wax Ginger catches the light.
A cow with its head stuck in a wire fence in Hawaii
Sometimes you have to move back after moving forward too boldly!
A view o Maui from the slopes of Mauna Kea
A view of Maui from the lower slopes of Mauna Kea.
two whitemouth moray eels wedged into the same space behind a clump of coral
Two Whitemouth Moray Eels in a tight spot.
A White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillar on the move.
Passengers waiting for the first flight of the day from Kailua Kona Airport.

Plumerias

Plumeria flowers with buds in Hawaii

I was putting together some Plumeria photos on the theme of Burgeoning for Becky’s Squares (See more responses here), when I saw this one and realized that it took care of everything. This one flowering stem has many buds, new flowers beginning to open, and a couple of very fragrant blossoms. What more could one want!

Waves

Wavelets in Pelakane Bay Hawaii
A calm morning with little wavelets and a view of Hualalai.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Water, Waterscapes and/or Water Safety.’ See more responses here. Captions on the photos.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning, because waves are always moving forward. See more responses here.

A fishing boat off the coast of Hawaii
Time for a swim. Looks like a good morning for fishing too.
A breaking wave in Hawaii
Uh oh. Here comes a bigger wave.
A boat anchor outside breaking waves in Hawaii
Best stay outside the surf line.
Waipio beach seen from the lookout
They don’t look too big from up here.
A surfer heads out at Kawaihae Hawaii
Still, the surfers will be happy.
Sunset off the beach at Mauna Kea Resort Hawaii
Ahhh. All is calm again.

Moving forward sideways

A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
On the lookout.

I was walking the beach at Pelekane Bay one morning, when I realized there was a lot of movement on the sand. A bit of quiet observation revealed crabs everywhere. They skittered back and forth, but if I moved, they zipped back to the edge of their holes or disappeared into them.

A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
Ready to disappear below in an instant.
A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
How do I get this down my burrow?
A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
Yes, there’s a crab in this photo, obviously!

I picked a spot where I could observe a good number of them and spent about 40 minutes there, kneeling in the sand, moving minimally, while the crabs went about their work. The ones in these photos are Pallid Ghost Crabs.

A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
Pallid ghost crabs leave sand balls outside …
A Pallid Ghost Crab on the sand in Hawaii
… when excavating their burrows.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

Autograph collectors

Bees on an Autograph Tree flower in Hawaii

I was at Spencer Beach Park when I heard bees. Looking up, I saw them all over an open flower on one of the trees. I’ve never seen so many bees on the same flower at the same time. As they left, others would be moving forward to join the party.

Bees on an Autograph Tree flower in Hawaii
Bees on an Autograph Tree flower in Hawaii
Bees on an Autograph Tree flower in Hawaii
Bees on an Autograph Tree flower in Hawaii

The tree was an Autograph Tree (Clusia rosea), which is native to the Caribbean and is something of an invasive species here. It gets its name from its thick leaves with a thin green covering. Kids scratch their names into the leaves and watch as they grow with the leaves!

Autograph Tree leaves in Hawaii

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.