Category Archives: Activities

Great Frigatebirds

I was driving down to Upolu for my usual walk when I saw a few Great Frigatebirds off in the distance. They seemed to be heading my way, so I pulled over and waited. As I did so, more appeared. They glided down towards the coast, then banked left to cross the road, which is when I took these photos.

I counted 17 in all, though there might have been more. Usually, I see these birds in ones and twos, but larger flocks like these are, apparently, not unusual. Such gatherings can be simply social, but can also improve their chances in the search for food, as well as for spotting predators, not that they have a lot of those while flying.

A Great Frigatebird flying over Hawaii — Males have a red gular sac at the throat. It makes them easy to identify, even at a distance.

My bird book notes that most Great Frigatebirds seen in Hawaii are females or juveniles, but I regularly see males, which are easily identified by the red gular sac on their throat. This sac can be impressively inflated during courtship.

Posted for Bird of the Week LVIII. See more responses here.

It was a whale of a time

A Humpback Whale emerges from the waters off Hawaii

A Humpback Whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii

The Humpback Whale season is drawing to a close. This past week or so, I’ve seen the odd one here or there, but that’s it. Before that, we’ve enjoyed a prolific season with lots of whales and lots of activity from them. Alas, none of those things translated into the kind of whale photos I long to capture, but it was, as always, a pleasure to see them. Not just to see them actually. This year, while snorkeling, I heard more whale singing than I have in several years.

Now, they’re heading to their Alaskan feeding grounds. For the calves, this is a perilous journey. Collisions with boats and entanglement in drifting fishing gear is a danger for all whales, but especially juveniles. Then there are predators, such as Orca Whales, which prey on the calves. But those that make it are part of a growing population of Humpbacks, as they rebound from their perilously low numbers before protections were introduced.

Spotted Pufferfish

On a recent swim I saw this Spotted Pufferfish milling about high in the water. Usually they disappear fairly quickly when approached, but this one didn’t and I was able to get this photo, with the fish’s spots illuminated by the sunlight.

Banded urchin

This Banded Urchin is one that actually looks like its name. The most common long-spined urchin here, it’s generally a uniform dull black. Long-spined urchins provide a refuge for small fish, such as the Bright-eye Damselfish seen scooting for cover here.

Dolphins and turtles, oh my

A pod of Spinner Dolphins swims through hazy water off the coast of Hawaii

Two Hawaiian Green Turtles circle in the waters off Hawaii

In the water yesterday, my wife and I had already seen a small turtle, when this pod of Spinner Dolphins suddenly appeared in the somewhat hazy water. Often, dolphin pods travel fast, but are spread out, with mothers and calves bringing up the rear. This one was moving slower, but tightly bunched. I reckon there were at least 40 or 50 in the pod, and in a few minutes they had all gone by, heading south.

A dolphin encounter is always a highlight of any swim, but conditions were so nice, we carried on across the bay. When we turned to head back in, I saw two turtles, almost directly below me, swimming around in a tight circle. When one headed away, the other followed and the circling resumed. I don’t know what they were up to, but they were still doing this routine when we left them.

Two Hawaiian Green Turtles in the waters off Hawaii

The Numbers Game #12

A green turtle is temporarily stranded on a rock. — A turtle on the rocks. See more photos here.

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 133. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Red-billed Leiothrix sings on a branch — A Red-billed-Leiothrix calls out.

A wild pig that has been eating fallen mangoes — A Red-billed-Leiothrix calls out.

The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa‘afaite off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. — The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa’afaite off Mahukona.

A surface lava flow on Napau trail. — The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa’afaite off Mahukona.

Bougainvillea flowers in bloom — A Bougainvillea in a neighbor’s garden.

Well spotted

A spotted pufferfish peeks out from under a ledge

This Spotted Pufferfish was in the open when I first saw it, but it quickly disappeared under a ledge before I got a photo. I waited though, and sure enough, it couldn’t resist a peek to see if I’d gone.

I will swing for this

A swing at Hawaii Island Retreat on the North Kohala coast

Hawaii Island Retreat sits on a steep cliff on the windswept North Kohala coast. There are a couple of public access trails leading down to the coast there. One passes in front of the main building and this is where this swing can be found.

I think I could be happy rocking back and forth there for an hour or two or three, and disembark a more balanced and contented individual!

For more information about Hawaii Island Retreat, go to hawaiiislandretreat.com.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii