Category Archives: Activities

Hello, mate

A Seven-spotted Lady Beetle in Hawaii

On a recent walk, I noticed the Seven-spotted Lady Beetle in the top photo, wandering around on the ground.

Two Seven-spotted Lady Beetles in Hawaii

Soon, a second one came into view, then turned around and headed off again.

Two Seven-spotted Lady Beetles in Hawaii

A minute or so later, it reappeared and, without so much as a “Hi, my name’s Frank. And you?’ he climbed aboard. The two of them lurched about on the little rock, so I took my leave, and left them to it.

Two Seven-spotted Lady Beetles mating in Hawaii
Two Seven-spotted Lady Beetles mating in Hawaii

The Numbers Game #5

Plumeria blooms.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into your computer’s search bar and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. I typed in a few numbers and up popped photos I’d forgotten about, so I thought this would be a fun way to feature some photos that ran a while ago, but warranted another airing.

This week’s number is 126. Ironically, for this first response, it turned out that three of these photos haven’t run before, but have been languishing in my archives.

A Green Turtle dives in the waters off Hawaii
Green turtle diving.

You can see more responses here.

Hawaii Elepaio

A Hawaii Elepaio on the Pu'u O'o Trail in Hawaii
A Hawaii Elepaio on the Pu'u O'o Trail in Hawaii

The Hawaii Elepaio is a small, endemic bird found only on the island of Hawaii, though it has close relatives on Oahu and Kauai. It’s found mostly in the higher elevation forests on the island. This one was on the Pu’u O’o Trail off Saddle Road, a good spot for seeing these birds, at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet.

The Elepaio is a member of the flycatcher family and feeds on insects it catches on the wing or by probing tree trunks and branches.

Posted for Bird of the Week XLVIII.

A Hawaii Elepaio on the Pu'u O'o Trail in Hawaii

Riding a wave

A Surfer catches a wave at Kawaihae, Hawaii

Two days ago, I posted some surf photos and here are more today. These are from yesterday morning, when I stopped at Kawaihae to see how the surfers were doing. The surf was down from the day before, but there were still some good sets rolling in.

A Surfer catches a wave at Kawaihae, Hawaii

There were several surfers in the water, but this was the only person I saw who caught a wave.

A Surfer catches a wave at Kawaihae, Hawaii

A tail of a whale

A humpback whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii

Yesterday, I posted photos from the latest of a series of swells rolling in from the northwest. After the last one, and before the next, I got in the water for a swim. It wasn’t great. Visibility was poor and the swells were still a good size.

The highlight of the swim was drying off afterwards and seeing several Humpback Whales active not far offshore. There were a few good breaches, which naturally escaped my camera, but I did get photos of some vigorous tail slapping, which was fun to see.

A humpback whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii
A humpback whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii

Achilles Tang

An Achilles Tang in the waters off Hawaii

Achilles Tangs are one of those fish that I see frequently, but rarely get the chance to photograph. They hang around in the shallows, but scoot for cover when approached. This fish was doing just that, but I managed to get this photo before it disappeared around the corner.

A window to my world

A view through the windows of Pepeiao Cabin in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Looking out through a window at Pepeiao Cabin in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Through a Window.’ See more responses here.

A variety of photos this week, with captions on the photos.

Two Common Waxbills in Hawaii
A pair of Common Waxbills seen through the bathroom window. It’s a good vantage point for watching and photographing birds, so long as I remember to clean it once in a while.
Windows at a building site in hawaiiA broken window in Hawaii
A look through new windows at a construction project at Hapuna. Sadly, one of the new windows already had something go through it.