Category Archives: Animals

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.

Am I bothering you?

A cow with a bird perched on its back in Hawaii

On a recent walk at Upolu, the wind was very light, an unusual occurrence in that area. As I walked past the cattle pasture, I got a long stare from this one. But it turned out, irritating as I can be, the flies were a greater bother. The whole herd was engaged in some vigorous tail swishing to very little effect. Luckily the winds returned the next day and most of the flies were blown away.

Looking back at 2023 – part 2

A Gray Francolin walks on a railing in Hawaii
July: Got anything for me (link)?
A vase of tropical flowers below a photo of a gecko on a bird of paradise flower
August: Still life with snake (link).

Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and last week is ‘Your 2023 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As before, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2023, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. Last week, I posted favorites from January through June. This week, it’s July through December.

A Whitetip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii
September: Mr. Chompers on the move (link).
A decoy duck in the waters off Hawaii
October: Wood you believe it (link)?
A view of Mauna Kea at Sunrise
November: Mauna Kea around sunrise (link).
A child's boot left on a rock in Hawaii
December: The boot’s not on the other foot (link).

Looking back at 2023

Late afternoon sun of the coast of Kohala, Hawaii
January: Approaching sunset off the Kohala coast (link).
A chocolate birthday cake
February: A yummy birthday cake (link).

Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and next week is ‘Your 2023 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As before, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2023, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. This week, I’m posting favorites from January through June. See the rest of the year next week.

A praying mantis drinks from a puddle of water
March: Time for a drink (link).
A manta ray swims in the waters off Hawaii
April: Meeting a manta (link).
Piglets wrestle for a mango
May: They’re not cute and funny these days (link)!
Leis draped on King Kamehameha statue
June: The king’s birthday (link).