No, it’s not the circus in town, it’s another church tented to gas those pesky termites that could otherwise chew their way through the building. This one is St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church at Kapaau. I’ve pondered before on the theological implications of this practice, but I suppose it falls under casting out demons, rather than mistreating God’s creatures!
A favorite photo of mine. The shadow of Mauna Kea stretching out over the clouds!
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 135. Captions are on the photos.
Sunrise at Upolu. I was looking to capture an eclipse, but got this instead.A horse and foal in a pasture off Saddle Road.A Metallic Skink skulking in a barren lava field.An endemic Omao in a kipuka off Saddle Road.Ho’okena Beach Park.
Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is an introduced species here. It’s become popular in part because milkweeds are food for butterflies, including Monarch Butterflies, whose numbers have been falling for some time. However, there are questions about whether planting Tropical Milkweed is a good or bad thing.
One concern is that Tropical Milkweed’s perennial habit might be disrupting the Monarch’s epic migrations. Another concern is that the plant hosts Oe (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha), a parasite that adversely infects butterflies, and that is passed down to subsequent generations. This parasite is more prevalent in non-migratory butterflies such as those in Hawaii, but it’s not clear whether Hawaii’s population is suffering in the same way as some of those on the mainland. Hawaii’s Monarchs primarily use Crown Flowers to lay their eggs.
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.
A Red-billed-Leiothrix calls out.A wild pig snacking on mangoes.A cow in conversation with a pair of cattle egrets.The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa’afaite off Mahukona.An Ohia tree toughing it out in the lava on the Napau Trail.The old Wo On Store at Halawa.A Bougainvillea in a neighbor’s garden.
On a recent walk, I noticed a lot of bees about. When I poked my head through a hedge I saw this hive, which was where they were heading to, or coming from. I think this might be the first hive I’ve seen here, though I know there are a lot on the island. They’re just not in places where people tend to walk by, which is probably a good thing!
This week’s Sunday Stills monthly challenge is ‘Green.’ See more responses here. Captions on photos.
A Green Anole on green Ti leaves.A Pueo flies over the green pastures of North Kohala.Tropical foliage creates strong shadows……that look like Venn Diagrams!A view up Pololu Valley in Kohala
A view of Pu’u O’o vent, when it was erupting, from the Napau Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
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 132.
A flying clown. That’s all the world needs!A grasshopper keeping watch.Two Banana Stalk Flies doing, well, you know what.A well balanced rock on the North Kohala coast.Couldn’t resist taking this one at my local post office. I can run this several times!