I encountered this grasshopper while walking at Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site at Kawaihae. As I approached, the grasshopper held its ground and I immediately thought of the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie. Unlike the Black Knight, this grasshopper finally pinged off to the side and let me pass, all it’s limbs still intact!
Posted in response to this month’s Becky’s Squares challenge theme of ‘Odd.’ See more responses here.
The clue is right there in front of him. Is that bird food? I think not, but the photos below clear things up.
I first came on this scene from the other side and saw Smudge, the cat lying down, with an intense look on her face. Another pace brought the Spotted Dove into view. I took photos, but they were into the sun and not great. So I walked around the building to get the sun behind me.
The bird was still busy pecking at the food, the cats staring intently, but doing nothing else. That inactivity wasn’t surprising. These cats are very friendly when they’re hungry and utterly indifferent once they’ve been fed. And after the cats have eaten birds move in for the leftovers. The birds remain wary, but have learned there’s not much to worry about at this time.
In the end, Smudge decided she had to do something about this brazen intrusion so she got up and wandered away to the front of the building where she plopped down in the shade, serenely out of sight of the feathered affront taking place on the lanai.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Wildlife.’ See more responses here. I thought I’d go with a couple of photos from the air, on land, and in the ocean.
First up, a couple of native Hawaiian birds, a palila above and a pueo below.
Next, a group of goats blocking a trail in South Kona, above, and a wild pig snaffles a mango and runs off with its prize, below.
Finally, a pod of spinner dolphins that I encountered in the wild while snorkeling. This scene was made more poignant for me by having recently seen dolphins in a small pool doing their thing for tourists at one of the resorts here. I couldn’t bring myself to take a photo of that.
I saw this female Sonoran Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa sonorina) in an Agave Attenuata and at first thought she was dead. But when I went out to look, she moved a bit, then burrowed deeper into the plants and disappeared from sight. I saw her three days in a row on the same plant and then she must have moved on. I’m not sure exactly what she was doing there. She didn’t appear to be collecting pollen but might have been doing so, albeit very slowly!
I saw this cow on a little hump of land at Pu’u Wa’awa’a and was struck by the pose. It was so bulky and muscular, I thought it was a bull at first. It’s definitely not a dairy cow though. That would be too terrifying to think about.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘2021 in Your Rear-View Mirror.’ See more responses here. I’ve gone with a favorite photo from each month of 2021, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in.
A long-tailed blue butterfly feeds as it makes its way along a kiawe flower.
Sometimes you have to dig deep to get to the good stuff!
Graham's Island 