Category Archives: Animals

Large orange sulphur butterflies mating

Large Orange Sulphur Butterflies mating

While on a hike south of Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, I saw this pair of large orange sulphur butterflies. They were flying around, joined together, before settling on this seed pod. I assume they were mating, though this discrete view is the only one I had of them.

To see what was going on on the other side would have involved thrashing around in some nasty-looking brush. This would have added to the usual assortment of lacerations that I seem to acquire on a daily basis, and would undoubtedly have caused the butterflies to take to the air again. So I let them be.

New calves

New calves and mothers

Three new calvesOn my frequent trips to the coast near Upolu, I pass one of the two dairy farms on the island. As I go by I tend to look out for new calves, which I see quite often. On this day I came across this grouping and stopped to take photos. Actually, there were four new calves in the field, but the fourth was some distance away from this more social cluster.

New calves are quite endearing, especially when they first get up onto their wobbly legs, looking around as if wondering what the heck they’ve got themselves into. I’m also impressed by the mothers. It’s not unusual to see them pushing out their rather large offspring at one end while they continue to graze at the other. What fortitude!

Two new calves

Wandering glider dragonfly

Wandering glider dragonfly on a twig

Wandering glider dragonflyThe wandering glider (Pantala flavescens) is a fairly common dragonfly with a worldwide distribution, but it’s not one I’ve previously photographed. This isn’t for lack of trying.

I like dragonflies, so I’m always lured in when I see them flitting around. I figure that, even though they’re in motion, I should be able to get a photo because they often fly back and forth over small areas looking for food. So I’ve taken hundreds of dragonfly photos, many of which have a bit of dragonfly in them, some of them a whole dragonfly, a few where the dragonfly is fuzzy but identifiable, one or two that look pretty good.

This was another of those days. There were three or four dragonflies in the area and I was shooting photos with my usual success rate when I saw one of them settle. This one was clearly not familiar with dragonfly rules of conduct, which state: 1. Remain in constant motion if photographers are present. 2. If you must rest, make sure you aren’t observed.

Cashing in on my luck, I got several photos before the dragonfly flew off. I took a few more futile flying shots and was about to leave, when the same dragonfly landed again in almost the same spot. I particularly like the single yellow-brown cell in each of the wings, which is a handy identifier.

Awkward landing

Grasshopper and thorn

I always tend to think of animals and birds as being supremely graceful, swooping through the air, leaping from tree to tree, twisting and turning at high speed. So, while I don’t wish them any harm, I get a secret pleasure when I see one of nature’s creatures looking a bit clumsy. I’ve seen turtles bumping into rocks, birds landing with an ungainly stumble, geckos leaping and missing their target.

I saw this grasshopper jumping from one branch to another but, alas, it did not quite stick the landing. Mind you, if I was a grasshopper and tried the same stunt, I’d probably impale myself on that nasty-looking thorn.

Jacaranda flowers

Jacaranda flowers cluster

Jacaranda flowersA final response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’

I headed back to Pu’u Wa’awa’a last week, because this is the time of year when several kinds of trees are in bloom. One of those trees is the jacaranda, which blooms from April to June, and produces masses of blue to lavender flowers. Jacarandas prefer cooler elevations so the lower areas of Pu’u Wa’awa’a are right in their zone.

I wasn’t disappointed. Several trees were covered with these delicate flowers, which somewhat made up for the fact that the entire hill was shrouded in thick vog, exacerbated by the ongoing eruption down in Puna.

Jacaranda flowers and bee

The eyes have it

Sheep with older lamb

Another response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’

After a recent hike, I was returning to my truck and saw a small flock of sheep ahead on the track. These two caught my attention. The smaller one on the right was, I assume, the other’s lamb. Just before I took this photo, I saw it going for milk with that pneumatic drill approach that lambs have.

Before and after that, the ewe stood still, unwaveringly fixing me with those intense eyes. Then the two of them ran off to follow the rest of the flock that had already moved on.