I saw this adult black-crowned night heron in a watchful pose on the edge of the lagoon behind the beach at Kawaihae. I liked how the stick matches the heron’s colors. It looks like it could be the antenna of the heron’s fish detector instrument.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Fur and Feathers.’ See more responses here.
This bird is probably a red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) or Moa in Hawaii. I say probably, because some regular chickens (Gallus domesticus) can have a similar look and there is considerable interbreeding between the two species.
The red junglefowl is considered to be the first introduced bird species in Hawaii, since it was brought here by early Polynesian settlers.
This young goat was looking particularly bright-eyed and ready for action, as they tend to do. The myna bird, watching the kid, looked grumpy and unimpressed, as they tend to do.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Indoor/Outdoor Decor.’ See more responses here.
I don’t have a lot of ‘decor’ photos, but I think this sort of fits the bill. It’s one of several fun benches at Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo. Probably less fun to sit in, but you can’t have everything!
Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Blue/Bright.’ See more responses here.
I saw this pueo on a power line alongside Old Saddle Road. He kept a close eye on me as I moved around taking photos.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Lines.’ See more responses here.
This pair of Java sparrows was easy to see flitting about in the bare branches of a plumeria tree. Plumerias start out this way before flowers bud and bloom. Leaves are the last to show.
Java sparrows are a favorite of mine, for their perky nature, bold marking, and those pink legs and beak.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – In the Pink.’ See more responses here.
I’ve lived in Hawaii for more than nine years now and had previously never seen any of those most tropical of birds, the parrots. One reason for this is that parrots aren’t native to Hawaii, but a variety of different parrots have become established here.
Red-masked parakeets were first seen here in 1988 and are probably the most common parrot on the Big Island. They’re natives of Ecuador and Peru, but are now fairly well established on the Kona coast, which is where I saw this a pair, in Kohanaiki Beach Park. While they forage along the coast here, they roost high up on the slopes of Hualalai Volcano.
I was running early to work recently, so I decided to stop in Kawaihae, as I often do. With more time, I’d have gone for a walk along the coast, but I had only 15 minutes so I plumped for a visit to the south end of the harbor to see if there were any herons around.
I found two there, but one quickly disappeared. The other stood on a rock in shallow water, a popular fishing spot for them. I took a few photos and noticed the heron leaning forward. It had spotted something. An instant later, it plunged into the water and then emerged with a fish on its beak. It returned to the rock and paused. The fish appeared to be impaled on the heron’s beak, but extracting the beak risked losing the fish before it could be eaten.
A moment later, the heron hopped over to the small beach where I was. There, it popped the fish into the air and swallowed it in one slick movement. This whole sequence took less than three minutes. The heron stayed on the beach and I returned to my car and headed off to work, very glad that I’d stopped by.
Graham's Island 