Category Archives: Birds

A walk at Pu’u Wa’awa’a Cinder Cone State Park

A View of Maui from Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — A distant view of Maui.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Walk in the Park.’ See more responses here. These photos are from my last hike at what is officially known as Pu’u Wa’awa’a Cinder Cone State Park. The hike took place under heavy skies, but the clouds hovered just above the top of the hill and the rain held off until late in the walk.

A Northern Mockingbird on a snag at Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — A Northern Mockingbird announces its presence.

Silk Oak flowers at Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — A Northern Mockingbird announces its presence.

A Sheep in the grass at Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — Sheep and cattle are often seen on the trail.

Wiliwili seeds at Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — Sheep and cattle are often seen on the trail.

tree roots at Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — Tree roots snake across the trail in places.

A Horse and rider on Pu'u Wa'awa'a in Hawaii — Tree roots snake across the trail in places.

Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #65

Kilauea Volcano in late April 2018. Original post here.

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 186. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A female Pearl Wrasse catches the light.

Pueo on a wire

I used something called dry brush effect, in Photoshop Elements, on this photo and I quite like it. In truth, it’s not a lot different than the original, but the contrasts are better.

The Numbers Game #64

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 185. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Going green

The view from Waipio Valley overlook offers many shades of green and a good deal of blue.

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Shades of Green.’ Captions are on the photos. See more responses here.

Found this on the shore one early morning. A fisherman’s lure perhaps.

Sometimes, you just have to sing

A Yellow-fronted Canary belts out a song.

The miracle of birth is hard work

Driving down to Upolu for a walk, I noticed this cow behaving oddly, so I pulled over to take a look. The reason quickly became clear: a pair of hooves sticking out below the tail. She was about to give birth. I thought this would be a good photo op, so settled in to watch.

The poor cow was up, down, walking, lying down. The pair of hooves did not budge. A couple of times I thought the delivery was nigh, but they were false dawns.

A cattle egret stands by a cow trying to calve in Hawaii — Are you the midwife?

I wasn’t the only one watching the action, or lack of it. Other cows looked on from a safe distance, chickens pecked the ground around the struggling cow, and a cattle egret flew in to see if any bugs might be being stirred up by the activity. In the end, I could wait no longer. I went off for my walk. On my return, nothing much had changed so I went home.

A cattle egret flies by a cow trying to calve in Hawaii — I guess not.

I didn’t contact the dairy. Early in my time here, I tried that, but they weren’t interested and soon after, No Trespassing signs went up on the driveway! I grew up on a small farm and, for us, a new calf was an important arrival to be carefully ushered into the world. But this was a bigger operation, and I’ve learned that the cows are left to get on with it. Truth is, she was probably fine. These things take time and, as every mother out there knows, it’s never easy.