I already ran a post for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Orange’ (here, and other responses here). But yesterday, while taking a walk, I came across this passion vine butterfly and thought it fit the theme too well to pass up. The butterfly was feeding on a tasselflower with the blue Pacific as a backdrop.
This week’s Sunday Stills theme is ‘Orange.’ (See more responses here.) Usually I pick one subject for these challenges, but I had two recent subjects that fit the bill and I couldn’t make up my mind, so I’m including both.
The flower photos are of a dendrobium secundum orchid, which is also known as a toothbrush orchid. The flower color can vary from pale pink to purple with an orange labellum at the tip. These flowers were soft and delicate looking, yet so lush.
The bottom photo is from the recent Ironman race on the island. I liked the pop of this cyclist’s outfit and how his water bottle matched his orange helmet.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Photo-editor.’ See more responses here.
A few weeks ago I posted a composite photo of a rainbow here, which would have been a good choice for this challenge. But I also had more recent photos, of a waterfall in the Kohala Mountains, that I wanted to combine.
I couldn’t capture the full drop of this waterfall, probably somewhere between 500 and 1,000 feet, in one image, so I took two photos. This presented a couple of challenges. First was to combine the image of the top of the falls with the one of the bottom of the falls. The second challenge involved dealing with the horizontal offset of these two photos. Since I was in a helicopter at the time, we’d moved forward between shooting the images.
I’m pretty happy with the final image, especially the capture of the mini rainbow at the base of the falls. Anyway, feel free to see if you can spot where the two photos are connected.
Thanks to Sunshine Helicopters for the tour.
This rich, green moss, growing on large bamboo canes, oozes softness.
Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Texture.’ See more responses here.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Pink.’ (See more responses here.) I mulled a few possibilities before settling on this fine little bird, a Java sparrow. The Java sparrow, as its name suggests, is native to Indonesia, but is now well established in Hawaii. It’s notable for its thick, pink bill which matches its eye ring and feet.
In Hawaii, it’s not unusual for people to commute between islands. Many medical professionals are based in Honolulu, but have offices on the Big Island which they visit on a weekly basis. The same can be said for other professionals: lawyers, scientists, engineers and the like. Politicians and government officials go back and forth on a regular basis.
But it’s not just professionals. Skilled tradespeople might work on any of the islands, commuting on a daily or weekly basis. Highway construction crews likewise move from island to island depending on where and what projects are being worked on. Musicians and other artists are regular island hoppers. The list goes on.
There’s one mode of transport for all these people and that’s air travel. There are no inter-island ferries. The Hawaii Superferry operated from 2007 to 2009 but was suspended when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a second environmental impact statement was required. One concern with a ferry is the increased risk of spreading invasive species and diseases of plants and animals.
Hawaiian Airlines is the biggest operator in the islands, with the lion’s share of the inter-island business. It operates from its hub in Honolulu, but also offers direct flights between the other islands. The second photo shows the distinctive tails of a couple of its planes at Honolulu Airport.
Smaller airlines have also offered inter-island routes. These include Aloha Airlines, Go! Airlines and Island Air. These three ceased business in 2008, 2014, and 2017 respectively. Currently, the only other island airline is Mokulele Airlines, though it doesn’t fly to Kauai. They service some smaller airports and operate smaller planes such as the one above, coming in to land at Kona Airport.
Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge is on the theme of ‘Transportation or Commute.’ (More responses here.)
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Autumn,’ (more responses here) which poses a bit of a challenge. In Hawaii, we don’t have leaves turning color or a certain crispness in the air. But what we do have at this time of year is migratory birds coming to the islands.
One of the more impressive of these travelers is the Pacific golden plover. These birds spend the summer, their breeding season, in the Arctic tundra from western Alaska to northern Asia. At the end of the season they make an epic migration south to places as far away as Australia, Southeast Asia, and northeast Africa.
Hawaii is a stopover on their way to Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific islands, but some of the birds spend their winters in Hawaii. This is a non-stop journey of more than 2,500 miles and takes the birds three to four days. How they do this is not fully understood. There are no landmarks or stopping points en route and no room for errors in navigation. But year after year, Pacific golden plovers return precisely to the same sites. Not only that, but new born plovers are able to make the journey independently despite never having flown the route before.
Then there’s the small matter of how this little bird fuels itself for such a long flight. There’s a fine balance between the amount of fuel it must carry and the need to fly fast. But even if it gets this right, the fact is an individual plover still wouldn’t be able to go that far. The secret lies in the birds flying in a V-formation which saves enough energy for the birds to make the whole distance with a little bit to spare to cover adverse conditions. It’s a remarkably precise balance which the birds manage successfully year after year.
This plover was foraging (successfully in the top photo) in tide pools along the Kona coast.
For more information about the Pacific golden plover’s migration to Hawaii, go to https://phys.org/news/2011-06-plovers-tracked-pacific.html.
On a recent walk I noticed some disturbance in the water not far offshore and was happy to see a school of 15 to 20 spinner dolphins. I thought they were headed south and set out to follow them from shore. Then they turned around and went north again. I followed. This happened several times, so I just sat down and watched while they tried to make up their minds.
Spinner dolphins get their name from the twirls they make when they leap from the water. It’s thought this activity helps dolphins know where others in the school are because the bubbles generated by their takeoff and return to the water are a good target for their echolocation.
Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Back to School’ (Yes, it’s a stretch!). See more responses here.
Graham's Island 