Category Archives: Photo Challenges

Bluespine unicornfish

Bluespine Unicornfish

On any given day, I’d rather be snorkeling. There’s always something interesting to see in the water here.

This fish is a bluespine unicornfish, a name which is pretty self-explanatory. The blue spines by the base of the tail are very visible as is the prominent horn. Not all unicornfish have horns.

The horn helps make the bluespine unicornfish look permanently grumpy, which is perhaps why these fish tend to lead solitary lives. They also tend to be wary around snorkelers, maintaining their distance or easing away when approached. This one, however, appeared more curious and made a couple of closer passes before disappearing.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘I’d rather be…’

Arriving at Kaulana boat ramp

It’s one thing to launch a boat from a boat ramp, but how to pull it out again when there’s no dock to walk ashore on to retrieve the trailer. These photos at Kaulana boat ramp, near South Point, tell the story.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

The grass IS greener

Regardless of how lush a pasture is, cows can always be seen with head hanging over or through a fence, sampling the greener grass beyond. But what goes through the fence must return, and with great care. No cows were harmed in the making of this photo.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

Royal Hawaiian Band

The Royal Hawaiian Band was founded in 1836 by King Kamehameha III. The band presents free concerts in the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace most Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. and at the Kapi‘olani Park Bandstand in Waikiki most Sundays at 2 p.m..

I hope the photos convey something of what an enjoyable experience the band’s concert offered.

For more information about the Royal Hawaiian Band, go to rhb-music.com.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

Hawaiian monk seal and her new pup

There’s a new monk seal pup on the Big Island and, happily, both mother and pup are doing well. The pup is just over a month old now and its mother will stay with it for another two weeks or so. At that point, she’ll head out to feed, having not eaten since giving birth, and the pup will be left to fend for itself.

I’ve been to see them three times and the pup’s growth has been dramatic as seen in the third and fifth photos. In the top one, the pup is 11 days old and below, exactly a month old.

For more information about Hawaiian monk seals, go to www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hawaiian_
monk_seal/ or www.marinemammalcenter.
org/hawaii.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

Hawi Post Office mural

Murals tell stories and this one, on the side of the Hawi Post Office building, tells the story of North Kohala’s sugar plantation era. The mural was painted by students from Kohala High School working with staff, faculty and community members.

For more information about the mural, go to kohalamountainnews.com/2017 and click on the May edition.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

A black-crowned night heron snaffles a tilapia

This juvenile black-crowned night heron swooped down and snatched a large tilapia out of a pond in front of a house by the coast. Trouble is, the fish was a bit big and the heron struggled to swallow it. After working on it by the pond, the bird flew to the top of a tree where a strong wind added to its difficulties. It hopped over to a taller tree, which only made things worse, before setting down on the rocky shore nearby.

I saw the bird a few minutes later without the fish, but don’t know whether it finally managed to swallow it or gave up and ejected it. Either way it wasn’t a good day for the fish.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Out of This World.’