This week’s posts are on the theme of the WordPress photo challenge, ‘Tour Guide.’
Getting in the water is a top activity here. Whether it’s surfing or swimming, diving or snorkeling, the water is relatively warm and reasonably clear. And there’s lots to see in the water. Here, a shoal of convict tang are joined by a couple of yellow tang, a whitespotted surgeonfish, a ringtail surgeonfish, and an orangespine unicornfish.
This week’s posts are on the theme of the WordPress photo challenge, ‘Tour Guide.’
A myriad of unique species evolved on these isolated islands. Many have disappeared, victims of other species introduced willfully or accidentally, decimated by new-to-them diseases, or simply displaced by the relentless encroachment of humans.
Of those that still survive, many are under great threat. However, there are success stories. Nēnē, the state bird, have come back from almost nothing and are doing well. Some ‘amakihi appear to have developed resistance to avian malaria, and ‘alalā, the Hawaiian crow, have recently been reintroduced into the wild in small numbers in an attempt to reestablish a wild population.
The palila is another endemic species that is rebounding with a little help. It is the only one of 16 finch-billed honeycreepers still in existence. It used to live on the islands of O’ahu, Kaua’i and Hawai’i. Today it exists only on Hawai’i, the Big Island. Even here, it’s habitat, which once covered the māmane forests of Mauna Kea, Hualali and Mauna Loa, has been reduced to a small area on the southwestern slopes of Mauna Kea.
The palila is a specialist feeder and this is one of the reasons it’s in trouble. It feeds mostly on immature seeds of the māmane, but māmanes have been badly affected by agricultural expansion and by grazing by wild sheep and goats.
The Palila Forest Discovery Trail is an area that has been fenced off and is protected from these threats. I’d been up there several times (four-wheel drive required) but had never caught so much as a glimpse of a palila. One of the reasons for their elusiveness is that palilas follow their food. Māmane flowers at different times depending on the elevation, so palila move up and down the hillside as the flowers bloom and the seeds reach the state they prefer.
Last time I was up there, however, my luck changed. I was taking photos of a moth when something flashed by just above me. I looked round and sitting on a nearby branch was a palila (I’m not a birder, but they’re quite distinctive.).
I quickly snapped a few photos, desperate to get some kind of record of this elusive bird before it disappeared. I needn’t have worried. It seemed unconcerned by my presence and was soon joined by several others. What was most striking was their feeding habit. A palila would pluck a green seed pod and take it to another branch. Once it was settled, the reason for its it stocky bill became apparent. It absolutely hammered at the pod, pinning it to the branch and banging away with its beak to access the seeds. The image of a workman smashing concrete with a pneumatic drill popped into my mind.
For half an hour or so I got to watch them at work. They seemed much like other birds I see — lively, healthy, a thriving group. But looking around, it was a sobering thought to realize I could see all their habitat, containing all that is left of an entire species.
For more information about palila and the Palila Forest Discovery Trail, go to dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/palila-forest-discovery-trail/.
For more information about birding on the Big Island, go to http://hawaiibirdingtrails.hawaii.gov/.
This week’s posts are on the theme of the WordPress photo challenge, ‘Tour Guide.’
Today’s photo features a couple of tropical standbys, a gold dust day gecko getting ready to take a drink from a bird of paradise flower. The flower is a riot of color and the gecko, also very colorful, is bold and cheerful. Most visitors are likely to encounter at least one, glued to a wall or ceiling, watching them with a somewhat bemused expression.
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘Tour Guide’ which I’m happy to use as my theme for this week’s posts. Since this is Hawaii, a good place to start is at the beach. This one is Papakōlea Beach, better known as Green Sand Beach. It’s about 3 miles northwest of South Point, the most southerly point in the United States.
The beach lies in a bay formed when the ocean eroded one side of an old cinder cone, Pu’u Mahana. The green color of the sand is a result of olivine in the lava. Since it’s heavier than other things in the lava, it stays on the beach. Swimming is possible in the shelter of this deep bay, but be careful. This coast is notorious for dangerous surf and strong currents.
It’s 2 1/2 miles to the beach from the parking area. There’s a very rough four-wheel drive road, which you can drive, or locals will ferry you out for a fee. The other alternative is to hike out along the coast, which is what I did.
You’re not likely to have the beach to yourself, but you will have a share of a beautiful, remote beach, a view all the way to Tahiti (you might have to stand on a rock), and the opportunity to broil on the distinctive green sand.
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘Variations on a theme.’ One of my first thoughts was orchids. It’s a family of flowers that is constantly changing as one plant is crossed with another to produce something a little different. So this is a collage of some orchids I’ve photographed at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
A final post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’
Unless the wind is howling, the top of Mauna Kea is a quiet place. The immensity of the volcano below and the sky above seems to swallow all sound. There’s no wildlife up there, just a few visitors wandering about, and telescopes silently probing space.
At sunset, the quiet is enhanced, despite an influx of people for the event. Perhaps it’s the dimming light or the muffling layer of billowy clouds around the volcano, but there’s a profound silence and a tranquility not easily found elsewhere.
Another post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’
Silence is probably the last thing anyone would associate with zebra doves. They’re seen everywhere and their continuous calls are one of the staples of the morning chorus.
Outside the house though is a mock orange, which has a branch that catches the late afternoon sun. Zebra doves like to sit on this branch and bask in the sunshine. Sometimes there’s just one, sometimes a pair, sometimes a family.
These two took the opportunity to engage in a little grooming while they were there, the one helping take care of those hard-to-reach places for the other. And the whole time, nary a peep out of either of them, which is the way all of them are, in this spot, at that time of day. It’s quite a contrast from their morning calls.
Another post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’
I glimpsed this moth flitting by and snapped a couple of photos, one of which is the second shot. I realized this wasn’t something I’d seen before and wanted to get more photos to make identifying it easier, but it had gone to ground and I’d lost track of it. So I waited, scanning the ground without spotting anything. A light breeze ruffled the grass, but otherwise all was silence.
Eventually, having seen no sign of its presence, I gave up, got up and moved on. Within seconds the moth flew by again. This time I followed its flight and saw where it put down. Even then, as I padded towards it, I thought I’d lost it again. But when I zoomed in on the apparently empty spot, the moth appeared, as seen above. No chance I’m spotting this had I not seen it flying.
It’s a white-lined sphinx moth, first recorded in Hawaii in 1877 and now present on all the islands. It’s probably fairly common but it’s the first time I’ve seen one.
Graham's Island 