Category Archives: Photo Challenges

Crimson Medinilla

The Crimson Medinilla bud in the top photo will soon burgeon into the colorful clump of flowers in the lower photo.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

It’s a home to us

Little fish and floating debris in the waters off Hawaii

Floating marine debris can be a menace to ocean wildlife, being swallowed by, or wrapping around everything from fish to turtles to whales. But it can also be repurposed by little fish into a relatively safe haven for them as they negotiate those dangerous early days of life.

Here, a variety of small sergeant fishes have found some cover under a clump of line.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.

Safety first…and last

May sees the welcome return of Becky’s Squares. This month’s theme is Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning (see more responses here). I couldn’t resist starting with this one, if only for the headline.

Vehicles in Hawaii are required to pass a safety inspection every year. This sticker is put on when the vehicle passes and also indicates when it will need to be renewed. This one is good for another eight months.

Also posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #19

A Helicopter taking off from a ranch on Kohala Mountain, Hawaii — The photo number isn’t 140, but this still works. Watch out for that tub!

A Striped Lynx spider in Hawaii — An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Striped Lynx Spider.

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 140. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

An endangered Palila, a bird found only on the Big Island, Hawaii.

Rainbow off North Kohala — Rainbow over North Kohala.

Little fish and Padina japonica seaweed in a tide pool in Hawaii — Rainbow over North Kohala.

I know you’re there

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘National Kids and Pets Day.’ See more responses here.

This is Gigi, one of the cats at work. She wasn’t about to move, but she was keeping a bit of an eye on me, just in case.

The Numbers Game #18

Strong winds create whitecaps in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii — Strong winds whip up whitecaps in Kawaihae harbor.

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 139. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Black-crowned Night Heron snaffles a Tilapia. Original post here.

A beekeeper removes a swarm of bees nesting in a wall — Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.

A firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.

A pair of Northern Pintails on a pond in Hawaii — There’s always one who’s got to get your attention, as evidenced by these Northern Pintails.

Halemaʻumaʻu crater

A view of Halemaumau Crater at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Halemaʻumaʻu crater sits within the larger Kilauea calera.

A view of Halemaumau Crater and Jaggar Museum at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Jagger Museum sits on the center of the ridge above Halemaʻumaʻu crater. This view gives an idea of the scale.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Earth Day.’ See more responses here.

My brother has been visiting from England and, a few days ago, we went down to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to check out the scene. The volcano’s last eruption ended in September 2023, and it’s been mostly quiet since then.

We arrived to find the volcano socked in with clouds, but the next morning the skies had lifted and we got some great views. We started at Uēkahuna, a viewing area next door to the Jaggar Museum. The viewing area used to be at the museum, but that was badly damaged during Kilauea’s 2018 eruption and is currently in the process of being removed.

Halemaʻumaʻu crater is a pit crater within the larger Kilauea caldera. By the end of that 2018 eruption, the crater floor had collapsed into a deep pit. A small lake formed at the bottom, but that was boiled away and covered in the next eruption. Subsequent eruptions have continued this process of filling the collapsed pit. I hadn’t been down to view this area for quite a while and I was surprised at how much had been filled in. The whole floor was easily visible from the many viewpoints around the caldera, and while there’s no active lava to be seen, there’s plenty of steam rising.

A view of volcanic cones in Halemaumau Crater at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Volcanic cones, from the last eruption, on the floor of the crater.

A view of steam rising in Halemaumau Crater at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii — Steam rises from cracks in the walls of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

Ironically, yesterday I got an email from the U.S. Geological Survey announcing that ‘Increased seismicity over the past three weeks, indicates heightened activity. Updates will be provided daily while at a heightened state of unrest.’ In other words, watch this space!

For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/.

The Numbers Game #17

A Pallid Ghost crab blends int o the beach in Hawaii — A Pallid Ghost Crab on the beach.

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. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!

This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A green turtle swims in the waters off Hawaii — A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.

Crocodile Needlefish swim just below the surface in Hawaii — A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii