Category Archives: Photo Challenges

Candlenut

The flowers of a candlenut or kukui tree in Hawaii
The flowers of a candlenut or kukui tree in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Leaves and Trees.’ See more responses here.

Candlenut (Aleurites moluccana) is known as Kukui in Hawaii. It’s a canoe plant, brought to Hawaii by the early Polynesian settlers. The tree can grow to around 60 feet tall but is usually shorter. Large clusters of small white flowers are followed by round nuts, which can be seen at the top of the second photo.

The tree had many uses. Oil was extracted from the nuts for various uses and the nuts themselves were burned for lighting, hence the name. Roasted nuts are edible and were used for flavoring. Raw nuts are a potent laxative. The plants had several other uses, both decorative and medicinal.

Because of this versatility and cultural background, Kukui was named the state tree of Hawaii in 1959, replacing the coconut palm. It’s the only state to have a non-indigenous state tree.

Red junglefowl

A Red junglefowl in Hawaii
A Red junglefowl in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Fur and Feathers.’ See more responses here.

This bird is probably a red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) or Moa in Hawaii. I say probably, because some regular chickens (Gallus domesticus) can have a similar look and there is considerable interbreeding between the two species.

The red junglefowl is considered to be the first introduced bird species in Hawaii, since it was brought here by early Polynesian settlers.

One of our rotors is missing

A wind turbine at Hawi Wind Farm has its rotor removed for maintenance

Yesterday, I stopped by Hawi Wind Farm on my way back from a walk because I’d seen this scene on the drive down. The rotor is, of course, not missing. It’s lying flat at the base of the turbine. And it wasn’t just one rotor in this position. A second turbine also had the rotor removed.

Ironically, it was a sunny day with virtually no wind but, because it was Sunday, no one was working. They’ll probably be back when the 40 mph winds and lashing rain kick in again, just to make the work challenging!

Posted in response to Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.

Trees and cloud

Trees and clouds on the slopes of Mauna Kea, Hawaii

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

I couldn’t think of too many eerie things amongst my photos. This image of trees on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea, shrouded in cloud, is as close as it gets. This is a fairly common occurrence as clouds tend to build up during the day and often reach this area in the afternoons.

Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Sky’ (See more responses here), and to the current Friendly Friday challenge theme of ‘Weather’ (See more responses here).

Signs: No parking

A No Parking sign on the Kohala Coast, Hawaii

The coast road between North Kohala and Kawaihae is dotted with these no parking signs. There are virtually no houses along this road, so why the signs? Well, the views are lovely and in the winter, humpback whales frolic just off the coast. Who wouldn’t want to pull over.

Consequently, a 40 mph minimum speed limit is in place along this highway together with these signs. The net result is that people still crawl along taking in the view and pull over to watch whales wherever they please.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Circles and Squares.’ See more responses here.

Balloon plant

A prickly balloon plant

I’ve seen balloon plants (Gomphocarpus physocarpus) in local pastures before, but not up close like this. The balloons are the fruit of the plants. The long hairy spines become stiffer and spiky-looking when the balloons inflate prior to releasing their seeds.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky.’ See more responses here.

Abstracts: Rock-boring urchin art

Channels made by rock-boring urchins in Hawaii

Yesterday I posted a photo of a crown-of-thorns star, with a few rock-boring urchins in it. Today’s post shows one example of the channels left by these urchins. This image initially looked like a brain to me, but then I began to see more of a tree in it.

Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Spiky/Lines.’ See more responses here.