
The trunk of a False Kamani tree (Terminalia catappa) at Spencer Beach Park.

The trunk of a False Kamani tree (Terminalia catappa) at Spencer Beach Park.

I saw this House Sparrow one morning, standing over this fruit of a False Kamani tree (Terminalia catappa) at Spencer Beach Park. It didn’t seem interested in the fruit, not making any attempt to peck at it.
After a while, it raised its head, opened its beak and … silence. It did this several times and never made a sound. I assume it’s a juvenile trying to get its parents attention without otherwise drawing attention to itself. I never did see the parents, or if they came to the youngsters assistance.



This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Leaves, Autumn or Spring.’ See more responses here. Here are some leaves from Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden with captions on the photos.








I was watering my coffee plants, early one morning, when I heard a loud buzzing noise. I looked up and saw bees all over the flowers of a palm tree on the edge of the yard. To be honest, I hadn’t noticed the tree had flowers as they’re rather dwarfed by the profusion of fronds. But there are a lot of these small yellow flowers and the bees obviously approve.


This photo doesn’t look much different in black and white than it does in color. Happy Halloween!

These are the fruits of a palm tree, not sure which kind. I was hoping someone would walk by so that I could say, ‘Looks like this Roma Tomato Tree has a good crop coming along.’ Alas, life is full of little disappointments.

I was impressed to see one of our cats at work, looking comfy on a branch of the large Kiawe tree in the yard. The tree is not only studded with vicious thorns, but is also home to a colony of ants that might outnumber the human population of the island.


There are many things to like about this orchid. It’s a beautiful flower. It’s an epiphyte, growing on the trunk of a tree. It hosts a small hover fly, which I didn’t notice at the time. And it has a handy tag attached, identifying what it is, which I also didn’t see until later.
There’s an interesting story about the discovery of this flower here.