Category Archives: Places

A bright I’iwi

An I'iwi in a forest off Saddle Road, Hawaii
An I'iwi calls in a forest off Saddle Road, Hawaii

On my last hike on the Pu’u O’o Trail, off Saddle Road, I soon ran into a man and his son staring at a tree a short distance away. The man explained that they’d seen an i’iwi, a native Hawaiian honeycreeper, fly into the tree and were hoping to see it again. I waited with them for a while, but saw nothing and decided to move on.

A little later I ran into two men coming out of a kipuka, a cluster of old vegetation that has been bypassed by lava flows. One of them, looking pretty pleased, held out his camera and said they’d just seen an i’iwi and he’d got some good photos. He mentioned the spot where they’d seen the bird, so I headed into the trees to have a look. Nothing. It was beginning to look like it was going to be one of those days where everyone else has a wonderful experience except me!

But not long after, I saw a flash of red and then this bird settled on a branch and began to add its song to the loud chorus of bird songs in the kipuka. One thing about i’iwis is that if they’re around, they’re easy to see, their bright red plumage standing out against the green background.

After the bird flew off, I carried on with my hike. When I returned half an hour later, the bird song in the kipukas had diminished considerably and I didn’t see or hear anymore i’iwis.

Posted in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ See more responses here.

Blake’s art corner

An outdoor art installation in Hawi, Hawaii

In the heart of downtown Hawi, there’s a telephone pole surrounded by tradescantias. This is where Blake, a local resident, has his unofficial art gallery. The display changes quite frequently, but can always be relied upon to feature bright colors.

Posted in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ See more responses here.

Wild turkey crossing the road

A wild turkey crosses Saddle Road in Hawaii

Wild turkeys aren’t too bright. This one rushed across the road to catch up with the rest of the flock that had scurried across before I could get my camera organized. As to why the flock crossed the road, I don’t know. Perhaps they were following chickens.

Posted in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ See more responses here.

Abstracts: Lighthouse

The sun shines from behind a lighthouse in Hawaii

I was in the water, looking up at the lighthouse north of Lapakahi, and trying to get a photo of the sun behind the light. I was swimming back and forth, to get the sun and light lined up, while the sea whooshed back and forth in a quite shallow area. Results were mixed as they say, but I liked this image which has a bit of a Halloween feel to it.

Posted in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ See more responses here.

Rainbow violet

A Rainbow over the road in North Kohala, Hawaii
A Phalaenopsis orchid in Hawaii
A Japanese white-eye on a Japanese aloe flower

The seventh and final installment of my rainbow colors in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Bright.’ (See more responses here.) ‘Violet’ also happens to be this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme, which is what gave me the rainbow series idea in the first place. (See more responses here.)

My last rainbow spans the main highway to North Kohala. This is a good spot to see rainbows in the afternoon. It’s cloudy and wet toward Kohala Mountain on the right, sunny and dry down by the coast on the left.

This phalaenopsis orchid falls somewhere in the violet/purple range. This was another instance where I looked up the official RGB color values for violet and found quite a range of possibilities.

The final photo has a Japanese white-eye sampling the good things on offer in a Japanese aloe flower, backed up by a bold and bright splash of violet bougainvillea flowers.