The pool at the south end of Kiholo State Park Reserve is a hotspot for birds and insects. When I go there, I’m lured in to taking photos of dragonflies. I ran one at the bottom of this post. This is another from that visit, showing a pair of black saddlebags dragonflies mating. I failed to get the actual dragonflies in any of my photos, but did get this reflection of them in the pool.
This Phalaenopsis Minho Princess orchid was at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. The garden has been closed for almost a year now because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I haven’t seen any indication of when it will reopen though it will undoubtedly do so when conditions are right.
For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Rainy Day.’ See more responses here.
I had just finished my walk around Upolu Airport when the weather closed in. Usually, clouds and rain are blown in by the northeast trade winds, but on this day a system was moving in from the west. I’d been watching its progress as I walked, but still got caught out as it moved faster than I expected. Still, I did make it back to the car, waiting for me in the wet parking lot, before the next deluge arrived (top photo).
The crab spiders didn’t seem to mind the weather, and the raindrops made a picture of their webs (middle photo). It also made them easier to see so that I could avoid my usual trick of blundering into them and having webs wrapped around my head.
On the drive home, after my walk, I carved an avenue of spray as I motored along the puddled road (bottom photo).
Chain of Craters Road is the route down to the coast in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. As the name implies, it passes a variety of volcanic craters, which were the scenes of eruptions in years gone by. But as it gets close to Hilina Pali, a series of great views open up. This one looks to the west and southwest, the backcountry part of the park.
For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/.
The current Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Something Different.’ See more responses here.
I think in my 6+ years of doing this blog, I’ve posted exactly one black and white photo. So a selection of black and white scenes seemed like a suitable response for this challenge.
The top photo is of morning clouds scudding over Mauna Kea as seen from the top of Pu’u Wa’awa’a. Second is a shot of surf crashing against an old wharf in North Kohala and, yes, I was secretly hoping the man on the wharf would get soaked! Third is a tenacious tree on the coast near Kawaihae. The bottom photo shows a small fishing boat in the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel, as seen from the North Kohala coast.
That isn’t the name of this little bay, but it could be. The wind was howling offshore and it was spritzing with rain from clouds that were several miles away. But the bay was calm and blue and inviting.
Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
Little bubbles clump together on the underside of the water’s surface.
I spotted this grasshopper on the fence surrounding Upolu Airport. When I got my camera out, the grasshopper edged to one side to keep the wire fence between us. I moved that way, the grasshopper moved back. We did this a few times, during which I was able to get these photos, before I left him in peace.
Graham's Island 