Category Archives: Places

Bird bath mayhem

Feathers left in a bird bathing area in Hawaii

I’ve posted before about this rock at Mahukona where the birds like to drink and bathe. I’ve also mentioned (here) that it’s not a place where the birds can relax because of feral cats in the area. This photo, taken last month, is a graphic illustration of that.

I’m running this today because yesterday, toweling off after my swim, I noticed one of the cats hurrying towards this spot. Several small birds were gathered in this pool when the cat launched itself from below. The birds scattered, but one of them left with the cat, if you get my drift. First time I’ve seen that happen there.

Pueo takeoff

A pueo watches from a hillside in Hawaii

I was driving the mountain road back to Hawi, when I saw this Pueo flying. I pulled over, but didn’t see it again, until I realized it was perched on a rock on the hillside above. It was watching me.

I took some photos and was lucky enough to catch the bird taking off, before heading over a ridge and out of sight.

The Numbers Game #42

Two Humpback whales swim in the waters off Hawaii
A pair of Humpback Whales off the North Kohala coast.

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 163. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Go Mango

A large Mango tree in Hawaii

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

This is a look at the Mango tree in my yard. It’s more than 40 feet high and has a diameter of 50 feet or more. The top photo was taken about a week ago. The first photo in the gallery below was taken a week before that. The new leaves are red, but quickly turn a glossy green. Older leaves are dark green.

The tree will eventually bloom with clusters of small creamy flowers, followed by clumps of fruit, much to the delight of the wild pigs here. Mind you, they have to be careful, as do I, because, when the wind blows, branches fall from the tree, some of them big enough to do damage.

A large branch that fell from a Mango tree in Hawaii