Category Archives: Places

I’m red, white and blue for you

A sign on a business in Kailua Kona Hawaii
The sign above the ABC Supply Company building in Kailua Kona. These letters always make me think of Elvis Costello’s song, Brilliant Mistake, which includes the lyrics: ‘She said that she was working for the ABC News. It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use.’

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Red, White, & Blue.’ See more responses here.

Here’s my selection this week with captions on the photos.

A Ring-necked pheasant in Hawaii
A Ring-necked Pheasant.
A Yellow-billed cardinal in Hawaii
A Yellow-billed Cardinal ready to take a dip.
A Hawaii Life Flight helicopter at Upolu Airport, Hawaii
Hawaii Life Flight helicopter training at Upolu Airport.
An inflatable snowman outside a store in Hawaii
It’s not too early, is it?
St Augustines Episcopal Church in Kapaau, Hawaii
St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Kapaau
Canoe paddlers practice in the waters off Hawaii
Canoe paddlers out on the blue Pacific.

Franklin’s Gulls

Two Franklins Gulls fly in Hawaii
A Franklins Gull flies in Hawaii

I’ve posted before about how gulls are a rarity in Hawaii. I’ve only seen a couple in my time here. But recently, two birds, which I believe are Franklin’s Gulls, have been hanging around the small reservoir near the place where I work.

Usually, the gulls seen in Hawaii are individual stragglers, so to see two together is unusual. The other interesting thing is that the markings of these two appear to be the gulls’ breeding plumage. I wondered if they were nesting up there, but when I went to look, saw no sign of them.

A sign of the times

A road sign in Hawaii

I saw this sign in Hawi. It’s on a side road leading to a local housing scheme. It won’t be seen by most people passing through the town, but reflects a degree of unease or unhappiness with how things are going in Hawaii, with housing issues being near the top of the list.

The Numbers Game #28

A view into Waipio Valley.

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

A Scrawled Filefish swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Scrawled Filefish.
A Flowery Flounder swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Flowery Flounder.
A green turtle swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Green Turtle.
The Pride of America anchored off Kailua Kona.
Two Nenes confront a mongoose.
An old bomber which crashed in the Kohala Mountains. Original post here.

Big Island landscapes

Puus on Mauna Kea summit in Hawaii
Pu’us are volcanic cinders cones from past eruptions. These are near the top of Mauna Kea.

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

There’s a bit of everything on the Big Island, so these are just few of the landscapes to be seen here. Captions on the photos.

Colorful Lava in Hawaii
Lava is a major landscape feature here, but it can be colorful.
A tree on the Hilina Pali Trail in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii
The Hilina Pali Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
A views of Pohoiki Beach in Hawaii
The landscape here changes regularly. A view of Pohoiki Beach. Lava from the 2018 eruption on the right, new black sand beach on the left, and a smothered boat ramp with little swimming pool near the center.
A view of a valley in the Kohala Mountains in Hawaii
A view into one of the valleys of Kohala Mountain.
Part of the Pu'u O'o Trail in Hawaii
The Pu’u O’o Trail passes through old growth forests isolated by past eruptions.
A path winds through palm trees in Hawaii
On the coast, a path wanders through palm trees.
Pasture land on Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Pastureland on Kohala Mountain.
A view of ranch land on Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Cattle ranches border Kohala Mountain Road.
A View of Mauna Kea from The Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii
A view of Mauna Kea from the coast at the Fairmont Orchid Resort.

Palm fronds in a gully

Wet palm fronds in a gulley in Hawi, Hawaii

Entering beautiful downtown Hawi (all one block of it) there’s a gully to one side of the road. It’s a steep drop into it, but there’s lots of vegetation to break one’s fall and to cover up the odds and ends dumped there. We get a lot of rain up here, so the vegetation thrives including this palm, all shiny and drooping from the last downpour.

Can you see it?

The Caltech Submilimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, shortly before the dome was removed.

A few weeks ago, I was up at the summit of Mauna Kea with my visiting brother. I took a lot of photos up there including this one of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. I’ve always liked this observatory as it’s cute and shiny and has all kinds of different shapes going on.

One other thing it has, is disappeared. A couple of weeks after my visit, the dome was removed, part of a decommissioning process that’s been going on for a while now. Once the pad and underground utilities have been taken out, the site will be restored to its natural state.

For more information on this project see here and here.