May sees the welcome return of Becky’s Squares. This month’s theme is Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning (see more responses here). I couldn’t resist starting with this one, if only for the headline.
Vehicles in Hawaii are required to pass a safety inspection every year. This sticker is put on when the vehicle passes and also indicates when it will need to be renewed. This one is good for another eight months.
Also posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card. See more responses here.
The photo number isn’t 140, but this still works. Watch out for that tub!
An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Striped Lynx Spider.
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 140. Captions are on the photos.
An endangered Palila, a bird found only on the Big Island, Hawaii.Rainbow over North Kohala.Little fish and Padina japonica seaweed in a tide pool.A fireweed control moth (Secusio extensa).Sunrise over North Kohala.
Queen’s Wreath (Petrea volubilis) is also known as Purple Wreath and Sandpaper Vine. It’s a native of tropical America, though not Hawaii. The plant can take the form of a vine or shrub. This one was more of a shrub. The blooms are prolific and can occur twice a year.
Monk seals often come ashore during the day to rest.
I was down at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park with my brother, and we were watching a turtle resting on the beach, in an area enclosed by a low rock wall. I told him that most turtles hauled out here, but they sometimes came ashore on other parts of the beach, and I pointed to a dark lump, surrounded by cones, some distance away.
Looking at it, I thought, that’s a big turtle! So I zoomed in with my camera and saw it was actually a monk seal. We hot-footed around and I took these photos, which I later sent in to the Marine Mammal Center, which keeps track of monk seals.
This monk seal looked in good condition, with no visible wounds. The green around the face and flippers is algae and is an indication the seal might molt soon, which they do annually.
They responded to let me know the seal was ‘Imikai, a daughter of RB00, who is also the mother of the last seal I saw (here). ‘Imikai was born on Lānaʻi in 2018 and has had two pups of her own. Apparently, she came to the Big Island in 2023 and has been seen mostly around the southern parts of the island.
Tags in the tail flippers are used to identify the monk seals.
Visiting Kailua Kona, it’s never hard to know if a cruise ship is in. They invariably are the largest thing in view, dwarfing any and all of the downtown buildings. On a recent visit, I got this photo from the Walmart parking lot (a solid contender for the Walmart with the best view in the world!).
It used to be that Wednesday was cruise ship day, but currently there are three or four ships a week stopping by. This one is the Europa 2, which is operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. It carries up to 516 passengers, which means it is less crowded than most cruise ships.
Strong winds whip up whitecaps in Kawaihae harbor.
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 139. Captions are on the photos.
A Black-crowned Night Heron snaffles a Tilapia. Original post here.Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.The firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano in 2017.Hawaiian Stilts in flight.There’s always one who’s got to get your attention, as evidenced by these Northern Pintails.
Graham's Island 