Category Archives: Places

Killer

A feral cat at Mahukona Beach Park, Hawaii

This is the resident cat at Mahukona Beach Park. The rock he’s standing beside has a natural bowl at the top and people fill it with water for the birds. I call the cat Killer because, when he sees a bird go for a drink, he races out, stations himself at the base of it, and then leaps up trying to snag a victim.

A couple of mornings ago, I saw him leap from this spot and miss his quarry, but sometimes he’s successful. Feathers in the bowl attest to that. The birds here are not native species, so he’s not contributing to their decline, though that’s not the case elsewhere on the island.

Opihi picker

An Opihi picker on the coast of Hawaii
An Opihi picker on the coast of Hawaii

I saw this man, down on the rocks below Upolu Airport, collecting Opihi. Opihi is the Hawaiian word for limpets, and they are a prized food for the locals. Gathering them though is not an easy task. For one thing, it takes place at the water line. Opihi pickers are guaranteed to get wet and have to take great care not to get washed out to sea. One or two seem to disappear every year.

The Opihi also have to be taken while they are feeding and relaxed. Otherwise they will be so firmly adhered to the rocks that no amount of prying will loosen them.

Stickers

Stickers on utility boxes at Kailua Kona airport in Hawaii
Stickers on utility pipes at Kailua Kona airport in Hawaii

The utility pipes and boxes in one of the waiting areas at Kailua Kona airport are covered in stickers. I don’t know why people started putting them there, but the authorities haven’t removed them so it continues to be a little guerrilla art show.

The Numbers Game #112

A juvenile black-crowned night heron in flight.
A Black-crowned Night Heron flies over the water.

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

A bee burrows into a Mamane flower
Riding in a bus in Hawaii
Riding the bus.
The Hi-Seas site for simulating living on the Moon and Mars.
Red-masked parakeets at Kohanaiki Beach Park.
Red-masked parakeets.
A Bluespotted Cornetfish up close.
A Painted Lady Butterfly on a Tree Heliotrope.

Tourists

A view of ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay in Hawaii

A couple walks the beach at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay while a tour boat disembarks passengers into a glass bottom boat to be shuttled ashore. Tourism is down here this year, in part because many Canadians are avoiding the U.S.A due to less than friendly relations between the two countries at the current time. I won’t be surprised if other nationalities follow suit.