Category Archives: Volcanoes

Morning clouds at Mauna Kea

A few clouds catch the light on an otherwise pristine morning around Mauna Kea.

View from the top road

A view from Mamalahoa Highway on the Big Island, Hawaii, with Kohala Mountain and Maui in the background

Looking north from the old Mamalahoa Highway, in the distance is Kohala Mountain on the right and Maui on the left. The black lava curving down to the ocean is the Kaʻūpūlehu lava flow from Hualalai Volcano. This flow, which occurred in 1800/1801, was the last time Hualalai erupted, though the volcano is still considered active.

Natal grass

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I think this is Natal grass (Melinis repens). It’s native to southern Africa and is considered something of a weed in many other places, including here. It still looked beautiful on this early morning.

Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour. See more responses here.

A look back at 2025

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A humpback whale and her calf swim in the waters off Lapakahi Historical Park, Hawaii — This Humpback Whale encounter was probably the highlight of the year (here).

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Year in review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’ve picked a photo from each of the past 12 months and included a link to the original post.

Lenticular clouds over Mauna Kea at sunrise — Sunrise over Mauna Kea (here).

A Monarch Butterfly on a leaf in Hawaii — A Monarch Butterfly on a leaf (here).

A Manta Ray swims by in the waters off Hawaii — A Manta Ray passes by (here).

View of Kilauea Eruption in May 2025 — One of the many episodes of the current eruption at Kilauea (here).

A Japanese White-eye on Octopus Tree flowers in Hawaii — A Japanese White-eye on Octopus Tree flowers (here).

The interior of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi, Hawaii — The interior of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi (here).

A male Sonoran Carpenter bee in Hawaii — A male Sonoran Carpenter Bee (here).

Art and chairs in the waiting room of Hilo Benioff Medical Center in Hawaii — A waiting room at the Hilo Benioff Medical Center (here).

A child jumps into the ocean from a rock tower at Coconut Island, Hilo, Hawaii — Jumping into the ocean at Coconut Island, Hilo (here).

Horses frolicking at Paniolo Adventures on the Big Island, Hawaii — A kerfuffle in the corral at Paniolo Adventures (here).

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii — A native I’iwi bird (here).

View from Kiholo Scenic Lookout

Looking north from the scenic lookout at Kiholo on the Big Island, Hawaii

A view to the north with clouds covering Kohala Mountain.

The Numbers Game #103

A cloud forms over the site of the eruption on Mauna Loa , Hawaii — The 2022 eruption at Mauna Loa produced its own weather in the form of this cloud.

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

A white water lily at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden — Water Lillies at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

Ants and ladybugs on a passion vine leaf — Water Lillies at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

Blue lights illuminate a ceiling — Waiting room lighting!

An A’ama Crab at the aptly named Crab Cove at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. — Waiting room lighting!

Red birds in green foliage

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Festive Colors of Red and Green.’ See more responses here.

A couple of weeks ago, I hiked a section of the Pu’u O’o Trail, off Saddle Road. It’s one of my favorites on the island. The trail mixes old lava flows from Mauna Loa eruptions with kipukas, areas of old growth trees bypassed by those flows. These kipukas are home to several native bird species.

On this day, approaching a kipuka, the bird calls got noticeably louder. Clearly a lot of birds were active. I chastised myself for, once again, not remembering to familiarize myself with the different calls so I could identify the birds I was hearing. But I needn’t have worried. They were visible too, if prone to move about a bit too rapidly for my convenience!

This bird is the I’iwi and I saw more of them on this day than any other time I’ve been up here. I’iwis feed on several kinds of native flowers, many of which are found in these kipukas. The tangle of branches and the flighty birds made for tricky photography, but I was happy to get a few good shots out of the many that I took.

I know these aren’t Christmassy photos, but I was feeling pretty festive by the end of the hike!

Voggy view

Vog on the west coast of the Big Island, Hawaii.

The current on again, off again eruption at Kilauea, combined with on again, off again trade winds has resulted in on again, off again vog. This was an on again voggy view towards Hualalai from the mountain road.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii