Category Archives: Volcanoes

Red birds in green foliage

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

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.

Turtles at peace

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the beach at Kaloko in Hawaii — Resting at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Peace.’ See more responses here. Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles come ashore to rest and get a bit of peace. Humans are supposed to stay at least 10 feet away, preferably more.

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the beach in Hawaii — On the beach.

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the rocks at Kiholo, Hawaii — On the beach.

The Numbers Game #101

It’s the time of year when big northwest swells start to hit the islands. This one is from a few years back.

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

A cigar wrasse swims among a shoal of convict tang. — A Cigar Wrasse not blending in with some Convict Tangs.

A Cigar Wrasse not blending in with some Convict Tangs.

Sunrise on the Big Island

The sunrise from two mornings ago. This is a composite of four photos. The blending isn’t perfect, but I thought it worth doing for the scope of this dramatic sky.

The Numbers Game #95

A black triggerfish showing colors when it is agitated or aroused — An aroused Black Triggerfish.

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

The blooms of a yucca plant. — Yucca flowers.

The Numbers Game #94

A lava breakout from the Kilauea lava flow. — A lava flow at Kilauea with people walking on it. What could possibly go wrong!

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