Category Archives: Weather

Foster Botanical Garden

A Kapok tree, planted by Dr. Hillebrand and native to tropical America.

When I was in Honolulu, in December, I had a few hours to kill and decided to visit Foster Botanical Garden, which is not far from the downtown area. It’s one of five gardens that make up the Honolulu Botanical Gardens.

The garden dates back to 1853 when it was started by William Hillebrand, a German physician and botanist. It was sold in 1884 to Thomas and Mary Foster who continued to develop the garden. When Mary Foster died in 1930 she left the garden and her house to the city of Honolulu on the condition that the garden be maintained as a public park.

A Quipo Tree.
Rainbow Eucalyptus.
A bee on a Scarlet Powder-puff flower.

The garden is best known for its trees, some of which were planted by Dr. Hillebrand, and includes 21 trees designated ‘exceptional’ by City Ordinance. Despite it being a rather dreary day, walking through the trees and checking out the other plantings was well worth the visit.

Garden greenery.
A Silk Tree trunk.
A Wild Mussaenda flower with conspicuous bracts.

More information about Foster Botanical Garden here. Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #111

A praying mantis showing the patterns on its wings
A Praying Mantis with wings unfurled.

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

A school of fish dart through white water
Fish surfing.
Surf breaks at Mahukona in North Kohala.
High surf at Mahukona.
“Or we’ll put you in there to explain why you were doing that!’
A Phalaenopsis corno-cervi orchid.
A close up of taillight of a Honda Metropolitanscooter
The tail light of a Honda Metropolitan scooter.
A Green Turtle at the beach.

The Numbers Game #110

A bee forages through the blooms of a mock orange.
A bee on a Mock Orange flower.

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

A green turtle is illuminated while swimming in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii.
A Green Turtle swims near the surface of the ocean.
The section of Crater Rim Drive that fell in to Halemaumau Crater at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Parts of Crater Rim Road which collapsed into Halemaumau Crater during the 2018 eruption.
Blooming yucca flowers in Hawaii
Yuccas blooming in Waimea.
The entrance to Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
A wild turkey off Saddle Road, Hawaii
A Wild Turkey in a pasture off Saddle Road.
A cyclist rides below Upolu Airport with Maui in the distance.

Umauma stream

Umauma stream on the Big Island, Hawaii

Umauma stream runs into the ocean on the east side of the island, several miles north of Hilo. I’d never seen this stream, or the waterfalls on it, because I was always driving when going over the bridge, which gave this view. On this occasion, I stopped after crossing the bridge and walked back to take photos. The stream and falls were running strong because of recent heavy rainfall.

There are three falls on the stream, which can be viewed by visiting a botanical garden in that area. One of them is visible at the top of the photo, on the right. The water flowing in from the left side of the photo is a smaller subsidiary stream.

The Numbers Game #109

Big surf rolls in to the Kohala coast.

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

Tower buildings in Honolulu.
Building reflections in Honolulu.
An Hawaiian Coot looking just the tiniest bit ruffled.
A Chinese rose beetle on the Big Island.
A Chinese Rose Beetle shortly after eviction from the house!
A bee on a Bryophyllum flower.
A Mourning Gecko on a Ti leaf.

All kinds of storms

A great frigatebird flying off Upolui, Hawaii

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

I’ve gone with a few different kinds of storms starting with a Great Frigatebird or ʻIwa, which is known in Hawaii as a storm bird as they are considered indicators of approaching storms. Below is a rain storm in North Kohala on the road to Upolu.

Rain falling at Hawi, Hawaii

The next two are scenes at Kawaihae port when the winds are whipping. A dirt storm above and a sand storm below.

Dirt blowing at Kawaihae, Hawaii
Sand blowing at Kawaihae, Hawaii