Category Archives: Weather

A walk for the birds

An I'iwi on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
A native I’iwi.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Wild Animal or Bird of the Month.’ See more responses here.

Pu’u O’o Trail is a few miles east of the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, on the south side of the main cross-island highway. It’s all above 5,000 feet and can be cold, wet, and windy, but I’ve had good luck picking warm, sunny days. These photos are from a couple of recent hikes I took up there. Captions on the photos.

A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
The trail enters a kīpuka.
A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
There are open, grassy areas.
A view of Mauna Kea from the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
A view of Mauna Kea.

The trail crosses old lava flows from Mauna Loa, but there are kīpukas, areas of old-growth forest missed by the lava, which are home to several kinds of native birds.

An Apapane on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Apapane.
An Io or Hawaiian Hawk flies above the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Io, the native Hawaiian hawk, glides overhead.
An Hawaii Amakihi on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An Hawaii ‘Amakihi.

On my last visit, I was lucky enough to see an ‘Akiapola’au, an endangered native species, which is only found on this island these days. This one was high up in the trees with the sun behind it. While my photos weren’t great, I was still able to see this industrious bird foraging for a meal. The shorter lower mandible is used to drill into branches and then the curved upper mandible digs out the grubs hiding within.

An 'Akiapola'au on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
An ‘Akiapola’au.

These native birds make this trail popular with birders, but it’s a good hike for anyone. A 9-mile loop is possible, but I usually do an out-and-back hike through the first two or three kipukas, which totals about five miles.

Hāpu’u Ferns (Cibotium menziesii) on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
Hāpu’u tree ferns (Cibotium menziesii) grow alongside the trail.
A view of the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
The trail winds through a kīpuka.
Kolea Lau Nui (Myrsine lessertiana) on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
Not flowers, but new leaves on Kōlea lau nui (Myrsine lessertiana).
Moss along the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, Hawaii
It’s cool and wet enough for moss to take over.

Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #129

Rain sheets down in front of a Panax hedge.

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

Where chocolate ripple ice cream comes from!
A very old tractor.
A passion vine butterfly is marked by fading color and missing chunks of wing
A battered Passionvine Butterfly.
A gold dust day gecko rests on a deep pink heliconia flower.
A Gold Dust Day Gecko on a Pink Heliconia.
A chained salp floating in the waters off the Big Island, Hawaii
A Chained Salp.
These little fish were swimming in Kiholo Bay.
Little fish shimmer just below the surface at Kiholo.

The Numbers Game #127

The beach at A Bay, Waikoloa
‘Anaehoʻomalu Beach during the time of Covid!

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

A spider web with raindrops in Hawaii
An Orb Weaver spider in its wet web.
Tropical plants in a garden in Port Townsend, Washington
A view of my old garden in Port Townsend, Washington.
A Passionvine Butterfly on Lantana flowers in Hawaii
A Passion Vine Butterfly on Lantana flowers.
An Orangespine Unicornfish and a yellow Gray Chub.
A view of Onomea Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii
A view of Onomea Bay on the island’s east side.
A Mourning gecko on a Bird of Paradise flower in Hawaii
A Mourning Gecko drinking from a Bird of Paradise flower.

Get on your bike and ride

Cyclists in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, heading to and from Hawi.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Bicycles and Biking.’ See more responses here. Yesterday, the Hawaii Ironman 70.3 race took place on the island so I went out to take photos of the cyclists as they went to and from Hawi.

A cyclist in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, passes the 30 mile marker
Only 26 miles to go.
Cyclists in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, riding to and from Hawi.
There were cars on the road too.
A cyclist in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, zips away from Hawi.
On the downhills, the cyclists went pretty fast.

The day was a hot and sunny with moderate trade winds, which meant the ride to Hawi was uphill and into the wind. The reward was turning around and zipping downhill with the wind at their backs.

A cyclist in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, pours water on himself
Water isn’t just for drinking on a hot day.
A cyclist in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, pours water on himself after he hit a pothole and crashed
The heat wasn’t the only problem. This cyclist crashed when he hit a pothole.
A cyclist in the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, with a cut leg after he hit a pothole and crashed
Blood was shed.
An injured cyclist abandons the 2026 Ironman 70.3 race in Hawaii, after he hit a pothole and crashed
He had to abandon the race because his pedal broke, while other cyclists turned to head back for the half marathon to follow.

Catchment water

A Catchment water tank in Volcano Village, Hawaii

A lot of people on the Big Island live off the grid, sometimes by choice, often because those services aren’t available. Larger urban areas like Hilo and Kailua Kona have decent options, but the more rural the area, the less that’s available. Where I live, there’s public power and water, but no sewer system.

Because of this, catchment water tanks are a common sight, especially on the east side of the island, where there’s more rainfall. This one was in Volcano Village at a vacation rental. Generally, catchment water is used for everything except human consumption. Some homes install systems to purify catchment water to make it drinkable. Otherwise, drinking water is delivered by tanker or can be obtained by filling bottles at public water spigots located around the island.