This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Babies.’ See more responses here.
This hen and chick caught my eye because other birds were trying to harass the chick and mom was having no truck with that. She was running this way and that seeing off the aggressors. Given that this was the only chick with her, chances are she’d already lost some from this brood, and was in no mood to take chances.
By the time I got my camera out, things had settled down. This was no doubt a relief to the chick as it had been struggling to keep up with all the running about!
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 206. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A Pacific Golden Plover in summer plumage.A Passion Flower and raindrops.Colors and shadows at the old Kohala Girls’ School.A Hawaiian Stilt fishing!A shadow on the beach.From last week, the roof of Costco!
An alien cloud over the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
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 200. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Hawaiian Garden SpiderTiny stick insect on a window screen.Tiny gecko on my computer screen!Vaccinium reticulatum.A hallelujah moment.A Scrawled Filefish catches the light just right.
A crop growing against a backdrop of wind turbines and the ocean. And, yes, that’s a monarch butterfly happy about the arrangement.
Flowers and fruits on a Papaya.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Earth Day.’ See more responses here.
I’m never quite sure what’s appropriate for Earth Day, but I figure nature, farming and renewable energy fit the bill, so here are some photos from a recent walk in the neighborhood.
A Madagascar Jasmine vine grows along a fence.Tropical Milkweed flowers.A Beet Webworm Moth on a Nasturtium flower.A farm with a view!A spent sunflower, but still huge.
Driving down to Upolu for a walk, I noticed this cow behaving oddly, so I pulled over to take a look. The reason quickly became clear: a pair of hooves sticking out below the tail. She was about to give birth. I thought this would be a good photo op, so settled in to watch.
The poor cow was up, down, walking, lying down. The pair of hooves did not budge. A couple of times I thought the delivery was nigh, but they were false dawns.
Are you the midwife?
I wasn’t the only one watching the action, or lack of it. Other cows looked on from a safe distance, chickens pecked the ground around the struggling cow, and a cattle egret flew in to see if any bugs might be being stirred up by the activity. In the end, I could wait no longer. I went off for my walk. On my return, nothing much had changed so I went home.
I guess not.
I didn’t contact the dairy. Early in my time here, I tried that, but they weren’t interested and soon after, No Trespassing signs went up on the driveway! I grew up on a small farm and, for us, a new calf was an important arrival to be carefully ushered into the world. But this was a bigger operation, and I’ve learned that the cows are left to get on with it. Truth is, she was probably fine. These things take time and, as every mother out there knows, it’s never easy.
Graham's Island 