These turkeys trotted through the yard a while back. Hopefully, they’re still around and not in an oven somewhere. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Turkey trot
Thurston Lava Tube
I visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recently, with friends from the mainland, and towards the end of our visit we stopped by Thurston Lava Tube. These days the tube is known as Nāhuku, which means “the protuberances” in Hawaiian. There aren’t any protuberances in the tube these days, but it’s still fun to walk the dimly lit tube, imagining magma rushing through it, until the eruption stopped and the tube drained.
Abstracts: Reflections at Lily Lake
On my last visit to Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, I was taking photos at Lily Lake, which features an island in the center, planted with palms and ti plants. I like the reflections the plants make in the calm water.
This photo started out as a vertical, with the plants as well as the reflections. But when I looked at it, I liked the reflections better than the plants, so I cut it in half and made it horizontal!
White orchid
I liked how this white orchid caught the light against a dark background.
Mauna Kea around sunrise
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Finding Gratitude, Giving Thanks.’ See more responses here.
At my age, waking up and seeing the sunrise is something to be grateful for!
Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse at work
Cleaner wrasses establish territories where they remove mucus, parasites, and dead tissue from other fish. These cleaning stations can exist in the same place for years and can have several wrasses performing those services. Their clients can be anything from other small reef fish to eels and sharks.
In these photos, a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse services a Whitebar Surgeonfish.
A look down Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway
The Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway was built in the 1970s to connect Kailua Kona to Kawaihae and Waimea along a coastal route. This also opened up the south Kohala coast for resort development that had been led by the Mauna Kea Resort, which opened in the late 1960s. Mauna Kea Resort is in the foreground of this image.
Shower time
I saw this female Hawaiian Garden Spider scooting up a strand of her web during a welcome rain shower. She stopped just before reaching the top and was soon the recipient of drops of water dripping from the roof. When the rain passed, she carried on up to the gutter.
I think she was getting some water to drink and possibly enjoying having a little wash. It’s been very dry here lately and water has been in short supply for the local wildlife.
Graham's Island 