During some recent swims, I’ve been lucky enough to see this small Spotted Eagle Ray. It doesn’t tend to hang about, so the encounters have been fleeting, but the ray looks in great condition, which is always good to see.
Spotted Eagle Ray
Waimea Nature Park
Recently, while waiting to visit my dentist, I walked the trail in the Waimea Nature Park, also known as Ulu La’au. The trail follows the Waikoloa Stream for about a mile from the town center down toward the ocean. It’s a work in progress, with volunteers removing invasive species and planting native and canoe plants in their place.
On my walk, the Waikoloa Stream had water in it, but not much. I think it would be fun to walk there after a heavy rain. But one thing I liked was the abundance of benches, some of which offered nice views of the park, the stream, and the hills surrounding the town.
What’s going on here?
The house where I live is ready for Halloween thanks to the generous numbers of spiders living around it. By the front steps, there’s a small Hawaiian Garden Spider and several crab spiders.
One day, I came home and saw a wasp flying close to the various webs. I thought it was dicing with danger, but soon saw that wasn’t the case. Instead, it would approach a web and bob its head toward the spider. It didn’t seem to be a terribly threatening act, though perhaps it was from the spiders perspective. The wasp didn’t push home an attack, but would instead fly away, settle for a bit, and preen itself.
The garden spider didn’t seemed to be bothered by the attention, but the crab spiders would drop suddenly on a strand of silk, before returning to their web as soon as the wasp moved on. I watched these maneuvers for five or ten minutes before heading inside. No webs were damaged, no spiders hurt, and I still don’t know what was really going on!
Sneaking up from below
A bee lands on an endemic Maiapilo flower before working its way up to collect pollen.
Orange kayak
I was going through photos, sorting out what to post this week, when I came across this one. My immediate thought was that this should definitely have been included in yesterday’s Sunday Stills post, and its theme of Orange. Well, it’s a day late, but not a dollar short, so here it is. See more responses here.
Orange is the new theme
This month’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Orange and Gold.’ See more responses here. First up is a very orange Passion Vine Butterfly taking a break.
Next, orange is the official color of the island of Lanai, represented here at this year’s Kamehameha Day celebrations.
When I was putting this post together a few days ago, I thought a sunset photo would be a nice way to wrap it up. I trolled through my files before picking a suitable one out, and was on the verge of processing it, when I happened to glance out of the window and saw this developing. Another reminder to live in the present and not the past!
After the fire
A few days ago, I headed out on the trail from Spencer Beach Park to Mau’umae Beach Beach. I was curious to see how far last month’s brush fire, that burned near Mauna Kea Resort, had reached down by the ocean. A hundred yards into the walk the answer became clear. It reached the shore. Spencer Beach Park was untouched, but the woods on the edge of the park are one tree deep in places.
I walked back to Spencer on the service road, a quarter mile inland. The power line ran along the ground or was draped in blackened trees. There was a clump of poles and other supplies in one spot, ready for restoring service.
The vehicle access road to Mau’umae Beach beach is closed now, as two small wooden bridges were destroyed in the fire. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the only access to the beach will be along the coast trail from Spencer. It’s only a 15 minute walk, but that’s often enough to discourage people from going there.
Ember Parrotfish
The Ember Parrotfish is the largest parrotfish in Hawaii, but it can often be found in surprisingly shallow water. This one was cruising through a small school of Yellow Tangs in just two or three feet of water. The multicolored fish beneath it is a Christmas Wrasse. These fish will often accompany a parrotfish hoping to snack on creatures dislodged by the larger fish.
Graham's Island 