A day on the tiles

A Mourning Gecko on a tile floor

I saw this mourning gecko on the lanai tiles of my neighbor’s now empty house. Mourning geckos are mostly nocturnal, but are sometimes seen during the day, though usually not in such an exposed location. This one is a female. I say that with some confidence because almost all mourning geckos are females. They reproduce by parthenogenesis, which is where an egg or sperm doesn’t have to combine with another egg or sperm for an embryo to develop.

Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.

When it rains…

Heavy rain falling in Hawaii

A few days ago, we had another unstable weather system pass over this part of the island, dumping rain, flashing lightening, and rattling the house with one roll of thunder after another. I snuck outside in my ongoing attempts to capture heavy rainfall without ending up drenched in the process. As usual the results were mixed on both counts!

Reaching for the sun

A tomato sprouts from the soil in Hawaii

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

This seedling is coming up where some tomato seeds were planted, so it could be one of them or something else that’s volunteered there. We’ll find out in due course. Either way, the seedling is reaching up to the light to boost its growth.

Needlefish

Needlefish swimming in Hawaii

When I go snorkeling, one of the first fish I’m almost guaranteed to see are needlefish. The often congregate in the shallows just below the surface of the water. I can often get very close to them before they scoot to one side or part in the middle as I go through.

Salt burned trees

Trees on the coast of the Big Island, Hawaii, turn gold from salt spray exposure

At my local snorkeling spot, a lot of trees on the shoreline have suddenly sported fall colors. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the season. Rather, I think a series of large swells has battered the trees with more salt spray than they’re used to and this is the result. Hopefully, they will bounce back when things settle down again, although swells in Hawaii were large enough last weekend for The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surf competition to be held for the first time since 2016.