Cacao tree

Cacao pods at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden
A cacao pod at Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden

I saw this Cacao Tree or Cocoa Tree (Theobroma Cacao) at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. I think it’s been there a long time, but this is the first time I’ve noticed it with pods. The pods are the fruit of the tree and if you cut one open, inside you’ll find a cluster of fun-sized candy bars.

Well, maybe not, but you will find an important contributor to those candy bars, cacao seeds or beans, the prime ingredient in chocolate. Each of those seeds, up to 60 per pod, contains a large amount of fat, otherwise known as cocoa butter.

For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.

A wasp in the grass

A wasp clambers through the grass
A wasp clambers through the grass

I noticed this wasp clambering through the grass one day recently. It made no attempt to fly, but didn’t seem damaged in any way. Its movements were a bit frenetic and, frankly, it looked a bit insane. So naturally, I got down on my hands and knees and shoved my camera into its face, taking photos!

I shoved enough that at one point the wasp climbed onto the lens and up onto the camera. At that point I decided discretion was the better part of photography, set my camera down in the grass, and waited for it to finish its exploration and stagger away, which it duly did.

A wasp clambers through the grass

Lava in all its colors

A variety of colors can be seen in this lava on the Puna Coast Trail (posted here).

This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Lava.’ See more responses here. I don’t often run photos I’ve posted before, but this seemed like an opportune instance to rerun some older photos that are perfect for this theme. I’ve put captions on the photos and a link to the original posts for those interested in checking them out.

Different colors and textures of pahoehoe and a’a lava on Mauna Loa (posted here).
Red, brown and black lava from the 2018 eruption at Fissure 8 (posted here).
Just hot and red from the firehose of lava (posted here).
A lava breakout from the Kilauea lava flow.
Molten red lava breaks out from a black crust (posted here).
Different colored flows on Mauna Loa seen from the air (posted here).
A collapsed lava tube on Mauna Loa is full of colors (posted here).
Old brown lava surrounded by black lava from a more recent flow (posted here).

Spot the Scorpionfish

A Devil Scorpionfish in the waters off Hawaii
A Devil Scorpionfish in the waters off Hawaii

When I get to the end of a swim, I keep looking around because, as the water shallows, it’s possible to see a wide variety of fish and marine invertebrates.

Recently, I was about 10 feet from my exit point when I saw the Devil Scorpionfish in the photos. That’s right, there’s a fish in the top photo and it’s not the Bright-eye Damselfish on the left. The second photo gives a better view, where the fins stand out a bit and a flash of orange can just be seen on the left pectoral fin. A Devil Scorpionfish will flash these orange fins, probably as a warning to predators, since it has venomous spines.

Don’t feel bad if you can’t find the fish in the top photo. I wouldn’t have spotted it if it had been stationary, but in the shallow water, I noticed a small movement and quickly realized what I was looking at. I’ve seen a Devil Scorpionfish in this area before so this might be the territory of this same fish.

Funky chicken

A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii
A chicken in Hawaii

I first saw this chicken on the way to work a couple of weeks ago. It was pecking around at the foot of the hill below where I work. Since this is in one of the Kohala coast resorts, I thought the chicken might be removed with some speed. This hasn’t happened.

Last week, leaving work, I saw it again and stopped to take photos. The chicken immediately headed my way, then stopped, moved away, turned, and came back. I wondered what it was up to.

It wasn’t until I got home and processed the photos that I realized that there was a perfectly reasonably explanation. It was just doing the funky chicken!