Cricket on a white anthurium

A beetle on an anthurium flower in Hawaii
A beetle on an anthurium flower in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Macro or Close-ups.’ See more responses here.

I saw this cricket climbing up the spadix of a white anthurium at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden. As it neared the top, I zoomed in for a close up. I haven’t been able to find out what kind of cricket it is (open to suggestions), but I was very taken by its extravagantly long antennae.

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

Updated 9-17-2022: Thanks to Forest and Kim Starr at Hawaii Insect ID for pointing out this is probably a cricket, though exactly which kind remains unknown.

It came from the pond

A Black-crowned night heron struggles o get out of an algae covered pond
A Black-crowned night heron struggles o get out of an algae covered pond
A Black-crowned night heron struggles o get out of an algae covered pond

Recently, I was down at the lagoon behind the beach at Pelekane Bay in Kawaihae. I was engaged in one of my favorite activities – failing to get photos of dragonflies in flight!

When I heard a loud plop behind me, I turned to find this scene. This Black-crowned Night Heron had dropped into the algae-covered water, probably after a fish. I don’t think it caught anything, but when it popped up again it sported a rather fetching green hairdo. Even after it had shed that, it still found the process of getting out of the water was hard going, with a lot of flapping and splashing producing little result.

Eventually the bird reached dry land and resumed a watchful pose, apparently none the worse for its ordeal.

A Black-crowned night heron struggles o get out of an algae covered pond