These small damselfishes are often seen, but less often noticed, if that makes sense. They gather around coral heads but are quick to disappear when approached. At some point I realized that I’d seen these fish often but didn’t actually know what they were. Now I do!
The happy domestic scene in the top photo is posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
I noticed this gathering yesterday afternoon and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. Usually when ants find something to eat, they head back to the nest to spread the good news and in short order a line of ants is traveling back and forth to harvest their bounty. But these ants just seemed to be milling about in this area. There appears to be a blob of something that is their focus, but what it is I don’t know, though the second shot gives a bit better view.
Likely, it will be one of those situations where, when the morning rolls around, the ants have disappeared leaving no trace. If not, and they’re still there, well that’s slightly worrying.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Your Favorite Landscape.’ See more responses here.
When I think of the landscape at Upolu, it includes both the ocean that borders it and the skies above. They are, in my mind, integral to the place. But here, I’ve focussed on the land, a relatively small area of a few square miles where I walk most days. It’s rural, agricultural, and coastal. It’s historic and modern. It’s also a place I never return from feeling disappointed. There’s always something of note that I see or that happens when I’m there.
Also posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
I saw these two goats foraging along the beach at Kiholo Bay. There’s slim pickings to be had, but there are no shortage of goats in that area so they must be finding something somewhere.
Posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
Here, the sun goes down off the North Kohala coast.
Posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
A small greenish rock stands out in a pool of dark lava.
Posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
The latest eruption of Kilauea Volcano continues. It’s settled down to being a fairly well-behaved eruption as these often do. Currently, lava is still pouring from a vent on the northwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. It has formed a lake more than 200 meters deep, which continues to rise slowly.
This photo was from my trip down there in December. These two people were silhouetted by the glow from the eruption. To see what’s currently happening at the volcano go to https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/webcams.
Posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
I’m a big fan of movie director Peter Weir and I’m a big fan of his 2003 movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (and I’m not just saying that so Russell Crowe doesn’t lash out at me on Twitter).
In the movie, there’s a scene of burials at sea where a standard prayer for the times is used. It features the words, “We therefore commit his body to the deep, to be turned into corruption.” These days, we think of corruption as being about perfidious politicians, crooked cops, bent businessmen. But another definition is that used in the prayer: the process by which dead organic matter separates into simpler substances.
But how to illustrate that? A photo of a compost bin is an obvious option, but I don’t currently have one. Then I saw this scene when I went down to Kiholo last week and thought it fit the bill. An array of downed coconuts, palm fronds, and other organic matter, which in due course will break down and return to the earth.
Posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.
Graham's Island 