Red-crested cardinal

My bird book says that the red-crested cardinal is present on all Hawaii’s islands except the Big Island. That’s no longer the case, as these photos attest.

Adults are similar in appearance, but juveniles, such as the bird in the lower photo, have a brown head and a darker bill. A native of South America, it was introduced to Hawaii in the 1930s.

Auburn orchid

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

I have to confess that color is not my strong suit, hence some of my clothing choices. So when it came to picking a photo for this theme, I wasn’t sure what color I was looking for. A casual search revealed a lot of different shades loosely covered by that name. In the end, I opted to go with the official RGB color value (165 red, 42 green, 42 blue).

Armed with that information I ditched my original choice of a dirt road, thrilling photo though it is, and opted for this orchid. I’m not sure what kind of orchid it is, but I know for a fact that within those darker areas of the petals are several areas that are officially auburn.

Wait your turn

A few weeks ago, I noticed a number of blue buckets had appeared in the local cattle pastures. At the time, the pastures were exceedingly dry and I thought the buckets contained feed. Then I noticed the cows weren’t eating out of the buckets but were licking the contents, so I figured they must be salt licks. Except these days, salt licks are too old-school. These are, according to the company’s website, ‘quality low moisture cooked molasses supplement tubs made from the best all-natural ingredients.’ They make a variety of tubs for different animals and different purposes.

I’d been intending to take a photo of the buckets, but they were either not being used or conditions were poor. Then one afternoon, a few days ago, I saw the two cows in the top photo amicably sharing. I stopped to take a photo. A few moments later, the black cow jogged over to join in. One cow didn’t seem too bothered, but the other was having none of it. She pushed her dining partner out of the way and got in the face of the black cow. A couple of head-butts later the black cow backed off. The upset cow returned to the bucket as her dining partner wandered off, while the black cow got in line, waiting for her turn.

I wondered about hitting the Vitalix company up for sponsorship, for prominently featuring their product and company name in this post. But I figured that if they responded, at best I’d be the recipient of one of their products, and the list doesn’t include a red wine and dark chocolate bucket.

Staghorn clubmoss

Staghorn clubmoss (Lycopodiella cernua) is indigenous to Hawaii and is found in the tropics worldwide. Generally, staghorn clubmoss grows in bogs and wet areas, but these were growing in the lava off Saddle Road, an area that gets lots of rain but also drains readily.

Not this time

One day, when the wind was howling, I watched this tug trying to bring its barge in to Kawaihae harbor. Trouble was, the wind was blowing across the entrance channel. As it came in, the tug had to slow down, leaving the slab-sided barge even more prone to the effects of the wind.

In the top photo, the tug needs to leave the green buoy on its port (left) side, which it’s doing. Problem is, the wind is blowing from that direction, so the tug is already too far over. Also, it’s easy to see how the barge is no longer directly behind the tug, but has been pushed farther over by the wind.

In the middle photo, the tug has to leave the red buoy on its starboard (right) side, but it’s obviously too late for that. The tug captain knows he has no shot and, in the bottom photo, turns into the wind before heading out into open water.

I watched the tug try this maneuver several times without success. Next morning, on my way to work, I saw the tug and barge still out in the bay. It wasn’t until later that morning that it finally gained entrance to the harbor and tied up safely alongside the jetty.