Green anoles often look a bit rough on the top of their noses, but this one was particularly rough and white in that area. In addition, while it has assumed brown coloration, a patch of green refused to go away. One or both of these conditions might be related to shedding, but it could be something entirely different.
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘In Transit.’ See more responses here.
Here in Hawaii, tourism is our number one industry. In normal years, more than 30,000 visitors arrive in Hawaii every day. Currently, the number of daily arrivals is around 1,500. In this topsy-turvy world that precipitous decline is a good thing.
In the U.S., states don’t have the authority to regulate flights; that’s a federal matter. But Hawaii was able to require that people arriving in the state had to quarantine for 14 days. This effectively killed tourism. Why visit Hawaii for two weeks if you have to spend every day of that visit confined to your hotel room? This 14-day quarantine even applied to inter-island travel. Because of these restrictions, Hawaii has had a very low infection rate and very few deaths. Here on the Big Island, there have been less than 100 cases and zero deaths. Next week, the inter-island quarantine requirement will be lifted, but it will be retained until at least the end of July for visitors from out of state and abroad.
So the reason for the similar-looking photos? The top one is from a previous year and shows one of a procession of planes landing at Kona airport. The photo below shows a recent photo of a plane flying overhead, which was noteworthy because it was unusual. The planes aren’t there. The skies are quiet. Currently, the daily number of passenger flights arriving at Kona airport can be counted on one hand. The number of visitors is in the 20s or 30s. When and if those numbers return to previous levels is anybody’s guess.
A view of Mauna Kea from the Pu’u O’o Trail off of Saddle Road, with a couple of telescopes peaking up at the top.
Time for an eye test as in spot the flowery flounder. I don’t think this one is too hard. Not like the last flounder I saw which settled on a sandy bottom, churned up a bunch of sand, and disappeared beneath it leaving only a tiny, inconspicuous bit of tail identifying where it was.
I’m still surprised by what I see in some of the most inhospitable-looking areas on the island. I saw this grasshopper out in the lava fields on the Puna Coast Trail.
Fish swim just below the surface in surging water. The big fish are highfin chubs and the smaller fish are acute halfbeaks.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Plant Life.’ See more offerings here.
The east side of the Big Island is the place for plant life thanks to good soils, warmth, and abundant rainfall. These photos were taken on my last visit to Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden, before it closed because of the Covid-19 virus.
This doesn’t mean they’ve been slacking during the closure. Instead they appear to have launched a new name and new website. The new name is Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden and, I think reflects more of the purpose behind the garden. The new name, conveniently, means they didn’t have to change their website. It’s still htbg.com.
The new website is definitely a spiffier looking production, but it comes with a drawback. They used to have a plant database that I found very useful in identifying what I saw there. I can’t find it on the new website. Hopefully, this is just an issue with transitioning the information. Otherwise, I’ll be in a bit of difficulty.
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘The Color Pink.’ See more responses here.
Pinkhead smartweed (Polygonum capitatum or Persicaria capitata) is a groundcover that hails from western China and the Himalayas. It’s variously known as pinkhead knotweed, pink knotweed, Japanese knotweed, pink-headed persicaria, or pink bubble persicaria. I use pinkhead smartweed for the very good reason that I like the name. It sounds like the name of someone pretentious, but slightly seedy, from the alleged upper crust of society.
In this bounty of names, a couple of elements stand out. One is ‘pink,’ the other is ‘weed.’ This is a very pink plant and, in Hawaii and elsewhere, an invasive weed. Drive eastbound over Saddle Road (officially Hawaii Route 200, the Daniel K. Inouye Highway) and, once you cross the saddle and begin your descent, this plant will become obvious very quickly. It lines the road on both sides for several miles with very little in the way of other plants competing for that space. This is because pinkhead smartweed will grow in poor ground and lava fields fit that description.
This is also a stretch of highway that, relatively recently, was converted from a narrow, winding road, that rental car companies routinely forbid their clients from driving on, to a wide, smooth thoroughfare, the only place on the island where you can legally go 60 mph, and where you can expect to receive a ticket if you go 80 mph like everybody else.
Redoing the road left verges of rock and gravel and very little else. Pinkhead smartweed was quick to move in and colonize this unpromising territory so that now the descent toward Hilo begins with pleasing pink borders.
The top photo shows the rugged kind of ground pinkhead smartweed can grow in. To the right, bees appreciate the flowers of this plant growing at an elevation over 5,000 feet. Below, the collapse of a lava tube has left a shady hole where pinkhead smartweed, an endemic amaumau fern, and an ohia tree have established a good foothold.
Graham's Island 