Yesterday, I posted photos of a stink bug, one of those creatures that did not exactly come out on top in the naming stakes. Today we have a winner – the melodious laughingthrush.
Easily identified with its distinctive eye markings and loud calls, the melodious laughingthrush was thought to have been introduced to Hawaii by Chinese immigrants in the early 1900s.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Signs of Autumn.’ (See more responses here.) So here two photos of a stink bug. I think this is probably a four-humped stink bug or rough stink bug (Brochymena quadripustulata), but it could be a brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys).
What does this have to do with ‘Signs of Autumn?’ Well, stink bugs start gathering around and inside homes in the fall. As natives of Southeast Asia, they’re sensitive to the cold and spend winter in a hibernation-like state called torpor. So in the fall, they’re looking for a suitable safe spot and a warm house fits that bill. They also have a tendency to gather in large numbers, so one stink bug could quickly be joined by many others.
Stink bugs don’t bite and they’re not dangerous, but they can release an offensive smelling liquid if threatened, hence their name. Because of this, they’re not exactly welcome house guests.
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Electric.’ See more responses here. These three photos are quite different, but linked by this theme.
The top photo shows a view of an electric substation. I like the lines and shapes such facilities offer. But where does this power come from? A good deal is from oil fired plants, but Hawaii is working to get more of its electricity from locally sustainable sources.
In the middle is a view of Hawi wind farm, with Mauna Kea in the background. There are several wind farms of varying sizes in Hawaii including a few on the Big Island. Their contribution to the power grid is small, but growing. Solar power is also a big contributor, on an individual house basis or for whole communities (here).
One source that provided around 25% of the Big Island’s electricity was the Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV). Last year’s eruption shut them down, though, as the bottom photo shows, the flows mostly missed the plant itself. I think a couple of their wells were covered by lava, but most were spared. Currently, they’re in the process of restarting power production. Not everyone here is a fan of this power source. The same can be said about the Honua Ola bioenergy plant, which will generate electricity from burning eucalyptus chips, but which is still to become operational.
A native of Bhutan, northeastern India, Myanmar, China, Thailand and Vietnam, this coelogyne assamica orchid was at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
This spotted pufferfish came up to take a little look at me before scooting off to deeper waters. I have yet to see a pufferfish inflated, but this one looked fairly round, even if that’s its normal shape.
I gave this cute little helicopter the nickname, the bumblebee, for obvious reasons. I believe it was engaged in some kind of infrared or 3D survey of the island, the black box on the front being the most obvious of many bits of equipment in the little aircraft. Whatever it was doing, the bumblebee buzzed back and forth for several days, methodically working its way up and down the slopes, stopping only to refuel every now and then.
Not sure what kind of palm this is, but I liked the colors and structure of the leaf or frond.
A bee forages on a mock orange. When the plant is in bloom, the aroma is thick in the air.
Graham's Island 