A flowery flounder on the move

Flowery Flounder

As you would expect, fish that rely on camouflage for protection are hard to spot when they’re at rest. The best bet to see them is to spot them on the move.

Sometimes I notice the final motion of one of these creatures before it settles in one spot and blends in. In this case, this flowery flounder was trucking along over a sandy bottom for quite some distance before it rested on the sand. Even in motion, and casting a shadow, it’s easy to see how hard it will be to spot this fish when it stops on the sand below.

Ghostly mantis

Ghostly mantis

A few days ago, just in time for Halloween, I noticed this ghostly praying mantis, devoid of its innards. The work of some ghoulish fiend? Alas no, at least for Halloween fans. Rather, this is the result of a mantis molting, which it will do up to five times en route to adulthood. At least I hope that’s what it was.

Kites

Kite with tail

KitesOn one of my recent walks, I saw half a dozen kites soaring in the air and I realized it might be the first time I’ve seen kites around here. This is somewhat surprising since North Kohala is notoriously windy and seems like it would be a mecca for kite flying.

Kites are no longer simple diamond shapes on a wooden cross and these were by no means the most exotic kites available these days. But I did like the pterodactyl below and the others were also striking, particularly when they caught the sunlight.

Kite

Abstracts: Palm

Abstracts-Palm

This is a view of the base of the petioles (leaf stems) of a traveler’s palm (Ravenala madagascariensis). It’s not a true palm but a member of the family Strelitzia with flowers similar to some bird of paradise flowers.

Orange

Dendrobium secundum flowers

Dendrobium secundum orchidThis week’s Sunday Stills theme is ‘Orange.’ (See more responses here.) Usually I pick one subject for these challenges, but I had two recent subjects that fit the bill and I couldn’t make up my mind, so I’m including both.

The flower photos are of a dendrobium secundum orchid, which is also known as a toothbrush orchid. The flower color can vary from pale pink to purple with an orange labellum at the tip. These flowers were soft and delicate looking, yet so lush.

The bottom photo is from the recent Ironman race on the island. I liked the pop of this cyclist’s outfit and how his water bottle matched his orange helmet.

Ironman cyclist and old shed

Ember parrotfish

Ember Parrotfish with bite wound

A couple of shots of ember parrotfish here.

The top one shows something of the peril of life in the ocean. This ember parrotfish is missing a chunk of its dorsal fin and back. I see it often when I go snorkeling and it doesn’t seem the least bit affected by its wound. It’s not unusual to see fish with a tail missing or a chunk removed from part of its body. If it heals, they seem quite able to carry on as normal.

In the photo below, this ember parrotfish has no wounds and is quite healthy. A couple of things of note about this fish. One is the dark algae ‘mustache.’ The other is that its eye looks exactly the same as the eyes of a teddy bear I had when I was a kid. Awww!

Ember Parrotfish

The next generation of Hawaiian garden spiders

Hawaiian Garden Spider and prey

I posted a few weeks ago here about a large female Hawaiian garden spider which had spun a web in a place I often visit. A week or so later, that spider had disappeared.

Now, in that spot, three new webs have appeared, each occupied by female Hawaiian garden spiders. However, these new occupants are much smaller, about the same size as the average male of the species. I think it’s likely they’re the offspring of the first spider I saw there.

The smallness of the new spiders can be seen in the size of the prey this one had caught – a little ladybird.