Cattle egret on a cow

A cattle egret stands on a resting cow.
Something about the gleam in this egret’s eye made me think about an old Far Side cartoon where two fishermen are in a boat and one has hooked a cow in the water. The other fisherman says, “It’s gonna be fresh burgers tonight!” Mind you, I think the cow might have had a thing or two to say about that.

Better Days: Hawaiian garden spider

A female Hawaiian garden spider sits in the center of a battered web.
I came across this brightly-colored Hawaiian garden spider, the female of the species, in the late afternoon of a windy day. Her web shows debris that’s been blown in and likely encounters with bugs large and small. The web looks like it’s on its last legs and indeed it is because, at the end of the day, this spider will eat her web (or what remains of it) and start afresh in the morning.

One of these fish is not a convict tang

A cigar wrasse swims among a shoal of convict tang.
Shoals of convict tang are common in the near-shore waters of the Big Island and it’s equally common to see a bright yellow female cigar wrasse among them. The theory is that the cigar wrasse uses the cover of the harmless shoal to surprise its prey, a variety of marine invertebrates. Seems like the cigar wrasse’s prey does not have real good eyesight.

Unwise mourning gecko

A young mourning gecko hides under a tire.A young mourning gecko in a parking lot.
Returning to my truck after a walk, I happened to notice this little gecko scuttling into the shadows. I got down on hands and knees to see where it had gone and it moved farther under the truck. I went around the truck, back on hands and knees, and saw it shoot off in the opposite direction. Then I went to the front of the truck, hands and knees again, and wondered where it had gone.

It took me a while to discover it’s hiding place. As the top photo shows, the gecko hadn’t picked a great spot. I waggled my hand at it, but it didn’t budge. So I got up, found a stick, and, back on hands and knees again, reached in and tapped the ground behind it until it shot out and around the other side of the tire. I got up, walked around to usher it away and it promptly scurried back to the inside of the tire.

We repeated this little dance two or three times. I wasn’t getting anywhere and the young mourning gecko clearly believed it had found a really safe hideout. My knees were sore and I figured this kind of activity was probably what Darwin was thinking of. So I got in the truck, fired it up, waited a minute or two, and slowly reversed. Then I pulled forward, stopped and got out.

The little guy had survived so I thought I’d take a photo. Right about then a young woman approached with two boisterous dogs and asked if I could suggest a good place to exercise them. The dogs were getting plenty of exercise right there, barking continuously, and jumping up and down. I cast concerned looks at where they were landing as I gave her a few tips.

When she headed out of the parking lot with her charges, I bent down and saw that the little gecko had survived the canine cacophony and was still anchored in the same spot. I took the second photo and then the gecko headed off toward the low concrete tire stop and eventually disappeared underneath.

A flowery flounder vanishes

A flowery flounder disappears against a rock.A flowery flounder swimming
Camouflage is a creature making a good match with its surroundings. This serves to conceal it from both predators and prey. In the water, there are many exponents of this approach, from octopuses to scorpionfish.

Flatfish are masters of camouflage. It’s a fluke to see a stationary flatfish. It’s almost always necessary to see one on the move and to track it to where it settles down. Once it’s set though, it will usually stay put, making it one of the easier fish to observe and photograph.

I saw this flowery flounder on the move but once it plopped onto a rock (above) I would never have noticed it had I not known it was there.