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.

V-22 Ospreys

Two V-22 Osprey aircraft land at Upolu Airport on the Big Island.Two V-22 Osprey aircraft leave Upolu Airport on the Big Island.
I’m not a bird watcher per se, but I’ve increasingly enjoyed the wide variety of bird life that I see when I’m out and about. Recently, I’ve been seeing a couple of pairs of nene, the Hawaiian goose. There’s a family of zebra doves that huddle up together on the mock orange outside the kitchen window. On a daily basis I encounter pairs of mynah birds, saffron finches, northern cardinals and several more.

What does that have to do with these photos? Well, for some reason, my first thought on seeing these two V-22 Ospreys thundering toward Upolu Airport was, ‘I wonder if they’re a breeding pair?’ All things considered, I suspect they are.

Nutmeg mannikin

A nutmeg mannikin strips seeds off a stem of cane grass on the Big Island.
Nutmeg mannikins are often seen in flocks and are flighty birds. By this, I mean they’re the kind of bird that constantly flits around and gets farther away in the process. They feed on grass seeds, climbing up the stems and stripping the seeds off the ends.

In Hawaii, when cane grass (Pennisetum purpureum) goes to seed it’s a popular feast for a variety of birds. Here, one of a small group of nutmeg mannikins, busily plucks seeds off this stem before moving on for more.

Bright-eye damselfish

A bright-eye damselfish in the waters of the Big Island
The aptly-named bright-eye damselfish is a tiny fish around 1 to 2 inches long. Despite its small size it aggressively defends its territory, usually a nook or hollow in the rock. It’s not unusual to see it come charging out at some much larger fish that has strayed too close.

Given that these fish spend all their time in one small area, often just hovering in the water, it would seem a simple matter to get a photo, but no. When they hover, they’re constantly moving, almost vibrating. And then they shoot off in one direction or another.

I’ve taken many of photos of bright-eye damselfish and the majority of them turn out to be pictures of bits of rock or coral. Locating the tiny fish on my screen is no easy matter, keeping it there, harder still. When I do manage that, often the fish is a blur or just a tail fin heading out of shot. Thus, this photo is something of an against-the-odds triumph – an entire bright-eye damselfish reasonably in focus.

Firehose of lava at sunset

As the sun sinks slowly in the west, a firehose of lava from Kilauea Volcano gushes into the sea.
As the sun sinks slowly in the west, a firehose of lava from Kilauea Volcano gushes into the sea. More photos here. A good video of the firehose, since the cliff collapse, can be found here.

For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it current eruption, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php.