Cattle egrets are a common sight, particularly in rural areas. The name comes from their tendency to spend a good deal of time with cattle and other large mammals. Not only do they feed on insects and other small creatures disturbed by the cattle, but they also eat ticks and flies on the cattle themselves.
They’re not tied to cattle though. I’ve seen them trailing people mowing lawns for the same reason. That’s to snap up the insects disturbed by the activity, not peck for ticks on the person driving the mower.
When I see them in a field, by themselves, such as in the photo below, I always imagine them saying something along the lines of, ‘Hey, where did the cattle go?’
The lava lake in the Overlook vent at Halema’uma’u Crater.
The slightly cooler surface is broken up by bubbling lava.
A hotspot illuminates the crater wall.
The quiet group reverently looking on had the appearance of a cult at times …
… Gathered around the mystical ring of fire.
Today marks the anniversary of a trip my wife and I made to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. That’s where Kilauea Volcano, active since 1983, has two vents spewing lava. Flows from Pu’u O’o vent have, over the last few years, reached to the ocean and threatened to take out the town of Pahoa.
The other vent is in Halema’uma’u Crater. It’s known as the Overlook vent since it’s below an old viewing overlook. Since it became active in 2008, it’s been a bubbling pool of lava, varying from 60 to 400 feet below the floor of the crater. By night the lava glow was visible. By day, mostly what could be seen was steam and smoke.
In early April of last year, the lava lake started rising. It rose so much that the lava became visible from the Jaggar Museum, which gives a good view of the main crater. It was time to check it out. The problem was that the spectacle of active lava visible from an accessible spot led to a crush of visitors. The park warned that large crowds were showing up and advised visiting at off peak times.
Lava viewing is more vivid at night, but the scene in daylight is also interesting, so there were two options. Showing up in the afternoon and staying through sunset would be iffy because it was guaranteed to be crowded. The alternative was to arrive before sunrise and stay until it got light. The only snag? We live 100 miles away.
The day before the trip, we turned in early and I set my alarm for 12:01 a.m. We got up and were on the road by 12:35. Driving in the wee hours was actually pretty nice. The stars were out and the roads mostly empty. In Hilo, we stopped at Ken’s House of Pancakes, the Big Island’s only open-24-hours restaurant, and had breakfast at 2:45 a.m., a slightly surreal experience. Then back on the road before pulling into the viewing area parking lot at the Jaggar Museum a little before 4 a.m.
It was cold with the wind making it feel cooler and we weren’t really dressed for the occasion. But there weren’t too many people there, the night sky was gorgeous, and the lava very visible and active. We watched it bubble and spatter, often vigorously. Daylight crept in. As it did so the scene changed and more people began to show up. By 6 a.m. it was light so we left, getting home just after 8:30. It was strange to think that at that relatively early hour we had driven to the farthest side of the island, watched the volcano for a couple of hours, and driven back. Usually at the time the most I can claim is that I’ve made coffee.
First light silhouettes the onlookers.
As darkness dissipates, lava bubbles in the crater.
Soon after our visit, part of the crater wall collapsed into the lava causing a big explosion. The lava lake also reached the rim of the Overlook vent and began to spill out onto the main crater floor. We thought these developments were worth making the same trek again. And then the lava went into retreat. It fell back below the rim of the vent. Within days, the lava lake in the vent disappeared from sight and sank back to its former levels, which is where it remains, currently more than 100 feet below the Halema’uma’u Crater floor. (For scale, the active vent opening measures about 500 feet by 700 feet and the distance from the main Halemaumau Crater floor to the rim is about 270 feet.)
This is I05 who was the subject one of my first posts on this blog. In that photo he was resting. Here we see him doing calisthenics. Ha, just kidding. This was actually a brief position adjustment between two lengthy spells of resting.
Monk seals, though few in number, often haul out to rest around the island. It’s important not to get too close while they do so. Besides being illegal, disturbing their resting periods can be stressful and adversely affect their health. Also, if they get used to humans being close by, it’s only a matter of time before there’s an encounter where someone gets bitten. This is likely to result in the animal having to be relocated to the uninhabited northwestern islands.
This was the first time I’ve seen I05 in almost 5 months so it was good to see him again and still in such good shape. The green tinge to his skin around his nose and flippers is algae and he will likely molt in the none too distant future. Molting is usually an annual occurrence, during which he’ll shed the top layer of his skin and fur.
I05 is the brother of Waimanu and was the uncle of Elua, the subject of this post. I’m not sure why, but as far as I know I05 was never given a name. I confess that I call him Igor, though I can’t remember why.
A lot of North Kohala is agricultural land. The drive along the mountain road from Hawi to Waimea passes through ranch land, lush and green on the mountain side of the road becoming dry and browner as it slopes towards the ocean. This is cattle country with a good number of horses for the paniolos (cowboys) who tend them – though it has to be said that these days much of the paniolo’s work is carried out on ATVs.
This view is from just off the mountain road looking down toward the ocean.
A gold dust day gecko wrangles a cane spider out on the front lanai. Cane spiders are large and extremely quick, so this capture was no mean feat. But who’s Sneaky Pete and isn’t this gecko missing something?
Explanations are in order. Sneaky Pete is the house gecko. He (though ‘he’ could be a ‘she’ for all I know) moved in some months ago. He goes in and out through a loose window screen, but lives mostly under the fridge, which is warm and dry and safe, except when I roll it out to clean. He got his name early in his residency because he was constantly sneaking around. He’d be spotted in one part of the house and then, moments later and unobserved, show up some distance away.
What it meant was that I’d go to do something and he’d shoot out from a hiding place I hadn’t seen him anywhere near. This is why, one day, I was closing up the house prior to going out, and a sliding window didn’t close. I thought the catch had snagged on something, checked it and tried again. Same result. It was only then that I saw Sneaky Pete tucked into the window slide. I hadn’t seen him. He didn’t look good. I felt terrible.
The result of that incident was that he lost his tail and an eye. The tail grew back, the eye, not so much. Soon after the accident, not surprisingly, he moved outside. I didn’t see him for some time, but worried about his welfare. Geckos are constantly looking around, peering over the edge of leaves, peeking around corners, watching for movement. A one-eyed gecko is at a big disadvantage.
But then I saw him again. His eye socket had healed and his tail was growing back. His head was tilted to one side and he’d obviously figured out a way to keep watch with his one good eye. All things considered, he looked pretty good. After that, I’d see him from time to time, outside on the lanai. I figured that was his new territory.
And it was for a few weeks, until he showed up again in the kitchen. Since then, he’s been back to his old routines. He often spends the night in the house, then usually goes out during the day unless it’s cool and/or wet, when he tends to remain under the fridge. At least as far as I know. He’s still sneaky. He pops up in unexpected places, shoots out from behind items I go to pick up. And from time to time I see him in the window, the same place I didn’t see him before. I look twice now before closing windows.
Graham's Island 