These birds were first seen in Hawaii back in the 1970s. No prizes for guessing where they came from originally.
Sailfin tang
A pair of sailfin tang graze for algae.
In my attempts to identify what I see in the water, I use John P. Hoover’s book The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals. His website is hawaiisfishes.com.
Baby gecko on a basil plant
Normally I take a dim view of anything found on the basil plants, but this little gold dust day gecko was inordinately cute. It wasn’t doing the plant any harm and might even have helped by snapping up a bug or two.
Takeoff
A small plane gathers speed on a hot runway. No birds were harmed in the making of this photo – the plane was airborne long before it got there.
Palenose parrotfish
This is a palenose parrotfish passing through a school of whitebar surgeonfish. Most parrotfish attain this kind of color when they reach adulthood. Often times it appears somewhat muted, but when the sun catches them they are iridescent and stand out as much or more than anything else in the water.
In my attempts to identify what I see in the water, I use John P. Hoover’s book The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals. His website is hawaiisfishes.com.
Abstracts: Kiholo branches
A tangle of curly branches forms a dense thicket along the shore near Kiholo Bay.
Passion vine butterfly caterpillar
I took some photos of a passion vine butterfly flitting around a hedge and when I looked at them at home I noticed a distinctive caterpillar in the background. So next day, I returned, hoping it might still be there. Not to worry. The hedge was literally crawling with them. That’s when I noticed the passion vine twining through the hedge.
The spines and orange and black coloring are nature’s way of saying ‘watch out.’ This caterpillar is poisonous if eaten, not that I was tempted. They also have a voracious appetite and can defoliate a plant, especially a young one. Certainly, the ones I watched munched their way through leaves with great thoroughness.
Kamehameha Day parade
Following up yesterday’s post about Kamehameha Day, here are a couple of photos from the parade.
