Pueo takeoff

A pueo watches from a hillside in Hawaii

I was driving the mountain road back to Hawi, when I saw this Pueo flying. I pulled over, but didn’t see it again, until I realized it was perched on a rock on the hillside above. It was watching me.

I took some photos and was lucky enough to catch the bird taking off, before heading over a ridge and out of sight.

The Numbers Game #42

Two Humpback whales swim in the waters off Hawaii
A pair of Humpback Whales off the North Kohala coast.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 163. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Go Mango

A large Mango tree in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Leaves and Trees.’ See more responses here.

This is a look at the Mango tree in my yard. It’s more than 40 feet high and has a diameter of 50 feet or more. The top photo was taken about a week ago. The first photo in the gallery below was taken a week before that. The new leaves are red, but quickly turn a glossy green. Older leaves are dark green.

The tree will eventually bloom with clusters of small creamy flowers, followed by clumps of fruit, much to the delight of the wild pigs here. Mind you, they have to be careful, as do I, because, when the wind blows, branches fall from the tree, some of them big enough to do damage.

A large branch that fell from a Mango tree in Hawaii

I’m not moving

A cane toad in Hawaii
A cane toad in Hawaii

I found this cane toad while doing some weeding. It looked aggrieved, as they always do, but didn’t budge from its spot. After taking photos, I moved away and the toad finally lumped forward to a quieter spot in the hedge.

They’re coming to get me

Spinner dolphins in the waters off Hawaii

I hadn’t been snorkeling for a couple of weeks, having been under the weather. So last week, I was happy to get back in the water, and even happier when a pod of Spinner Dolphins showed up.

I first became aware of them when two snuck up from behind and zipped by just a few feet away. This happened to me once before, not long after moving to Hawaii, and I nearly had a heart attack. These days, I’m more used to expecting the unexpected in the water.

A few went back and forth around me, and I thought they might stick around for a bit, but they continued on their way south, albeit at a less-hurried pace than they often maintain. But it’s always a treat to see them and I was happy that a few photos turned out OK. My last encounter with dolphins, a few weeks ago, resulted in zero usable photos. I think my camera was having some issues, at least that’s my excuse.