It’s a cat’s life

A cat in a yard n Hawaii
There’s an intruder in my territory. I’m on high alert.
A cat in a yard n Hawaii
I wonder if I should climb that tree?

The neighbor’s cat had a foray into our yard the other day. It wasn’t a long stay, but it seemed like a very representative cat experience. Captions on the photos.

A cat in a yard n Hawaii
Hmm. Why did I come over here?

The Numbers Game #47

A smokey sky colors the waters of Kawaihae small boat harbor
Late afternoon sun over Kawaihae Small Boat Harbor with smoke in the air.

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 168. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A hibiscus tiliaceus at the Golden Ponds of Keawaiki on The Big Island of Hawaii
Hibiscus tiliaceus flowers.
Palm trees at the beach.
Two sheep after a brush fire
After the fire along Old Saddle Road.
A cat rests in the dirt
Cat at rest.
Wasps building a nest
Wasps at work.
An outrigger canoe changing paddlers in Hawaii
Changing crew in an outrigger.

Monk seal and pup

A monk seal and pup at Keokea Park Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Cozy.’ See more responses here.

This mother and her pup were looking pretty cozy on the beach at Keokea Beach Park. Mothers stay with their pups for five to seven weeks. During this time, the mothers generally do not feed, while pups feed on their mother’s milk. Mothers are typically huge when they give birth, but they lose a lot of weight during the rearing time, while the pups get correspondingly bigger.

This pup was very young, and it was quite dramatic to see how quickly the pup got bigger and the mother smaller!

A monk seal and pup at Keokea Park Hawaii

Not again!

A Great Frigatebird flies along the North Kohala Coat, Hawaii

Yesterday, I was walking along the coast, head down, into a stiff breeze, when a shadow fell over me and then on the ground ahead. I had to laugh. It had been a while since this had happened to me. It was the unmistakable large shadow of a Great Frigatebird. I grabbed my camera out of the bag, and wrestled it into action, knowing as I did so that I wouldn’t get any decent photos.

The bird passed probably 10- or 15-feet overhead. By the time I took this photo it was way ahead, even into the wind. Then it dipped down closer to the water and I didn’t see it again.

Great Frigatebirds are prodigious flying machines and they appear effortless in their flight. Had I seen it earlier, it would likely have changed course earlier. But I suspect it’s not an accident when they pass directly overhead. I think they’re just winding me up!