This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘National Kids and Pets Day.’ See more responses here.
This is Gigi, one of the cats at work. She wasn’t about to move, but she was keeping a bit of an eye on me, just in case.
I see these sprinklers going on my way home from work, but only if it’s been a long day, as they’re on a timer. Usually I think, I must take a photos of those, but don’t because it’s late, I’m tired, and I just want to get home.
Last week, the same scenario arose and I was driving by, when I thought, ‘I’ll feel better taking the photos than I will rushing home.’ So I stopped, took photos, and did feel better. At least, until I drove past a police car and, looking in my rear view mirror, saw blue light flashing and heard the siren going. Luckily, he was after the car in front of me!
Yesterday, we removed the fuel hose storage tube off our old Peterbilt truck, to clean it. This is the view down it.
Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card. See more responses here.
The Nene (Branta sandvicensis) is native to Hawaii and is the state bird. It’s believed to be a distant relative of the Canada Goose but is much smaller. Nenes spend most of their time on land rather than in the water. Because of this they have evolved different characteristics than other geese. Their feet feature less webbing than other geese and they have claws suited to providing grip in rocky areas where they are often found. However, like most geese they can often be found on golf courses!
When they fly, they will typically make loud honking noises, but walking on land as these two were, they make a variety of very pleasing burbling noises as they move along. Nenes are herbivores and feed on a variety of grasses as well as berries and fruit. They’re also one of those birds that mate for life.
Nenes are considered the world’s rarest goose, with a current population of less than 5,000. But this is a vast improvement from the 1950s when it is believed that there were only 30 or so birds here on the Big Island. Recovery has been aided by official protections and breeding in private reserves. Kauai was the center of this recovery, mainly because there are no mongooses there.
Nenes have been on the Endangered Species list since 1967, but their recovery has been such that they are now listed as ‘Near Threatened,’ which means they are no longer considered to be near extinction, but could quickly return there if the situation does not continue to improve.
One thing of note about these two birds is that neither of them have bands on their legs. Many birds have identifying bands that allow those monitoring the population to know where they come from and where they’ve been.
Posted for Bird of the Week LIV. See more responses here.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Through a Window.’ See more responses here.
A variety of photos this week, with captions on the photos.
The top photo looks rather like a smooth Hawaiian beach, but it’s the plywood floor of a building under construction.
The bottom photo looks like someone lost control of their saw!
Pohakuloa Training Area is a large military training area, occupying more than 100,000 acres on the lower slopes of Mauna Loa. Units from all around the country come here for training.
Recently, a series of jump operations were held over several days. As part of these exercises, formations of large aircraft were flying around the area, including over Hapuna, which is where I work.
On this day, the first flight went by while I was occupied, but when the next one came into view, I was ready with my camera. There were around 15 aircraft rumbling overhead at a relatively low altitude and I was pleased that their track took them past the half moon hanging in the sky.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer.’ See more responses here. Beach scenes seemed appropriate for this, even if some of these photos were taken in the winter! Captions on the photos.
Graham's Island 