This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Colors of Lava and Black.’ See more responses here. I thought a collection of colorful lava fit the bill. These were taken on two of the trails in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Kau Desert Trail and the Puna Coast Trail.
Finally, some red lava erupting from Kilauea volcano. I posted a few days ago (here) about the pressurized situation at the volcano when I visited last week. This is a screen shot from one of the live webcams at Kilauea (here). This most recent eruption began a little after three yesterday morning and ended around 6 hours later. I missed it by a week!
I was down at Kilauea Volcano this past weekend, checking out the state of the volcano. Since December 2024 there has been a series of 54 episodes of the current eruption. Episode 55 was expected about three weeks ago, but changes in the volcano have not produced another fountaining episode. Instead, there have been lots of small earthquakes, signs of lava movement underground, and a continuing build up of pressure. The volcanologists aren’t sure what to expect next, so some areas and trails have been closed for safety.
Two changes really struck me on this visit. First was that the crater viewing area at the Jagger Museum was open again. This closed after the 2018 draining and collapses in the crater, which rendered the museum unsafe. Now the museum is gone, having been removed over the past few years. However, the viewing area is still there and they’ve done a nice job of redoing it into a perfect space for volcano watching.
The second thing, which can be seen in these photos, is just how much the crater has filled in since the 2018 collapse. The crater floor was 1600 feet lower after that event, but now is back up to where it was before, and the active area is reaching the level of the rim!
I was hoping something dramatic would happen during my visit, but was disappointed. In the meantime, the rumblings continue.
A Black-crowned Night Heron on a mooring cleat in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii
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 236. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Wasps building a nest.Lava from Kilauea’s Pu’u O’o vent pours into the ocean.Plumbago auriculata flowers.A Great Frigatebird angles into the winds of tropical storm Darby.V-22 Osprey aircraft at Upolu Airport.A Katydid up close.
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 232. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A Green Turtle swims near the surface of the ocean.Parts of Crater Rim Road which collapsed into Halemaumau Crater during the 2018 eruption.Yuccas blooming in Waimea.Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.A Wild Turkey in a pasture off Saddle Road.A cyclist rides below Upolu Airport with Maui in the distance.
This Humpback Whale encounter was probably the highlight of the year (here).
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Year in review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’ve picked a photo from each of the past 12 months and included a link to the original post.
Sunrise over Mauna Kea (here).A Monarch Butterfly on a leaf (here).A Manta Ray passes by (here).One of the many episodes of the current eruption at Kilauea (here).A Japanese White-eye on Octopus Tree flowers (here).The interior of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hawi (here).A male Sonoran Carpenter Bee (here).A waiting room at the Hilo Benioff Medical Center (here).Jumping into the ocean at Coconut Island, Hilo (here).
A kerfuffle in the corral at Paniolo Adventures (here).
The current on again, off again eruption at Kilauea, combined with on again, off again trade winds has resulted in on again, off again vog. This was an on again voggy view towards Hualalai from the mountain road.
A lava flow at Kilauea with people walking on it. What could possibly go wrong!
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 216. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
A somewhat spooky kitten.Sunshine.A Wandering Tattler casting a shadow like Feathers McGraw in a Wallace and Gromit movie.A dapper Yellow-billed cardinal.A tiny stick insect.Rusty Millipedes making more Rusty Millipedes!
A Coconut Orchid at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden
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 201. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Simply Red. See more responses here.
A Spinner Dolphin doing its thing.A long exposure of the fire hose of lava.A shedding anole.Super blood wolf moon!Hawaiian Zebra Blennies.A Potter Wasp on a Tree Heliotrope.
