Tag Archives: Mahukona

Killer

A feral cat at Mahukona Beach Park, Hawaii

This is the resident cat at Mahukona Beach Park. The rock he’s standing beside has a natural bowl at the top and people fill it with water for the birds. I call the cat Killer because, when he sees a bird go for a drink, he races out, stations himself at the base of it, and then leaps up trying to snag a victim.

A couple of mornings ago, I saw him leap from this spot and miss his quarry, but sometimes he’s successful. Feathers in the bowl attest to that. The birds here are not native species, so he’s not contributing to their decline, though that’s not the case elsewhere on the island.

The old sugar railway

The old sugar railway line near Mahukona in Hawaii

North of Mahukona, there’s a trail that follows the old sugar railway for a couple of miles. This photo shows one of the railway’s embankments, but there’s a bit more to it than that.

This embankment is not the original line. That can be seen to the left of it, the flat dry grass area, following the contours of the land. Traveling this route was very slow, so its course was smoothed out with embankments and cuttings. The original line’s course is to the right of the cutting. These changes cut the time it took to travel the line though it was never a high speed trip!

The Numbers Game #111

A praying mantis showing the patterns on its wings
A Praying Mantis with wings unfurled.

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

The Numbers Game #101

It’s the time of year when big northwest swells start to hit the islands. This one is from a few years back.

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

The Numbers Game #88

A green turtle swims in the waters of the Big Island of Hawaii.
A Green Turtle swimming by, taken from shore while waiting for a tour boat.

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