Tag Archives: Sheep

A new route up Pu’u Wa’a Wa’a

Pu’u Wa’a Wa’a is a cinder cone on the slopes of Hualalai volcano. The name means “many-furrowed hill,” and it’s a place I like to walk at least once a year, but it had been a while since I was up there. Usually, I go there in the spring when Jacarandas and other flowers are blooming. I also try to go in the early morning, since the area tends to cloud up during the day and the wonderful views become obscured.

A couple of weeks ago I made a late decision to do the hike again since the weather looked unusually good. I got there around 2pm and it will come as no surprise that I spent the first 15 minutes of the hike taking photos of Williwilli flowers on a tree about 20 feet from where I parked! (More of those in a few days.)

The trail follows an old road up the hill past Silk Oak trees, at the tail end of their flowering and sporting a deep red hue I hadn’t seen before. Turn around, and there are good views of Maui to be had. The old road peters out near an old blockhouse, now lacking doors and windows, which offers shelter to livestock on the ranch here. Off to one side is an old quarry, which cuts into the side of the hill. Usually there are goats in this area, but I didn’t see any on this day. Farther up is what’s left of Tamaki Corral, which dates back around 100 years.

Not far after the corral, the trail climbs steeply toward the top. This was where I found a change in the trail. Whereas before the trail was an out-and-back up a steep slope to the top, now a loop has been created. I took this new option to the top where, on this remarkably clear late afternoon, I had great views of Maui, Kohala Mountain, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai. A new sign at the top welcomes hikers to the nearly 4,000 foot summit, and there’s a survey marker at the top riddled with holes, not from gunfire, but to let the wind blow through. There are also a couple of benches where one can sit a while enjoying the views (weather permitting). The hike is steep in places, but not difficult, though not everyone makes it back alive!

The trail to the top of PuuWaaWaa, Hawaii

I followed the old trail back down and ran into several sheep, which have the run of the land up here, as the sun dipped behind the ridge.

One other difference I noticed with this afternoon hike was the proliferation of birds. There were large numbers of finches, mostly Saffron Finches flitting about, preparing to roost for the evening. Yellow-fronted Canaries were all over the tree tobacco flowers. I also saw, and heard, several Erckel’s Francolins doing their usual fine job of blending in with the vegetation.

A yellow-faced canary on PuuWaaWaa, Hawaii

And as I walked back down the hill towards my car, the late afternoon sun still shone, illuminating grasses alongside the trail.

Posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more walks here.

Countdown

Ten sheep, and ten cattle egrets, in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘A Numbers Game.’ See more responses here. I put all my fingers and thumbs to work for my response, starting with ten Sheep in formation (and ten Cattle Egrets, too, as a bonus).

Next we have nine Spinner Dolphins playing, eight Wild Pigs foraging, seven Cattle Egrets heading to work.

Nine spinner dlophins in the waters off Hawaii

Then there’s six Dung Beetles at work, five Black Triggerfish feeling blue, four Japanese White-eyes bathing.

Black Triggerfishes in an aroused state in the waters off Hawaii

And finally, three Horses watching, two Hawaiian Monk Seals resting, and one Pueo anticipating zero and lifting off.

A Hawaiian monk seal and pup on a beach in Hawaii

It’s light, it’s bright, it’s black and white

Clouds over Upolu, Hawaii, in black and white — Clouds off Upolu, a scene not greatly different in color.

A cow and her calf in black and white — A black and white cow with her mostly white calf.

Cows in black and white — A trio of black and white cows, the middle one looking particularly suspicious of what I was up to.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Daylight in Black and White.’ See more responses here.

I was going to post a single image for this but then got caught up with the idea of black and white images of black and white things. This is the result.

Sheep in black and white — Black and white sheep doing sheep things.

A great frigatebird in black and white — A black and white Great Frigatebird gliding into a stiff breeze off the coast of North Kohala.

Shadows on a wall in black and white — Some shadows on a wall, not so different in black and white from the full color original.

Shadows on a wall — Some shadows on a wall, not so different in black and white from the full color original.

After the fire

After a brush fire — Burned pasture and trees with a bulldozed fire break in the foreground.

Aftermath of a brush fire — An object burned by the fire.

Earlier this month, I posted here about the largest brush fire in Big Island history, which burned more than 40,000 acres of land. A couple of days ago. I drove Old Saddle Road and got a look at the aftermath.

The fire burned mostly through dry pasture and scrub land leaving a black and brown landscape. Clumps of charred trees broke up otherwise uniform stretches of blackened grassland. Lines of fencing could be seen, but where before posts held up the wire, in many places the wire now supported the dangling remains of posts. Thoroughfares of dusty brown dirt cut through the landscape where fire breaks had been bulldozed. Strips of green alongside the highway were the only remnants of the area’s usual color.

The fire has been out for a couple of weeks now, but when the wind blows, brown clouds of dust are driven before it. It will be a few months before anything resembling normalcy returns, though new green shoots could be seen here and there, a testimony to the resilience of nature.

Trees after a brush fire — Trees charred by the fire.

A fence line after a brush fire — This is the same area after the fire and before.

Late afternoon on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea with a fence line stretching away toward the ocean. — This is the same area after the fire and before.

Two sheep after a brush fire — Two sheep in a fire scarred landscape.

As I walked around taking photos I heard some noises. I thought it was trees creaking, but when I got back to the car, I heard the sounds again and spotted these two sheep, now well camouflaged in the new landscape. They looked well enough, though there was nothing to eat or drink for some distance. But they’re free to roam through the gaps in the fencing and no doubt will find something. All the cattle and horses that normally occupy the fields were missing. Many were rounded up ahead of the flames, though some perished.

It was a sobering scene, the more so because, while this was the islands largest brush fire, it was tiny in comparison to the blazes that have become a regular feature of summer on the mainland.

Sheep in a macadamia nut orchard

Macadamia nuts are big business in Hawaii, but the orchards themselves present a more pastoral scene. This orchard is rendered slightly less scenic by some dying trees, but that’s offset, to some extent, by the sheep.

Posted in response to Becky’s July Squares challenge theme of ‘Trees.’ See more responses here.

Upolu landscape

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Your Favorite Landscape.’ See more responses here.

When I think of the landscape at Upolu, it includes both the ocean that borders it and the skies above. They are, in my mind, integral to the place. But here, I’ve focussed on the land, a relatively small area of a few square miles where I walk most days. It’s rural, agricultural, and coastal. It’s historic and modern. It’s also a place I never return from feeling disappointed. There’s always something of note that I see or that happens when I’m there.

Also posted in response to Becky’s January Squares challenge theme of ‘Up.’ See more responses here.

Sheep on the run

On my drives to and from Upolu Airport, it’s not uncommon to encounter groups of sheep on the road. Some of the field fencing is not in the greatest shape and, in any case, it’s primarily there to corral cattle, not that it always works for that either.

When I do encounter sheep, their typical response is to run ahead of me. At some point though, they usually veer off to the side and I can get by. Sometimes they turn and run back towards me. The last group I saw ran off, with several of the leaping into the air, twirling as they did so. I don’t think it was because they were so excited to see me.

Sloping sheep

These sheep kept me under observation during a hike on Pu’u Wa’awa’a, and since I didn’t change course, they remained unperturbed and undisturbed.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii