Tag Archives: Sunday Stills

Red birds in green foliage

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An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii
An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Festive Colors of Red and Green.’ See more responses here.

A couple of weeks ago, I hiked a section of the Pu’u O’o Trail, off Saddle Road. It’s one of my favorites on the island. The trail mixes old lava flows from Mauna Loa eruptions with kipukas, areas of old growth trees bypassed by those flows. These kipukas are home to several native bird species.

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

On this day, approaching a kipuka, the bird calls got noticeably louder. Clearly a lot of birds were active. I chastised myself for, once again, not remembering to familiarize myself with the different calls so I could identify the birds I was hearing. But I needn’t have worried. They were visible too, if prone to move about a bit too rapidly for my convenience!

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

This bird is the I’iwi and I saw more of them on this day than any other time I’ve been up here. I’iwis feed on several kinds of native flowers, many of which are found in these kipukas. The tangle of branches and the flighty birds made for tricky photography, but I was happy to get a few good shots out of the many that I took.

An indigenous I'iwi honeycreeper in Hawaii

I know these aren’t Christmassy photos, but I was feeling pretty festive by the end of the hike!

Turtles at peace

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A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the beach at Kaloko in Hawaii
Resting at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Peace.’ See more responses here. Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles come ashore to rest and get a bit of peace. Humans are supposed to stay at least 10 feet away, preferably more.

A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the beach in Hawaii
On the beach.
A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the rocks at Kiholo, Hawaii
On the rocks.
A Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on the beach at Kiholo, Hawaii
On the beach at Kiholo.

Textured

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Shadows on a staircase in Hawaii
A staircase with smooth painted surfaces and rough nonskid steps.

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

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

Tree bark in Hawaii
Tree bark.
A red leaf floating in water in Hawaii
A leaf floating in the water.
An old rusted wheel in Hawaii
An old rusted wheel.
Sand underwater in Hawaii
Sand on the ocean floor.
White coral words on a black sand beach in Hawaii
Lumps of white coral on a black sand beach.
Raindrops on a windshield in Hawaii
Raindrops on a windshield.

Bright and beautiful

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A Carpenter bee male at Lapakahi in Hawaii
A male Sonoran Carpenter Bee enjoys the sunshine.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful.’ See more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

Reef fish at Two Step in Hawaii
Reef fish at Two Step.
A Bromeliad in Hawaii
Aechmea blanchetiana bromeliad.
An Ember Parrotfish in the waters off Hawaii
An Ember Parrotfish.
A Crowned Jellyfish in the waters off Hawaii
A Crowned Jellyfish catches the light.
A Rcl Sharon king 'Volcano Queen' orchid at the Hilo Orchid Show in Hawaii
Rcl Sharon king ‘Volcano Queen’ orchid.
Sunset on the Kohala coast in Hawaii
North Kohala sunset.

The brown and the gray

A praying mantis and it's shadow in Hawaii
A Praying Mantis casts a its shadow on a rail.

This month’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Any shade of brown and/or gray.’ See more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

A black and white image of grid shadows in Hawaii
Grill shadows.
A Reticulated Cowrie in the waters off Hawaii
A Reticulated Cowry.
A harrowed field in Hawaii
A newly-harrowed field in North Kohala.
Wooden handles on a door in Kapaau, Hawaii
Door handles in Kapaau.
Brown moss or lichen growing on a tree in Hawaii
Growth on a tree trunk. Not sure if this is moss or lichen or something else!
A sonoran carpenter bee near a sign in Hawaii
A Sonoran Carpenter Bee confirms that it’s not forbidden to drill nest holes in the fence.

Claws and hooves

A Green Anole on a roof in Hawaii
A Green Anole on a metal roof. They can climb metal walls using their claws.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Hooves and Claws.’ See more responses here. First claws.

An A'ama crab in Hawaii
An A’ama crab uses its claws to grip the rocks.

Then hooves.

A Goat on a rock in Hawaii
A goat on a rock.
A bull and cattle egret in Hawaii
A bull with attendant Cattle Egret.

Also Posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

Scary Nurse

A scary nurse in a Halloween window display

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

I saw this in a local Halloween window display and imagined her as a real nurse entering my hospital room. Possible conversations soon followed.

“You say you had the same wrist surgery as I’m going to have! How did it go?”

“So you have my test results. How do they look?”

“How much blood do you need to draw?”

“Nice to hear you like giving your patients a hand.”

“Oh, you don’t use a machine to take x-rays.”