I used to see Ground Beetles all the time on my walks at Upolu, but this one was the first I’d seen in ages. I don’t think it’s because I’m becoming less observant. I think the numbers are down, for whatever reason.
Ground Beetle
Tag Archives: Upolu
Turbines and clouds
This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘White and Gray.’ See more responses here. This photo of white-painted wind turbines under gray skies seemed to fit the bill.
A long way from home
On my last walk along the coast near Upolu Airport I came across this scene. The shopping cart is from Safeway, the nearest location being in Kailua Kona. But I was also intrigued by the contents of the cart: A street address sign, a vehicle license plate, a perfectly good lawn rake, and several bits and pieces relating to a Stihl chainsaw.
Behind the bank, there was a fishing rod, a chair, and other signs of someone having staked out the spot for fishing, so perhaps the cart was associated with that. Quite what that association was will remain one of life’s little mysteries.
Nothing special
My usual walk around Upolu Airport is about a three mile loop. A few days ago, I was about halfway around and I hadn’t seen much of anything. No cattle or horses, no butterflies or bugs, few birds, and nothing in the water – no turtles, whales, or monk seals. And I thought, ‘Nothing special today.’
Then I looked out over the blue water under blue skies, waves splashing against the shore, and a light breeze moderating an otherwise hot day, and I thought, ‘Even nothing special isn’t half bad.’
Posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).
How now brown cow?
This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘Leather (shades of brown).’ See more responses here.
This seemed an appropriate topic for some cattle photos, taken on my walks at Upolu and Pu’u Wa’a Wa’a. And, yes, not all of them are cows!
Also posted for Becky’s Squares theme of “Walking” (See more responses here).
Passion Vine Butterfly on a Zinnia Violacea flower
Following on from yesterday’s post about the lack of rain at Upolu, it occurred to me that I rarely see Passion Vine Butterflies there these days. They used to be all over the place, but now I’m lucky to see one or two. I don’t think it’s related to the lack of rainfall, but don’t know what other factors might be involved.
Small plane and Maui
I was going through some old photos when I came across this one and was struck by a couple of things. One was the dramatic clouds in the channel and over Maui. The other was how green the grass looks at Upolu Airport. Currently, it is uniformly baked brown owing to the lack of rainfall in this area.
Horse and cattle
For some reason, one of the pastures at Upolu has recently been occupied by this horse and a handful of cattle. I’m not sure why the horse is in there, but on this day, while the cattle were standing around looking bored, the horse was furiously rubbing itself against a fence post. Afterwards, it too stood around looking bored!
Graham's Island 