This Hawaiian coot looked surprised to discover a wayward feather in its otherwise immaculate plumage (above). Several attempts to corral the unruly feather failed, leaving the bird with a distinctly grumpy look (middle photo). But a solution was found (below). Time for a stylish V for Victory lap around the pond.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Liquid.’
A very young gold dust day gecko looks around on a ti leaf covered in raindrops. It has to stay alert or it will lose more than just the tip of its tail that it’s lost already.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Liquid.’
One of the inter-island barges enters Kawaihae harbor on a calm, clear morning. The barges are a prime method for moving freight between the islands, with Honolulu being the hub of all the operations.
The water isn’t always this calm. It can get very rough, very quickly, particularly crossing the channels between the different islands.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Liquid.’
I like getting out and about and, when I do, I’m constantly on the lookout for everything from insects to whales. When I go for a walk, I usually say something along the lines of, ‘I’ll be back in an hour, unless I see a bug or a butterfly.’
This was one of those days. Turtles in the bay, a giant African land snail oozing across a dirt road, and this monarch butterfly doing the rounds of the tasselflowers. A good walk indeed.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Place in the world.’
I’m not a person who goes and spends a day at the beach, but I have been drawn to water and the ocean all my life. Possibly that’s why I’ve ended up in Hawaii, where the place is surrounded by it. And who wouldn’t be drawn to the water here?
This is Keawaiki Beach on the South Kohala coast. It’s a steep, black beach where sometimes the surf can roll in. But on a day like this one, it would be a fine place to swim. And on this particular day, not a soul was there, just me and my camera.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Place in the world.’
Cauliflower coral was once a mainstay of reefs along the west coast of the Big Island, but has been in decline for a while. Then, in late 2015, high water temperatures caused a huge coral bleaching event, which resulted in a die-off of more than 90% of the area’s cauliflower coral. In some places, nothing was left. Because of this, the reproduction of surviving corals has become of increased importance.
Different corals have different methods of reproduction. Cauliflower coral reproduces in a synchronized spawning event. During this event, the corals release gametes (eggs and sperm) into the water, creating a milky cloud. For many corals, the spawning event takes place at night, but research indicates that cauliflower corals spawn shortly after sunrise, two or three days after the May full moon. At least, that’s what I was told.
Consequently, twice last week, I got up at an early hour in order to be in the water before 7 a.m. in the hope of witnessing a cauliflower coral spawning. Yes, that’s the kind of life-on-the-edge that I lead.
The first priority was to find some live cauliflower coral, easier said than done. There were a few patches in deeper water, but since visibility was not great, it would be almost impossible to tell if and when they spawned. After some finning around, I found a shallow spot with three small clumps and decided to pin my hopes on them. The live coral was part of a larger mass, part of which had died, as can be seen in the photos. Also to be seen in the photos are an arc-eye hawkfish (above), and two four-spot butterflyfish (second photo) among others. Corals are very important to fish stocks because many small fish, and the young of bigger fish, use the coral for protection, a place to hide when threatened.
What’s not to be seen in the photos is any evidence of spawning, because I didn’t see any. It was unlikely that I would. Conditions might not have been right for the coral or my timing could have been off. The May full moon is actually on the 29th so it might be that the spawning will be at the end of the month, not the beginning. I’ll try again then.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Unlikely.’
I love nature, but I’m reminded from time to time that it isn’t always warm and fuzzy. One such occasion was when I noticed that one of the resident green anoles was getting around on fewer than the standard issue number of limbs. Something nasty had happened to him, possibly in the form of a larger anole.
I’d always assumed that such a disadvantage would make it unlikely the creature would survive in its Darwinian environment, but it didn’t seem to bother this anole unduly. He defended his territory with vigor and while he had a slightly lopsided gait, it didn’t appear to affect his ability to get around or to hunt. I saw him more than once, leaping from one leaf to another and snagging some unfortunate bug that wasn’t paying attention.
So perhaps this was a different kind of positive aspect of nature — unless you’re a bug that is.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Unlikely.’
On the first decent day after a long spell of grey, wet weather, I headed up to the Palila Forest Discovery Trail, just off Saddle Road on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea. I figured that even if the weather let me down, it’s a drive that I enjoy, so it would be OK regardless.
However, the closer I got to my destination, the less promising it looked. When I got to the junction, where a 4-mile dirt road leads to the trailhead, I almost turned around since it seemed unlikely there would be anything to see. The mountain looked shrouded in cloud, but since it’s only a 15-minute drive and the road didn’t look too muddy or washed out, I thought I’d give it a go.
When I pulled into the deserted parking area, the sky was grey, the air was damp, but it wasn’t actively raining and the visibility was OK, so I set out on the mile-long loop trail. As usual, I could hear a fair number of birds. It’s just spotting them that’s the trick there. But there are a couple of places on the trail that seem to get a lot of action and this day was no exception, including my first photos of a Hawaii ‘elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis sandwichensis).
Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii Island each have their own species of the endemic ‘elepaio, which is a member of the flycatcher family. The Big Island version is more boldly marked than the other two and this one obligingly set down in a mamane tree not too far away, affording me a decent view and the opportunity to take photos.
One tidbit that I found interesting about the bird is that when ‘elepaio were seen to frequent a given koa tree, this was a sign to canoe makers that the tree was likely insect infested and unsuitable for making a canoe.
For more information about Palila Forest Discovery Trail, go to dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/palila-forest-discovery-trail/.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Unlikely.’
Graham's Island 