This is Hawaii’s largest nudibranch and can reach a foot long. Mostly active at night, the best chance for snorkelers to see signs of this nudibranch, is to see one of their egg sacs, such as the one in the top photo, attached to a rock. These rose-like sacs are quite beautiful a … | Continue reading
Cleaner wrasses establish territories where they remove mucus, parasites, and dead tissue from other fish. These cleaning stations can exist in the same place for years and can have several wrasses performing those services. Their clients can be anything from other small reef fis … | Continue reading
I saw this female Hawaiian Garden Spider scooting up a strand of her web during a welcome rain shower. She stopped just before reaching the top and was soon the recipient of drops of water dripping from the roof. When the rain passed, she carried on up to the gutter. I think she … | Continue reading
This month’s Sunday Stills Color Challenge is ‘Brown.’ See more responses here. I’ve gone for a selection of animals, mostly. Captions on the photos as usual. | Continue reading
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Frightful.’ See more responses here. There’s a well-known brand of paper tissue that sells it’s products in cardboard boxes sporting a wide variety of designs, some more pleasing than others. Costco carries these items and currently s … | Continue reading
I was impressed to see one of our cats at work, looking comfy on a branch of the large Kiawe tree in the yard. The tree is not only studded with vicious thorns, but is also home to a colony of ants that might outnumber the human population of the island. | Continue reading
Recently, while waiting to visit my dentist, I walked the trail in the Waimea Nature Park, also known as Ulu La’au. The trail follows the Waikoloa Stream for about a mile from the town center down toward the ocean. It’s a work in progress, with volunteers removing invasive specie … | Continue reading
The house where I live is ready for Halloween thanks to the generous numbers of spiders living around it. By the front steps, there’s a small Hawaiian Garden Spider and several crab spiders. One day, I came home and saw a wasp flying close to the various webs. I thought it was di … | Continue reading
A tug and barge enter Kawaihae Harbor around sunrise. | Continue reading
Peppered Moray Eels live in shallow waters, including tide pools and ponds. My fish book describes them as bold and active, and notes that they will even launch themselves out of the water, onto the rocks, trying to catch crabs, their primary prey. So it’s somewhat surprising tha … | Continue reading
I don’t see Spotted Eagle Rays as often as I used to, but that’s true of many creatures that live in the ocean around here. This one went skimming by a small school of Yellow Tangs and out into deeper water. Happily, it looked in excellent condition with a beautiful array of whit … | Continue reading
I noticed this hibiscus because the flowers were larger than those I usually see and I liked the color as well. | Continue reading
This Pacific Day Octopus was easy to spot when it was on the move, but when it settled down it quickly became almost invisible. | Continue reading
I caught this Green Hover Fly doing what it does best, which is hover. It kept coming back to the same area, hovering for reasons that weren’t immediately apparent, but I wasn’t complaining. I’m a big fan of creatures that remain in place when I’m trying to take photos. Are you p … | Continue reading
A tangle of floating fibers creates an abstract pattern in the water. | Continue reading
I saw this Myna at Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach Park. It was standing just as you see, before moving to do a bit of preening. Then it resumed this position. It repeated this process several times. The bird was clearly waiting for mum or dad to return with food and, by golly, it want … | Continue reading
I heard this Northern Mockingbird long before I saw it. These birds have a wide variety of songs and seem to like broadcasting them from the very top of trees. It took a while to find a place where I could see the bird making all the noise, though noise is perhaps unfair. Their s … | Continue reading
A view from the window during a recent downpour. | Continue reading
It was nice to get out of work earlier than expected yesterday. What wasn’t nice was to be five minutes into my return home and finding this scene. This is the northern end of the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, the main coastal highway north of Kailua Kona. There aren’t a lot of alter … | Continue reading
Early morning at Spencer Beach Park with one of the campsites seen under a full moon. | Continue reading
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Seeking Light.’ See more responses here. This seedling is coming up where some tomato seeds were planted, so it could be one of them or something else that’s volunteered there. We’ll find out in due course. Either way, the seedling is … | Continue reading
I noticed this Day Lily while I was driving and was moved to return and take some photos. I liked how the flowers stood out in the tangle of roots of a very large Banyan tree. | Continue reading
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. | Continue reading
I don’t see a lot of mushrooms in the yard here, but this one popped up recently and I liked how it looked in the grass. | Continue reading