Vocano

Today we drove to the volcano.  Kilauea was not actively erupting, but it was giving off gases.  The crater glows in the dark, but we didn't want to drive the long, winding road back home after dark.  They expect a new eruption in the next day or two.

Butterflies at the beach

Visiting two beach sites in two days, I was impressed with the movement of hundreds of small yellow butterflies near the water's edge.  Against black lava rocks, their flitting about was both enchanting and visually striking.  Even a modern dancer who had been leaping and dancing along the rocks stopped to admire them.

Yesterday's coastline, looking south to the slope of Mauna Loa

Today, I tried really hard to photograph them.  This is what I captured.

They occasionally rested on the sand

Why I look in tide pools

Tide pools can be really interesting.  Sometimes they teem with small fish or invertebrates.  They can be complex little ecosystems.  Sometimes they contain surprises.  These are some of the tide pools I looked in today.

Today, I was happily surprised to find a sea turtle grazing in a lava-rock tide pool.  It was about 16 inches long.

Refuge

This morning, we visited Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, also called Place of Refuge.  Beyond its historical significance, this site has a very peaceful feeling.  During the period of Hawaiian culture that practiced the kapu system, this site was a safe space for lawbreakers and defeated warriors to seek asylum.  A great wall separated the refuge (Pu'uhonua) from the royal grounds (Honaunau).

Looking from the royal grounds to the northern end of the great wall

On the royal grounds

Fish pond on the royal grounds

Today's world would benefit from more places of refuge.

For the birds

I'm always looking for interesting birds.  Hawaii has a plethora of interesting birds.  Many of the endemic birds are rare and/or endangered.  And many of the abundant species have been introduced.

Today, I'm sharing photos of one endemic and endangered species, the Hawaiian stilt.

Known in Hawaiian as Ae'o (stilts or upright poles) and
Kukuluae'o (stilt walker or having long legs)

And two introduced species.

A Japanese White Eye feeding in Aloe flowers.
(The head is visible towards the top in the center of the photo.)
Introduced from Japan to Hawaii island in 1937, for insect control.

Gray Francolin. Introduced from India in 1958, 
as a game bird.

A little music at the beach

This morning, while walking along the old airport beach, I encountered a ukulele group gathered under a beach shelter for their weekly play-along/sing-along event.

Today's music: Nothing but a heartache

A visit to the north end

Yesterday, we had the great fortune to visit a lovely property up north where dozens of turtles and tortoises range freely.  Our hosts were feeding the tortoises a variety of flowers and fruits.  Lots of happy animals.

A red-headed Red-footed Tortoise

Cuttlebone is an important source of calcium.
These are Leopard Tortoises 

Red-footed Tortoises eating fruits

Red-footed Tortoise checking out whether my shoelaces are edible

A large Sulcata Tortoise

Another charming resident, an Afghan Tortoise

Pond slider turtles

Among other things, I learned that tortoises like having their shells scratched.  Who knew?

Prior to visiting the tortoises, we enjoyed a surprise hula performance at the restaurant where we ate lunch.  We are definitely not in Kansas.

Aloha!