Here's looking at you

I often see faces in various objects, but the faces below are explicit, and can be easily observed by anyone.  The tiki carving is an ancient Polynesian and Hawaiian traditional image representing the first human on earth.  Spiritual offerings grace its head. 

The second is mixed media, incorporating a plant into the overall design of a muppet-like, cartoon character.  And the third is whimsical, created using fragments of tropical seashells.

Trees

Tropical trees!  I walked around Holualoa and found many lovely trees to photograph.  They definitely don't look like this back in Oregon.

Identification of the trees was done by the Plant search mode on my I-phone.

Rainbow eucalyptus

Breadfruit tree

Common bamboo

Lacy tree fern

Always looking for a good cleaner

This morning, we watched several species of fish solicit cleaning behavior from Hawaiian cleaner wrasse.  The cleaners have established stations in little round coral heads and the fish wanting to be cleaned just show up.  They often assume odd postures (like head down and tail up) to convey to the the cleaner that they want to be rid of their external parasites.

Most of the fish looking to be cleaned were convict surgeonfish, named for their black bars.

This photo shows the cleaner wrasse the best

We also found a raccoon butterflyfish

The wrasse is just below the butterflyfish

And an ornate butterflyfish

The cleaner wrasse is just in front of this butterflyfish

After a morning in the water, the skies opened up and a thunderstorm dumped lots of rain on this part of the island.  Stay dry!

Kilauea

When in Hawaii, and a volcano is erupting go see it!

This morning we drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see the current eruption of Kilauea.  We have visited this site several times over the years, and it is always interesting to see something volcanic happening.  

Strong binoculars provide the most interesting way to observe the eruption.  Without a really long camera lens, the phenomenon isn't adequately captured, but I'm sharing what I got today.

Below is video looking into the crater from the rim.

This video pans from the crater over the steam vents on the rim.  It's easy to see how the eruption creates clouds and modifies weather.

Below is a panorama of the Kilauea caldera.

We enjoyed visiting, even if it was only 60 degrees.

Not your typical surf and turf

Here are a few photos from the last couple of days.  Some were taken underwater, and others were taken above ground.  Not your typical surf and turf, but a mixture that is very Hawaiian.

Underwater, we have been lucky enough to encounter a pair of saddleback butterflyfish, one of several butterflyfish species to be known as kikakapu in Hawaiian.  They are striking to look at, and have been difficult for me to photograph.  But this photo captures what they look like.

Saddleback butterflyfish

And one of the coolest things to find while snorkeling is the juvenile rockmover wrasse.  Juveniles resemble drifting algae.  The lower photo shows what they look like as adults.

Juvenile rockmover wrasse (Bori found this fish and took this photo)

Rockmover wrasse

On land, today I took a photo of our resident white rabbit.

Then a bit later, I found a feral pig, while walking around the "neighborhood" about 2 blocks from where we are staying.

And of course, there are always lots of lovely flowers blooming.

T is for Turtle

This morning, we enjoyed an encounter with a green sea turtle.  We were snorkeling in very strong currents and almost ready to quit when a sea turtle showed up.  That motivated us to try to (respectfully) take a photo of it.

These images are from 2 cameras.  Each has a different white balance.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

What I saw on my walk

This morning, I walked several loops around the fitness trail at the Old Kona Airport State Beach Park.  The trail is bordered by gardens planted with locally abundant plants, and many other exotics.  Volunteers appear to tend the gardens and provide food and water for the abundant population of feral cats.  One problem with feeding cats is that the food also attracts mongooses.  I must have seen at least 10 or 15 mongooses.

The mongoose (native to India) was introduced to Hawaii in 1883 to control rats in sugarcane fields.  Although they ate some rats, they had a devastating impact on populations of ground-nesting birds.  Their negative impacts on desirable fauna far outweigh their small impact on the reduction of rat populations.

Mongoose

Mongoose

The Pacific golden plover, a long-distance, open-ocean, migrating shorebird, was the bird that Polynesians followed to find the Hawaiian Islands.  Amazing migrants, always a joy to see.

Back in the water again

After several days of high surf, for the first time of the season, we were out snorkeling today.  We saw a variety of fish species, and I took a few photos to share.  

Spotted Puffer (o'opu hue)

Raccoon Butterflyfish (kikakapu)

After we got out of the water, a pair of humpback whales gave us a nice performance of spy hops, breeching, and tail flips.  Great finish to the morning.

Among the coffee plants

Our stay in the Kona coffee belt has begun.  We are upslope from Kona, though we still have a glimpse of the harbor.

Today, I headed out into the property to share what it looks like.  If I had two words to describe it, they would be lush and tropical.

(As an aside: I was just scolded by a gecko that managed to sneak inside the house.  He ran down the wall and was startled to see me.  He is hiding on the desk, behind a little basket.  I'll try to liberate him later.)

Back outside, here are a couple of photos of what's growing along with the coffee plants.

Hibiscus

Bananas

Haven't a clue, but they are lovely

View between the rows of coffee plants

Ripe coffee beans

Aloha, be well!