Oahu color hit, just because

I need color.

xoxobb

Peeking at Pele

 

She is moltenly awesome.

Apparently this was a good show, as the Jaggar Museum was CROWDED that night

and our friends (locals) said they'd NEVER seen so many people there at once.
I have never heard my camera's shutter stay open for SO LONG as I did that evening,
all the while fervently praying the people around me would NOT take a photo
with flash.

Photography etiquette 101: if it's a nighttime scene & a flash does not help,
& in fact impedes the intended image,
either LEARN how to turn off your flash,
or STOP TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS and messing up other folks' shots.
Pretty please. Would be much appreciated. =)
This has been a public/photographic service announcement.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is a trippy place. Highly recommend.
Place to see the planet giving birth to land. Nice.

bb

location, location, location

 

This is basically the backyard of where we stayed while on Oahu, HI (friend's mother's house). The first few days the canal was closed off and patrolled by military gentlemen in a small, black, inflatable boat to protect the canal and bridge, as this canal leads to the neighborhood where President Obama was staying. My friend, who slept out on their large, enclosed porch, said those men look reallllly bored, poor things. Very small area to patrol. However, bored is better than in a violent confrontation with a nutty malcontent, so yay, boring!

=)

Took this shot early in the a.m., so it's kinda dark.
Was originally going for ducks on the canal,
but then saw the mountain.
Oh, that.

xobb

albatross, schmalbatross (silent Saturday evening post)

 

bb



(p.s. it's a Laysan Albatross on Oahu, HI)

silversword silliness

 

Haleakalā silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. macrocephalum) silliness, that is...

Hawai'ian hijinks @ 9,000 feet.

[btw: hijinks = "lively enjoyment" per dictionary.com,

and Merriam-Webster says

"boisterous or rambunctious carryings-on :

carefree antics or horseplay."

Sounds about right. =) ]

Will be home tonight (probably EARLY tomorrow, really).

And tho' will be speedily (hair-on-fire) editing,

in the coming weeks will be able to post more.

I think this is my 3rd time on the interweb in 2.5 weeks--woah!

Mahalo!

bb

video: camoflaged, carnivorous caterpillars... oh, my!

 


1. I THINK these are the killer caterpillars (or relatives thereof) my friend Dan discovered (oops, NO, see post script), but he's out tromping in the field (who knows where), so need to verify when he returns.

2. I need to figure out who made this film so I can credit them--it's great! Anyone know?

bb

P.S. Yes, I got an e-mail back from Dan, and those are NOT his bugs. =)

Thanks to the WONDER that is Katie at NatureID, we now know this is probably the work of Steve Montgomery, whom she considers "the expert on these types of caterpillars found in Hawaii. I found that he and his cohorts recently discovered Eupithecia that eat snails."

THEN Katie said "the video is from BBC Earth's 'Wild Pacific' series."

And for the more official site of the on-line video clip, she shows us this, "BBC Earth's very hip 'Life Is' site."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Katie is AWESOME and SO much more disciplined than I. THANK YOU, KATIE! =)

AND thanks to DAN for getting back to me. =) (now I totally want to know what Dan IS up to...)

sounds SO evocative of Hawaii...

   
From a friend, video and sound of a zebra dove, a ubiquitous non-native in Hawaii. Well, at least ubiquitous on Oahu.

Wow, I feel like I'm in the hills near Honolulu right now (and wondering why the air is so dry).

Does this mean I can go snorkeling at Hanauma (sp?) Bay tomorrow morning? Hmmm?

=)

biobabbler

(p.s. Thanks CP!!)

Shark fin harvesting ban passed in Hawaii!

    
Thank goodness this happened! Sharks are slow breeders and hugely important to marine ecology. I don't know this, but if the terrestrial models apply, then I am guessing they moderate competition among their prey species, helping to keep species richness of those species higher than would otherwise be the case.

I ate shark (not fin) one time in college before I knew about how unsustainable shark hunting was (and I don't think that's changed at all), and haven't had it since.

ANYhow, finning is practically a poster-child for insanely unsustainable and egregiously wasteful harvesting practices, so I am very grateful this passed in Hawaii. Very, very.

Now, we just need the REST of the world to do the same.

biobabbler

P.S. Of course, huge thanks to Christie Wilcox for spreading the good news.

Hawaii crumbs and question for you all

  
Because I said I would, here's some HI pics. They're from the same place, Kailua Beach on Oahu. I'll snag more later, for more diversity.

Then a question--'cause I need your help.

Check out the shadows of the drops of water coming down from the wave... tilt monitor back if needed, to see more clearly.

I like the shape of the water and the pattern of the sand/water.

There. I have now, at least to a degree, fulfilled a request for Hawaii pics.

This is one of the most spectacular beaches I'd ever seen, and swimming in that crazy milky green color was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Had NOT planned on swimming, but could not NOT go into that amazing color, bobbing around, immersed and just STARING at the color.

Hea-ven.


ANYhow, back to Earth:

Question:

Are you able to comment? If you've tried, did it work, what did you do (identity chosen), and what browser are you using?

I'm asking 'cause I had a problem with this today. I just checked out the blog via Firefox vs. Safari (go ahead, call me a Mac user) and it SO didn't work.

So, please tell me.

I         WANT        THIS         TO           WORK.

I like feedback.

Thanks, my patient little guinea piggies! =)

xoxobiobabbler

p.s. in future, if the term "piggies" is used, it's short for Guinea piggies, so is NOT an insult, yes? Yes.
 =) See, you are now SO in the know.

XHTMLCSS! (Gesundheit!)

  
Doing things today that are not photo phriendly (reading about html/xhtml/css, trying to design a chicken coop divider, trying not to freak-out-that-all-the-windows-are-covered-in-opaque-plastic-due-to-house-getting-painted-so-I-can't-see-outside-at-ALL), etc., so no pretty post today.

Tho' maybe I'll toss you a couple Hawaii photo crumbs soon, just to keep you happy. =) See, I do care.

The good news is that the web book I'm reading should help me make things JUST the way I want them here and elsewhere (ooh, mysterious!) so, tho' the activity is not photogenic, perchance the results will be.

I love learning what's in the "black box." Really, I live for it.

In this case, HTML, et al., so no software intermediary necessary. Me and the computer, mano a mano. I learn it's language, it does my bidding, and that's that.

Ah....

=) xoxo

the biobabbler