A PS of sorts: This morning an ʻamaʻu outside livingroom window attracted my attention. Pepeʻe unfurling. Middle foreground below is the darkgreen frond of last season, while three fresh ones reach for the sky. Even in brightgreen tangle, ʻamaʻu are distinctive, though slightly windowblurred.
Mostly we see ʻamaʻu in fields of lava or along Hilo-side-roadside of the Saddle. They sometimes sport red young growth, but the ferns are short. Maybe waist high. These approach eight feet in height; the plant more than 35 years old and in rainforest. Environment matters.
Friend ac saw these along Saddle Road several years ago...
And the pic above so reminds me of our pulelehua, Vanessa tameamea, the endemic Kamehameha flutterby. We see it in places like Kīpukapuaulu in the Park (Open now for your strolling pleasures!) where an abundance of māmaki, a favorite host plant, provides food and habitat.
A friend has pulelehua visit her native-plant-filled yard. She is enthralled by them and more patient than I, so LD provides a netted shelter, protection from ravaging mejiro and Jacksonʻs chameleons who feast on fat caterpillars.
Below, from Jim Denny on Flickr:
Mejiro / Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus)
Pu`u O Kila
Koke`e, Kaua`i
This one has a recently captured insect larva. On this day it was also taking nectar from the yellow curved flower seen in the background (Scaevola glabra). It doesn't have the long curved bill needed to feed on the flower as does the endemic `I`iwi, but it has learned to make a hole at the base of the flower and rob the nectar. It may have learned this from the `Amakihi which routinely does this to lobelias. The Mejiro is not native to Hawai`i. It was introduced to the islands in the early 1900s along with many other foreign birds. It is a very adaptable bird that can be seen from dry desert-like conditions on leeward coasts to the wettest high mountain forests.
And this no longer pestiferous beastie I spied on the road not far from LDs kauhale. 
I know... "But theyʻre cool! They make great pets!" But when I look out my windows and see them slowly skulking on hāpuʻu or uluhe, I am NOT happy.
Not long ago LD shared this series:
A fat "J" suspended from a silken pad
Twenty minutes before emerging after 21 days in its chrysalis.
Seconds after emerging, wings wrinkled.
After 45 minutes spent drying, unfurling and expanding.
An hour later.
Ta-DAH!!!
Kinda hard to Be Outside Paying Attention to this process, so I am SOOO grateful to LD for sharing the results of her diligent patience!!!
Like a flutterby, letʻs take to the air! USGS HVO did so on May 29, taking advantage of our fair weathers. Go to https://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/ and click on "Photos & Video".
Absent being able to walk to Keanakākoʻi, this is a substitute of sorts. The view is very similar to my headline blog photo. Note the green of Kapāpala Ranch pastures and the horizon of Maunaloa in the distance. A cool thing is the lake at the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu. Itʻs steaming. The steams rise an condense, forming that kinda spherical cloud whose kinda spherical shadow is perched on the rim of Kaluapele. The māhu hoʻokino, said name provided by friend KR.
Māhu (steam or vapors), hoʻo (from yesterdays post... an activator, here preceeding kino (body).
Hoʻokino = to take shape, embody; to develop, as a puny infant; to take form, as a spirit (P/E Hawaiian Dictionary).
As weʻve learned, and perhaps you remember, Kūkamāhunuiākea is the elemental whose kuleana, responsibility, is steam. His spirit is manifest in that particular cloud that develops and is suspended over the pit.
Above is a screenshot of another image taken on May 29, 2020 by HVO staff. This one shows in very fuzzy not-detail, Pōhaku Lupe, or Kalupe, The Stingray... Its body is the fat horizontal pale grey very near the base of Palikapuokamohoaliʻi, directly below the parking lot at the Kīlauea Overlook, east of Uēkahuna. Its tail runs off to the right, and ends at a pointy parallelogram. See it?
And just because I long to return... Keanakākoʻi middle foreground, the light tan of the Puhimau hotspot, the blue Pacific in the distance...same HVO photo series. Weʻll share more about Puhimau next time.
But now, if I ever expect to stroll Keanakākoʻi without incident, Iʻm off to walk at the Golf Course...
Please PayAttention to guidance regarding CoViD19 and our health...Be Safe. Be Well.
As always, with aloha,
BobbyC
maniniowali@gmail.com
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