Toad says, "I can haz cat food!"

Cane Toad (Bufo marinus)

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Back in September, I posted a photo of a Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) that lives in our garden. In that post I said:

These amphibians come out after dark in search of food and water. Normally they eat things like insects, snails and slugs -- but we have witnessed several Cane Toads gobbling cat food from a bowl that happened to be left out on the porch overnight.

Today I offer proof of the toad's penchant for cat food. We caught this guy on the back porch, just as he was about to indulge his secret craving.

Green Matter

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

This image was cropped from a larger photo.  I eliminated a wooden structure and some trees trees from the picture to create this study of natural green shades in a field on our property.

Our house is located in an area that used to be grazing land, belonging to one of the largest ranches on Hawaii's Big Island.  The ranch still owns vast pastures, but some of the land was sold as multi-acre parcels for residential use.  While most of the houses there have landscaping and gardens around them, remnants of the pastures also remain.   The darker green patch in the lower part of this photo is the edge of the half-acre on our land that is cultivated.  The rest has been left as it was when we arrived -- a field of wild grasses where cattle and sheep once grazed.

The Cat at the End of the Rainbow

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

You probably have heard the legend that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right?   I'm here to tell you that the legend is false.   I present this photo as proof that there is, in fact, a cat at the end the rainbow.  Look carefully and you will see our cat, Buster, sitting in the corner of our garden, right under the end of the rainbow.

Another legend debunked!

Snowy Mauna Kea on a Cloudy Day

Mauna Kea

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I've been going through some older photos, and I came across this shot of Mauna Kea, taken in the winter of 2004.  Mauna Kea, which is the tallest mountain on Hawaii's Big Island, has a snow cap throughout the winter every year.  'Mauna Kea' means 'white mountain' in the Hawaiian language.  This photo of the big white mountain was taken over my backyard hedge with a point-and-shoot camera.

Six-petaled Plumeria Blossom

Lueang Sakhon Plumeria (Plumeria rubra cultivar)

Location:  Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Nearly a year ago I posted a photo of Lueang Sakhon Plumeria blossoms.  I mentioned then that this particular tree in our garden occasionally bears six-petaled blossoms along with the usual five-petaled variety.

I came across this photo of a six-petaled blossom on that tree.  It's an older photo, taken with a point-and-shoot camera, but it shows one of the anomalous six-petaled blossoms, mingled with the 'regular' five-petaled blossoms on the same tree.  I'd call it a freak of nature, but it's hard to label something so pretty a freak! 

Volunteer Coleus Patch

Coleus blumei

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I discovered this image while looking through some old photos.   It made me smile as I remembered the story that goes with it.

We like Coleus for its decorative value, and we always have some growing  in our garden.   We often let some of the nicer looking varieties go to seed, to use for the next planting.   One year we had a windstorm that blew the Coleus seeds all over our garden before we got to harvest them.   Weeks later, we had tiny coleus plants sprouting up all over the place like weeds!

The patch pictured in this photo got seeded that way.   These volunteer Coleus plants took root along the base of a stone wall beside a walk near the edge of our garden.   We decided that they actually looked nice there, so we left them to grow.

Seed Demon: First at the Feeder

Male Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola)

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Look who was the first visitor to our ground feeder, very early in the morning.  You've probably heard the expression, "the early bird gets the worm"?  This male Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) says phooey on worms.  What the early bird really gets is the best choice of seeds!