The Art of Ocean Ogling

It occurs to me that I've been in Hawai'i for 3 months now....

And I haven't posted very many photos of the beaches/ocean at all!

What's with that?!

A really serious blonde moment?

Well whatever the reason, despite our lack of time away from the hotel, we do get away weekly and it usually does involve a beach...where else to try to just chill for awhile...?!

Recently, we headed back towards Hilo,

And stopped to see Black Sands Beach,

a.k.a. Punalu'u Beach...

Where visitors are greeted cheerfully...

...And yes, the sand is black...lava rock turned into countless tiny grains...

...Or not!  A lovely tide pool created on 3 sides by lava...

And very black sand in the foreground...

This type of lava (below) is called pillow lava,

for the way it flows into a pillowy shape...

...Last week we chilled at Pauoa Bay...

Where there isn't much sand... 

but plenty of white coral and black lava rocks....

A sunset just a couple miles from the hotel,

From the shore at the Outrigger Hotel...

The small beach where we saw the sea turtles...

We've been here twice now...

...But not matter how many beaches we visit,

We'll never master the art of ocean ogling

Quite like this lone 'ulili

a.k.a. wandering tattler...

Gotta love either name.

The pensive tattler was photographed on the sea wall at the hotel.
They arrive by August and leave for Alaska breeding grounds
In late April or early May.

Kolea, Waxbill, Francolin

The kolea, aka the Pacific golden-plover...the adults have arrived in Hawai'i from their Arctic nesting grounds...an August visitor...the immatures arrive in late Sept.  We just saw a few of these on Thurs. at Holoholokai Beach.

This neat little bird is a common waxbill, a native of Africa...they showed up a week or so ago, feeding on the grass seeds just outside our front door...I haven't seen them for a few days, was their visit that fleeting?!  Before seeing these guys, I saw a small flock of lavender waxbills just outside the front office area in a flowered bush...no camera available and haven't seen them since...they have pale gray bodies (prob look lavender in sunlight) with dark red tails and a black band across the eyes...

The gray francolin...introduced from India in 1958.  Saw this in a parking lot near a beach...the black francolin is more striking, maybe I'll get to see one of those too...no offense, gray!

Royal Poinciana...these tall flaming red-orange blossomed trees are sprinkled everywhere in Kailua on the Big Island.  I'm just throwing this in cause the trees are amazing and deserve mentioning.

Hualalai

Looking at the local map, Hualalai appears to be the name of the small beach surrounded by the Four Seasons Resort...open to the public, however.  We went there recently on the advice of hotel guests Tom and Perla, didn't stay long but had the beach to ourselves...

This lone black-necked stilt was wading in a small pond near the beach...

I've seen one in Florida but this is my 1st photo...it was too far to get a better shot...

Finally, sea turtles!  We came to this beach hoping to find sea turtles, and found about 5-6 resting on lava rocks near the shore...this one turtle was on the sand.  Isn't it the sweetest thing?!  Maybe it's Nemo's pal Crush! Or a distant cousin...

A Japanese white-eye!  It wasn't easy to get a shot of, moving around as it did.  The head is yellow.