Magic Island, Oahu

It was a brilliantly sunny day at Magic Island Park and everyone was out enjoying the weather...

 Cruise liner and a fishing boat.  Never play chicken with a cruise liner!

 Ala Wai Yact Harbor, Waikiki and Diamond Head

Kamehameha Canoe Club

Green sea turtle sunning at the surface

What nicer place to get married than on the beach in Hawaii?

Java Finches on the Beach

Java Finch, also know as the Java Sparrow, Padda oryzivora, munching on grass seeds at Ala Moana Beach Park.  These little finches are quite gregarious, gathering in flocks of 10 or 20, as they pick seeds off of the grass stalks.  Their colors remind me of a tuxedo, or some sort of formal attire, with their shaply contrasted grey, black, and white offset by pink beaks and feet.

Nehu, Stolephorus purpureus, a Hawaiian Anchovy

Nehu, Stolephorus purpureus, a Hawaiian Anchovy, was used for bait in the Hawaiian Tuna Fishery, back when tuna were still caught by pole and hook.  Here, a large school congregates along the shoreline to avoid predation by larger fish.

Green Sea Turtle

Green Sea Turtle, taking a breath after browsing on seaweed on the bottom at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Honolulu

Honolulu from Ala Moana Beach Park. Sometimes you get the lighting just right. In this case, the setting sun had gone below the storm clouds, lighting up the beach and city in radiant light against the stormy backdrop.

The darker colored water is the reef that keeps the waves out of Ala Moana Beach, making it one of the favorite places for locals to swim. The turqoise blue water is the channel where there typically is a turtle or two swimming by. Those buildings are largely new, having been built in the last 10-20 years.