"Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Here is wishing you a very happy weekend ! I have been very busy painting lately, among other things; rather like the busy bee below: (Yes, I meant to repeat the word "busy" for emphasis!)
I took this photograph here in Hawaii of this bee inside a Cereus flower, otherwise known as the night blooming cactus. All of the photos on this post were taken by me; the videos are from other sources. If you are a flower lover you will enjoy the following video of time-lapses of flowers blooming.
This was taken from the Makapu'u Lighthouse on the Windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. It is looking towards Sea Life Park area and Makapu'u Beach and other beaches.
A waterfall at Descanso Gardens outside of Los Angeles, California. Below is a video of tranquil streams with relaxing music to calm and soothe you.
A beautiful nature video follows which includes soft music.
Sometimes we just need to stop, drop everything, and spend time away from our hectic schedules doing whatever it takes to relax and unwind. I hope the above photos and videos helped accomplish that with you. The funny animal video below will make you laugh out loud. We need lots of laughter in our lives to be healthy.
"Lift up your eyes on high. And behold Who hath created these things......" - Isaiah 40:26
My intentions for this blog was for it to be inspirational and primarily about nature. Perhaps some posts were more inspirational than others. I am going to begin, as of now, to have a special post on weekends to soothe and calm the spirit that will hopefully inspire you and also to include something to make you smile as well. The above photograph was taken not far from Jackson, Michigan, and the same is true of my other photographs shown here.
Even these fall flowers, some of which are fading and dying, can have a special beauty to them in this time of transition for them. Oh, how people ought to be the same way ! That they, when in times of stress and hardships, let the peace of God dominate their inner being and thereby reflect their Creator in what they say and do and in their calmness of spirit.
Below is a short video showcasing Fall color in Michigan.
Below are more of my photographs:
Have a happy weekend, everyone ! Below is a video that many of you may have already viewed, but I wanted to save it here so here goes...... This is guaranteed to make you smile, even laugh out loud. And a merry heart is medicine to the soul.
Good news ! If you read the previous post (scroll down) on Monday, June 15, 2015, you will see that some Red vented bulbul adults had built a nest on a palm branch that was dying. Right after I made that post, on Wednesday of that same week the palm branch fell off the tree. I felt so bad for the birds. I had prayed for a miracle to happen concerning the eggs/babies, like for the palm branch to miraculously not fall. I could not find the branch that fell and assumed it had fallen on a rooftop across from my paitio, which was directly below the dying branch.
The parent bulbuls began a flurry of activity for the next few days and I assumed they were building a new nest to the left of my lanai (patio) which was out of my sight. However, they seemed to be flying low and all their activity was more towards the ground. On the following Monday I was surprised to see a baby bulbul in my ficus tree on my lanai. !! I was so happy. My prayer for a miracle had been answered. Perhaps the nest had blown to the ground in a soft spot of some vegetation. There was no sign of any other babies.
The above photo was taken of my lanai from my living room window. I stayed off the lanai pretty much to give the birds privacy while they were occupying the area. My ficus tree in the background was where the baby bulbul first made its appearance and I watched the parents flit back and forth to feed the youngster.
Adult Red Vented Bulbul
This photo gives you a better idea of the bulbul's coloring, etc,. The previous photos of the adult bulbuls were taken looking towards the bright sky while the birds were in the palm tree and therefore did not give a good light to see details of the birds. They were not too shy when I sat on the lanai and took their portraits.
I am so glad that at least one baby bulbul survived. Below is another photograph I took today. The baby has a much stronger and louder chirp now than it did on this past Monday. Also, it can fly better and made it into the higher palm branches today.
Baby red vented Bulbul in palm tree
I am very glad I was wrong and that the adult birds were not building a new nest after all like I had previously presumed. . Life goes on. I love happy endings !!
Red Vented Bulbuls (pycnonotas cafer) are quite common on the island of Oahu. They are considered a harmful invasive species as they wreck havoc on gardens and fruits and causes over $300,000 damage annually to orchids here. There are several orchid growers on this island. Red vented Bulbuls eat other things besides flowers and flower buds; they also eat fruit and vegetables as well as insects and even small lizards. I took the photograph above from off my patio (they are called lanai here in Hawaii). There is a big drama going on above in the palm trees just beyond my lanai. See photo below.
Anyone familiar with palm trees knows that when they have orange and/or brown "leaves" that that means it is dying and will soon fall off the tree. Can you see the bulbul in this tree? A pair has built a nest on this dying palm leaf. It was green when they began the nest. Look below.
See the nest ? At this point I believe there are only eggs in the nest, because the male and female take turns sitting on it and there is no constant back and forth like there would be if the eggs had hatched and they were feeding babies.
I wish I could do something to help. I called the number for a bird/animal rescue place, and the woman said nature would just have to take its course, These were probably young parents and they will have to learn the hard way to build their nest somewhere else. Nesting season lasts a long time and soon they will have a new nest and new eggs.
The photograph directly above gives you a good look at the Red Vented Bulbul's nice crest.
I took all the above photos this morning while on my lanai. Later in this post is a video by someone else from You Tube, showing baby bulbuls being fed by the parents. I wanted to give you a little more information about this aggressive bird first. They are just a tad over 8 inches in size, and so far are found only on Oahu and the big island of Hawaii. They are an alien introduced species to Hawaii and were originally from tropical southern Asia, as in India and Burma and China and I believe Pakistan as well. The male and female bulbul look alike.
On Oahu there is also found the Red Whiskered Bulbul, which are a bit smaller and, in my opinion, a lot prettier as they are lighter in color.
I hope, after the nest falls , that "my" bulbuls stay near my area. I enjoy their beautiful songs and their comings and goings. They chase smaller finches and other birds away from what they consider their territory.
For a visual treat, a trip to Kualoa Ranch on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, is a must visit !
I have been there 3 or 4 times, maybe 5 times as I have lost track. It is a 4000 acre working ranch that was established in 1850 and is a sixth generation family owned ranch. Many movies as well as the Lost TV series have filmed on location here. For more detailed information visit their website www.kualoa.com . On their site they have some short videos with lovely scenery.
Entrance to Kualoa Ranch
The above photo gives you an idea of the size of the Koolau Mountains. Inside the center building is a gift shop and a cafe.
Great ocean view from one of the stops on one of the tour buses (or jeeps) at the ranch.
Beautiful teal blue or turquoise coral waters with the Koolau Mountains in the background. I took this photograph when I went on the ranch's catamaran boat tour.
A hut from a previous movie filmed at the ranch.
Another scenic overlook at Kualoa. I believe the foreground water here is part of the 800 year old fishponds . I can't remember too well if this is that area or not.
I have taken one of their large buses for tours, as well as their jeep tours that go more in the "jungle" areas. It's lots of fun and they stop for you to take photographs, but I also took some shots from the windows. The tour guides are very informative and make it interesting as you travel along.
This is directly across from the Kualoa Ranch entrance. Well, near there anyway. The island in the background is known as Chinaman's Hat, or Mokoli'i . It is a basalt islet in Kaneohe Bay and is about a 1/3 mile offshore. I have painted this "island" 3 different times.
Below is some bright color of a desert rose plant inside the ranch property.
For more photographs of Kualoa Ranch, please visit my artist blog
The Hawaiian Black-crowned Night Heron is very similar to those on the mainland and in other countries. For my blog post about this bird go here
The first video below has footage of the Nene , Hawaii's state bird, as well as other birds and various flowers. I thought maybe you would like more information about Nene shown here
Enjoy the beauty of Hawaii in these two videos!
If you view these videos, you will see they are not my own. I intend to post videos of my own soon.
"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the mind." - Luther Burbank
Double White Hibiscus
in Makiki (Honolulu)
White can be beautiful, because there are many subtle hues of colors in the color white when you observe closely. I agree with the quote above by Luther Burbank; flowers can make you happier and are a joy to have around. But I have always enjoyed beautiful things, in particular flowers and nature and lovely scenery.
Better than flowers being sunshine, food, and medicine to the mind is a close personal relationship with God and reading and studying His Holy Word. That is the best cure for everything, especially in trials and sorrows.
Almost Lavender Plumeria
Kaimuki (Honolulu)
Orchid Tree Blossoms
Honolulu
It is officially Spring now and I thought a blog post here about flowers was rather timely. Some of the flowers shown here are in the Honolulu area and photos of others were taken on the mainland when I visited there.
Water Hyacinth
Honolulu Zoo
Water Lilies
Ala Moana Beach Park Honolulu
Magnolia
New Orleans, Louisiana
I have only painted 2 magnolia works in my life. The first one was when my daughter was about 10 years old and she picked a magnolia blossom for me and it was beginning to fade to a pale beige shade when I painted it.....it turned out rather well even though it was not the pretty white you usually associate with a magnolia blossom. Several years later I completed a much smaller painting of magnolia blossoms and it got stolen at an art show in a mall. Maybe I better stick to painting other flowers.
Iris
New Orleans, Louisiana
Lily , Honolulu
Ti Plant in bloom
Ti plants are native to the Hawaiian Islands as well as the Philippines. I have one on my lanai here but it has never bloomed for me. They are quite popular landscaping plants here in Honolulu and elsewhere in Hawaii.
I hope you enjoyed this visit to my blog and I will post more flowers at another time. Here in Hawaii something is always in bloom because it is like Spring all the time. In the winter it gets a little cooler (especially at night) but not that much and it rains more here in the winter months. Hawaii is a perfect place for flower lovers to live !
