Hawaii

Grit, Gall, & Limpets

rain and salt

Makapu'u - O'ahu

Lanikai pillboxes hike at sunrise. The pillboxes are remnants from WWII.

Lanikai pillboxes hike - The two islets are the Na Mokulua (or the Moks). The one on the left has a beautiful cove on the north side.

Bird Island/Nihoa/Moku Manu is an uninhabited island home to a diverse array of animals and plants some of which are endemic species.

Turtle Bay frequented by green sea turtles

O'ahu

Approaching Bird Island

fragrant plumeria trees, leis, and lychees

Honolulu Zoo - Harriet the Linnaeus's two-toed sloth introduced me to her offspring that was born in April '15. (Top ten favorite moments of my life.)

Honolulu Zoo - A giraffe's prehensile tongue is thought to be dark in color to prevent sunburns as it feeds on vegetation.

plumeria | Kelly and I at a cove on the north side of Moku Nui - this area is also a popular hangout for tiger sharks and a slew of bird species

Ja

Bird Conservation

Mariana Islands

A brief visit from a micronesian honeyeater.  (It wasn't a target species so it was admired then quickly released.)

Hello, Tinian

UXO training - light reading

field base camp (photo by Fields of the Memphis Zoo)

cleaning and organizing transport cages (photo by Fields of the Memphis Zoo)

Kelly (bird curator at the Honolulu Zoo) and Peter (co-founder of Pacific Bird Conservation) set up mist nets

Reba and a collared kingfisher

forest reclaiming the runways

short flight from Saipan to Tinian (photo by Kelly of the Honolulu Zoo)

bird transportation

2015 target species: Tinian monarch and the bridled white-eye

releasing a rufous fantail (screenshot by Justin of the Toledo Zoo)

collared kingfisher and a juvenile micronesian honeyeater

Herb (co-founder of Pacific Bird Conservation) and Scott (curator of birds at Sedgwick County Zoo) extract birds from mist nets

California

Big Sur, Baker Beach, Muir Woods

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - Big Sur

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - McWay Falls - Big Sur

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - Big Sur

Baker Beach - San Francisco

Baker Beach - San Francisco

Baker Beach - San Francisco

Muir Woods National Monument - coastal redwoods

Muir Woods National Monument - coastal redwoods

Muir Woods National Monument - coastal redwoods

Travel

Get Up and Go

Alaska

Cuss, It's Cold

Eagle River Valley

Eagle River Valley

Eagle River Valley

moose

musk ox | bantha

Whittier, Alaska

Chugach National Forest, a "sub-polar rain forest" - met a family of black bears

Beluga Point at Turnagain Arm with Jessie (we grew up together in Italy) - Beluga can be seen from July through August

Anchorage | king salmon - I'm engrossed by pretty much anything

Eklutna - fireweed honey ice cream

Eklutna Lake - Twin Peaks Trail

Baltimore

Gardens & Libraries

Folly Beach

Hydraulics & Blue Blood

Edisto River

Blackwater River

Swamp Fox Passage

Palmetto Trail

Botany Bay

A Boneyard Beach

 I wanted to write something clever about the SS Botany Bay, but I decided I would just say: always check the tide schedule.