What is a winter beach?

During a geology course, at some time in my education, I learned that the sand, and the topography of the beach, shifts with the seasons. Beach explanation (includes the seasonal change)  Over the many ages of my life, I have spent many hours on and around beaches from “small kid time” on Kauai to teen years at Mission Beach in San Diego to recent years of walking and spending time on Oahu and Oregon beaches. Over all these beach visits, I had not really been aware of the differences in the beaches during the seasons.

Winter beach / Ala Moana Beach Park / March 2016

Winter beach / Ala Moana Beach Park / March 2016

Since starting this blog, I recalled this seasonal beach information and did start to notice some changes. I have been trying to document this through photographs of three local beaches. 

The most significant observation of change is that the beaches get narrower. There is less space to spread your beach blanket and to run around. This was even evident to me at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Drop off to beach / Sunset Beach / March 2016

Steep beach / Sunset Beach / March 2016

Another characteristic of a winter beach I saw was that the beach is less spread out and is not as flat. The sand is pushed up, or carried away, causing a steeper beach. 

This is evident at Sunset Beach where the step down to the beach from the walkway drops off and the beach itself is steeper.

Steep beach / Sunset Beach / March 2016

Surf and narrow beach / Sunset Beach / January 2016

The steepness of the sand / beach is also visibly explained by the waves themselves which you see in the wintertime. The rougher and higher surf causes greater erosion of the sand. Sand erosion discussion by Dr. Beach

Sometimes the movement of the sand is so severe that it even creates “cliffs” of sand as is most evident at Kailua Beach at the extreme ends of the beach. Granted they are small, but they are still noticeable. Maybe the "cliffs" are permanent!  

“Cliffs” at south end / Kailua Beach / March 2016

“Cliffs” at north end / Kailua Beach / March 2016

I remembered hearing about the severe erosion experienced, and documented, at Kailua Beach. I guess some of the severe effects were resolved over time by nature itself and the removal of some of the root-exposed Ironwood trees. Ironwood trees at Kailua Beach The presence of the Ironwood trees probably caused greater erosion. I think the actual presence of those trees at all would be an example of man’s intervention interrupting the natural progress of a beach. [After a brief search, I could not find any information about the origin of the Ironwood trees at Kailua Beach. I definitely know the Ironwood tree is not a Hawaiian native plant.]

As a side note, during my observations of Kailua Beach, and after noticing mounds of sand near the stream mouth of Kailua Bay, I thought the beach was having sand imported in but sadly sometimes it is the reverse! Using Kailua Beach sand

Some further questions that occurred to me are:

Do all beaches change with the seasons?

Are there more high tides during wintertime?

So keep “watching out for nature” and watch for the winter beaches to change to summer beaches!

“Spring is Sprung” - look to the trees!

When I looked up the origin of the phrase "spring is sprung," I found it is associated with New York, a poem, and newspapers. In the final analysis, its author seems to be unknown. Whatever the source, spring is officially here! (Astronomical spring dates)

Golden Tree / Aiea Heights Road / March 2016

Continuing with the theme of dedications for my blog, I am dedicating this blog to my dear, dear friend who introduced me to the idyllic home, and street, in and upon which we live. She was the heart of the street and an incomparable woman! 

Whenever I see the Golden Trees bloom, I think of my friend. When this friend retired from teaching, she revived the local chapter of Outdoor Circle and chose the Golden Tree to represent our Aiea chapter. While she led the Wai Momi Chapter, she carried out many memorable, and useful, activities and meetings. We were all enlightened, and honored, to be a part of her dream and regret not being able to keep it going without her. Everyone who knew her misses her greatly!

Golden Tree / Aiea Heights Road / March 2016

The Golden Tree is such an eye-catching tree with its vibrant yellow blooms that burst forth at this time of year and seem to glow against the blue, blue sky.  I also associate these trees with Easter and their blooms this year are perfectly timed for such!

Golden Tree / Aiea Heights Road / March 2016

I am very lucky to have some magnificent examples in our neighborhood. As a note, some people mistakenly identify these trees as Golden Shower trees.

The two other spring blooming trees I am highlighting are also deciduous trees. I think deciduous trees are such an unusual sight in Hawaii. Some people may not realize that we have deciduous trees here and / or which ones they are.

Plumeria just barely starting to bloom / Waimea Falls Park / February 2016 

The first deciduous tree is the prevalent Plumeria. I have mentioned the deciduous nature of this tree before when I discussed Fall in Hawaii. [October 1, 2015 - FALL] And now that it is Spring, the Plumeria trees are flowering! 

Plumeria in full bloom / Moanalua Road / March 2016 

Strangely, Plumeria trees flower along bare branches like the stoned fruit trees e.g. cherry and plum! I wonder why flowering on bare branches even occurs. It is especially puzzling for the Plumeria tree as it does not produce any fruit. Perhaps evolutionarily it did at one time.

Chinaberry tree, bare / Aiea / January 2016

The second deciduous tree is the Chinaberry. After a great deal of searching, I finally identified this tree! Identification source from another blogger 

Chinaberry tree, flowers / Aiea / March 2016 

Chinaberry tree, in flower / Aiea / March 2016 

As usual, I learned something new! I always thought the purple flowering trees around my house were Jacaranda trees. (This was based on my San Diego childhood memories of my mother and grandmother's admiration of the purple flowered Jacaranda tree.) I did begin to wonder whether the trees were in fact Jacaranda when I saw the star-shaped flower on the ground and then again in my up-close photo! So after much searching I found out that the Jacaranda flower is in fact trumpet-shaped! 

I used one of my trusted sources to confirm the identification of this tree as the Chinaberry tree. 

In the photos on-line, I also saw confirmation of this identification through other characteristics of the tree that I had noticed over the years. The primary one being the berry which forms. In the past, I observed that this tree and its fruit is one of the things which bring the Rose-ringed Parakeet 

[October 15, 2015 - Aliens!] to the valley near our home. 

Since it is not the time for berries on this tree, or fruit on the Strawberry Guava, perhaps that is why the parakeet flock is not around here now! As so often happens in observing nature, these seemingly unrelated nature facts come together! 

I will have to keep watching to see if the parakeet flock returns when the fruit begins to form.

As an aside of botanical interest, in my winter bloom blog [March 10, 2016 - Winter flower beauty in Hawai’i], I happened to highlight a number of flowers which are trumpet-shaped as is this week’s blog’s Golden Tree. They are all in the Bignoniaceae family. Source for the grouping of these plants This leads me to a question: Is there any significance to winter and early spring bloomers being in the same botanical family?

See if you can spot some of these unique and beautiful spring flowering trees that bloom in colors from white to pink to pale violet to glowing yellow! And as always keep “watching out for nature!”

On the beach (literally) in Fall and Winter

A few weeks ago, for the first time in my blog, I did a dedication. (March 03, 2016, Childhood nature memories revisited) It was prompted by my visiting junior high school friend’s awe at the simple crown flower. That made me think, are there others that have inspired a blog? Something came to mind… 

So this week I am dedicating this blog to another junior high school friend and her husband; she and her husband also came to visit us in February. (Having so many visitors in a month is yet another reason - “lucky you live Hawaii!”)

All through our time with these visitors, which included my friend’s sister and husband, they all kept talking about turtles. (They had been on a cruise that took in all the major islands; so this was a theme.) So on a touring drive here on Oahu, my husband thought, we have to take them to Turtle Beach (what we call it) but properly Laniakea Beach. 

When we walked down to the little cove area, there were three Green Sea Turtles up on the sand! [As an aside, the popularity of this beach, and the North Shore residents have led this beach to be frequently in the news. Article about one issue at Laniakea Beach]

Green Sea Turtles / Laniakaea Beach / February 2016

I had never seen that many turtles there. It is nice that so many large turtles feel comfortable at that beach! That made me wonder where they lay their eggs.

When searching an answer on the Internet, I found this great website about the group who watches over these honu! Malama Na Honu

I didn’t identify the turtles who were on the beach that day. Perhaps you can. Some of the turtles apparently migrate to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to lay eggs.  

Green Sea Turtles / Laniakaea Beach / February 2016

To maintain the turtle theme of that visit, my friend and I were talking and treading water at Kailua Beach, after swimming to the swim area marker. My friend called out for me to look. I turned in apprehension and there was a small Green Sea Turtle about a yard away! My friend said that made her trip. (I guess even more than the three turtles on the beach!) I have not ever been swimming at Kailua Beach with a turtle! I have seen many while snorkeling on Maui.

Monk Seal / Sunset Beach / September 29, 2012

Green Sea Turtle / Laniakaea Beach / September 29, 2012

When thinking about the three-turtle-sighting, with visitors, I remembered another amazing touring day when relatives from Germany came to visit. 

We took another North Shore trip and the wildlife came out in fine form for our visitors from afar. 

That was a great day for us too! We had never seen a Monk Seal (Sunset Beach) and then a Green Sea Turtle (Laniakea) in one day!

I think that all our other Monk Seal sightings in Hawaii have also been with family visitors. There have been a few more at Sunset Beach, three out at Kaena Point, and two occasions on Kauai; one was a mother and pup at Poipu Beach (2001). Also the only time I have ever seen a Monk Seal at Kailua Beach was with my sister!

Monk Seal / Kaena Point trail beach / December 2014 

Monk Seals / Kaena Point cove / December 2014 

So keep “watching out for nature” (especially at the beach) when your visitors come to the islands. You don’t know what wonders you may see!

Monk Seal up close / Kaena Point cove / December 2014 

Winter flower beauty in Hawai'i

I planned this blog earlier when I noticed vibrant blooms on plants / trees in early February. I know February is the end-of-winter month and I am convinced these plants must have burst forth with their blooms around that time. Why else, on a frequent run / walk route, would I have just noticed the showy flowering? Some of the blooms are continuing into March, the month in which spring begins, but these bloomers are starting much earlier than the usual spring blooming plants / trees.

Bauhinia / near Stadium Mall / February 2016

A number of the plants featured in this blog have special meanings for me. Two bring forth childhood memories and one brings to mind my early-move-back-to Hawai’i days. 

Bauhinia / near Stadium Mall / February 2016

The first is the Bauhinia (Phanera purpurea) or Orchid Tree. When young and living in San Diego, I remember my mother and grandmother noting this tree’s flowering beauty. As the two of them had both lived in Hawaii previously, I do not know if they appreciated / noted the plant because they were used to the flowering beauty from Hawaii. A new technical plant identification site

Bauhinia / near Stadium Mall / February 2016

The flower seen up close is exquisite and lets you see why the plant is commonly named an Orchid Tree. I was lucky to get some nice close ups - again just with an iPhone 6s! 

Bauhinia / near Stadium Mall / March 2016

This fourth photo shows how the trees a month later look less stunning as the blooms have definitely thinned out adding support to my recognition of these plants as winter blooming plants.

The next tree is the majestic and mighty African Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata). Of course, these vibrant orange flowered trees are ever-present and ever visible all over Hawaii. I will have to watch their progress through a year, because they seem to flower all year round. But do they? Because, in early February, as I observed the tree full of blooms, I noticed the presence of the natural world’s “squirt gun” but the absence of the little “boats.” 

African Tulip Tree / near Stadium Mall / February 2016

African Tulip Tree / near Stadium Mall / February 2016

These are the childhood memories I have of this tree. The “squirt gun” is the little yellow-green bulb which when squeezed will put forth a small stream. The “boats” were approximately three inch long opened pods which were brown on the outside and seemed so large compared to the flower from which the “boat” came. If you wanted to really use the opened pod as a boat, you had to search for one that was still sealed at each end. 

African Tulip Tree / near Stadium Mall / March 2016

If you look at the last photo, I noticed that a month later the pods were beginning to appear. (The pods are tall, green, and pointing straight up.) This later appearance led me to believe that the flowers would have developed seasonally (in Winter) as the pods were part of the progression of the plant’s life cycle of bud, flower, and finally seed pod. 

Flowering tree / Akatsuka Orchid Gardens parking lot, Hawai'i Island / February 2016

 When on Hawai’i Island, in early February, I saw this interesting flowering tree that reminded me of fruit trees blooming. I believe it is some time of cherry or plum tree. It probably does not even produce fruit as I know there are flowering plums (in Northern California) and flowering cherry trees (I believe the cherry trees for which there are Cherry Blossom Festivals in Washington D.C. and Japan). I did not take the time to identify the tree as it took me such a long time to identify the yellow flowering plant below. I have not seen this flowering tree on Oahu and only saw a few on Hawai’i Island.

Flowering tree / Akatsuka Orchid Gardens parking lot, Hawai'i Island / February 2016

Comparing the blooming season, in early February, to that of the continental United States blooming fruit trees, it leads me to hypothesize that all of the winter flowering plants I am highlighting, bloom here in Hawai’i in an earlier season due to our mild weather. Of course, there are some definite spring and summer blooming plants here in Hawai’i so that is why I am highlighting these plants as winter flowering plants.

Cassia glauca / near Stadium Mall / March 2016

Cassia glauca / near Stadium Mall / March 2016

This yellow flowering plant was finally identified as a Cassia glauca (no common name found). 
Technical plant identification site I see this plant often near roadways. As this plant was also developing pods, I believe that, like the African Tulip Tree, it began to bloom in “winter” and is near the end of its blooming season. It is yet another plant I will have to observe throughout the year to confirm my judgement.

As said above, it was difficult to identify this plant. I learned a number of things in the process:

1) The Genus Cassia is the same as the Genus name for the Shower Trees (which are not blooming yet). This in fact led to confusion in trying to identify the plant.

2) The Leguminosae Family is also called, or probably more scientifically called, Fabaceae. Technical classification website This is commonly called the legume or pea family and are vital for their nitrogen-fixing nodules on their roots. Nitrogen fixing

3) Leguminosae or Fabaceae plants are common in Hawai’i. I wonder why that is? This plant Family notably develop pods with distinct seeds within (not pods with fluffy seeds within). How many plants / trees in Hawai’i can you think of with pods?

The final flowering plant first started catching my attention when I first moved back to Hawai’i in 1989. I always noticed the beautiful waterfall effect of the flowers. They are quite vibrant and eye-catching as they appear along fences or walls. It is the Orange Trumpet Vine (Pyrostegia venusta). Plant identification

Orange trumpet vine flowers / Aiea Heights road / March 2016 

Orange trumpet vine flowers / Aiea Heights road / March 2016 

So see which seasonal flowering plants you can see as you “watch out for the nature!”

Childhood nature memories revisited

For four reasons I am dedicating this week’s blog to my friend (since seventh grade French class), Dorothée. She, with her family, included me in their vacation plans. She suggested we walk through “Aunty Coco’s Lei Garden” trail at Waimea Falls Valley Park. She listened to my childhood story about my memories of the Crown Flower plant. And finally, she marveled over the beauty of the “crown” of the flower. She made me see something I had not ever noticed before - the probable justification of why the plant was named Crown Flower!

Purple Crown Flowers / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

White Crown Flowers / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

My friend’s delight in the flower made me appreciate that simple flower which had only been in my mind as something common place as it served as the source for our homemade lei! [Of course, the expert lei makers make beautiful lei with Crown Flowers as noted on this tropical flower site.] 

And as in the past with my providential materialization of blog topics, what should I notice on my run this morning but Crown Flower plants?!? I already had a topic on winter blooming flowers picked out for this week but noticed, in full regalia - another winter, or early spring, blooming flower - the Crown Flower! [Thank you to the Aiea resident who planted Crown Flower plants right along the sidewalk so I had such great views and photos! All taken on an iPhone 6s - yay, Apple!]

The Crown Flower plant discussion this weekend and its consequent "appearance" on my run, re-reminded me of my childhood fascination with the Crown Flower plant as it hosts the Monarch Butterfly in all phases of its life cycle. So as part of my scientific nature, I decided to stop and look for evidence to see if my childhood memories were accurate! 

Growing up, we had kindly neighbors with plants in their yard. I know we used the flowers for lei but I don’t remember if I noticed, and learned, the Monarch Butterfly phases as I picked the flowers. I do remember seeing the beautiful vividly, yellow and black, striped caterpillars. I also remember the gorgeous jewel-like chrysalides or chrysalises; they were an incomparable pale green with dots of silver and gold. I remember “growing” those in a bottle and was curious to see if they were on the plant too. 

Monarch butterfly / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

As I stopped to investigate, I was first rewarded with the appearance of two floating Monarchs. They flew all around and their “dance” started my photo-taking session. Here was proof that the Monarch Butterfly did utilize the Crown Flower plants as I remembered! 

Monarch butterfly on plant / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

Of course, I had to see if there were caterpillars. I saw the holes in the leaves right away and then noticed the caterpillars all around. There was even one that seemed to be a younger caterpillar as it was small and pale. 

Caterpillar eating leaf / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

Caterpillar on leaf / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

Caterpillar (young) on plant / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

Then I had to look for chrysalises. I looked and looked but was not able to find the pale green jewel-like ones. I did find dark ones; perhaps they were ready to bring forth a butterfly. I was so excited to get the photo of a caterpillar preparing to become a chrysalis! 

Caterpillar setting self and dark chrysalis / Aiea Heights road / March 2016

The life cycle of butterflies and moths, and metamorphosis, is one of the greatest mysteries of nature!  The emerging of a butterfly from its chrysalis is used over and over symbolically as an example of great change. How can that large meaty caterpillar turn into a beautiful encapsulated green chrysalis? And then what happens within that chrysalis to produce a butterfly whose damp wings will slowly unfurl until it is strong enough to fly around as the floating butterfly? 

What a special joy to have here in Hawaii a wondrous plant, like the Crown Flower plant, which hosts the whole Monarch Butterfly life cycle! When you see some flowering Crown Flower bushes, stop to take a look at what you can find! 

And too what a joy to have the memories of “watching out for nature” even when young and learning about the wondrous Monarch Butterfly life cycle first hand. And finally, what a joy to have a friend who notices the inherent beauty in the simple Crown Flower and makes me, in turn, remember to look in a different way at the simple and common place!