Author Archives: Sebastian Marquez

Snapshot: Native Tantalus tree snails

One nice thing about hiking on cool cloudy days is that it give you a better chance to see native snails. This little guy is an Auricullela minuta/perpusilla cruising around on a Cyrtandra grandiflora. There were even some on invasive … Continue reading

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Ko’olau Pride

I wonder if the Ko’olau mountains are sometimes taken for granted in the public’s eye. Thousands of people commute over and through the Ko’olaus every weekday for work or school. They are the prized “Mauka view” in real estate listings … Continue reading

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Extinct Megafauna at the Mall

There is a passion that I have which predates native Hawaiian plants. It’s one that I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about on this blog yet. Luckily this is Studia Mirabilium, the Study of Marvelous Things. With Pearlridge Mall … Continue reading

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Big Island Part 2: Giffard’s Hope

A few hours before flying back to Honolulu, we decided to check out Volcanoes National Park. With such little time, we could only afford to rush Kipuka Puaulu.

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Big Island Part 1: Darwin’s Leafy Rockstars

Whew! New apartment, new computer… sometimes life jolts forward in well-demarcated iterations. Heck, it’s even a new day now that there isn’t a new Harry Potter movie to look forward to anymore. In the midst of all this upheaval, I … Continue reading

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Radio Silence

Hi everybody, just letting you know that I won’t be able to update the blog for a while. I hope to be back up by mid-July.

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Adventures over the Misty Mountains

Now I understand, Frodo. No wonder your Fellowship would rather risk the Mines of Moria than the extreme weather over the Misty Mountains. This prolonged stretch of heavy rain and thunderstorms has curtailed many a hiking excursion, but this weekend … Continue reading

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Snapshot: Philippine Flying Lemur

Here’s a picture I took when I was in Bohol of a captive Philippine Flying Lemur (Cynocephalus volans). They are not usually active during the day but I was lucky enough to capture this guy while he was feeding. Look … Continue reading

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Getting to know your Hawaiian Lobeliads #13: Cyanea truncata

Cyanea truncata Conservation Status: Endangered Distribution: O’ahu (Windward Ko’olau gulches) Date photographed: 4/1/2011 Ease of viewing: Difficult *Identification: Form– Shrubs 0.3-2 m tall; stems unbranched or sparingly branched from base; muricate. Leaves– obovate, blades 22-60 cm long, 10-26 cm wide; … Continue reading

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Snapshot: Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters or ‘Ua’u Kani (Puffinus pacificus) are some of the most common seabirds here in Hawai’i. But seeing them amongst human habitation, well I just had to make a post about it. There are many nesting sites in the … Continue reading

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