Wildlife Intrigued

Not a Little Blue…by Brad Marks

We are knee deep in props at the moment, troubleshooting mechanical issues (number one skill required for haunts for sure), finishing up this year’s new additions and installing a small truckload of batteries (easily over 600 range). Thanks to immense help from my brother Ron, I dare say we are either ahead or minimally on plan – I am cautious as we are ALWAYS working it right up to when the guests start arriving (Brad can confirm). This year, Linda added in a two day break from the prep work for a little relaxation and that started today. We our now in St Louis to see our favorite band AC/DC!! (technically tomorrow night). Since the tickets were purchased nearly a year ago, we have been keeping our fingers crossed both Angus and Brian would make it to the concert date – only 24 hrs left to worry ha. There has been a front-band change as the Pretty Reckless was a late swap out for the Foo Fighters – technically a trade up in star power, but we were really looking forward to seeing little Cindy Lou rock it out (link here – yes, that is Taylor Momsen). While Linda and I enjoy the remaining hours before near deafness , Brad is going to take the helm and bring you another adventure from their trip Down Under. Take care everyone and “For those about to rock, we salute you!” (link here).

Every now and then when Jan and I are photographing birds, I’m certain I know what the bird is. At least I think I am. That’s the case here, sort of. However, I wasn’t even present when most of these photos were taken this time. Let me explain.

Jan and I had gone different directions while on assignment in Cairns (pronounced “cans”) Australia. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was one of my life goals. That is, until the marine forecast called for 2-meter (6 foot) waves and a very small boat. I decided to stay on solid ground and keep breakfast down while Jan decided to brave the 2-meter waves on the Coral Sea to go see the Great Barrier Reef.

The excursion catamaran took Jan to Green Island, about 27 kilometers, or 45 minutes off the coast of Australia perched atop the Great Barrier Reef. The sea was quite rough that day so Jan decided not to snorkel. Plus, she had one of our cameras, so snorkeling was really out of the question. Besides, we left our underwater camera at home for this adventure. (Small disclosure, we’ve seen and photographed many coral reefs in the past, and this one looked to be similar to the other ones, so I didn’t feel too horrible about missing it, even though it is the Great Barrier Reef.) Jan opted to leave the big glass (200-500mm) in the hotel room, in favor of the small travel lens (18-200mm) because it was a bit easier to handle and keep dry on a small rocking boat.

Green Island is only accessible by boat or helicopter. It is populated strictly by tourists during the day, or by a few lucky souls staying overnight at the resort. There is a small resort that guests would stay over for a night or two, a couple of restaurants and bars, and limited shopping on the small island.

There are no permanent residents. Most of the island has partially paved trails, some raised wooden decking, and sand beaches completing the circuit around the island. You can circle the island by alternating between the beach and the trails. Green Island is small enough (1.6km or about 1 mile circumference) to casually walk completely around in under an hour if you don’t stop to take dozens (or hundreds) of bird photos. Jan found most of the tourists stayed near the shopping areas and were not on the trails or the beaches furthest away from the pier.

The early prediction market odds are leaning to “you might get this ID wrong”. Take your guess, put your money down and hit the jump to see if you are today’s winner!

Bunting to First

By the time you read this, we will have officially used up all the available days in August. I am stunned to say the least… not so much that another calendar page has been torn off, rather we will be in official haunt month. I am sure my long-time readers (so appreciative) are likely bored of hearing about our haunted trail and the effort it takes to get that built, put on for two days, and then torn down every year. It is truly the pinnacle for our year and a culmination of all the prop building and preparation that occur through the entirety of the year. Unfortunately, the “fun” times give way to full on stress when we get to this point as the project plan needs updating hourly the weather forecast is constantly fretted over and “overwhelmed” becomes the word of the day. All of this is really just context to let you know I will be stepping away from the Internet most of September as a result. Fear not, Intrigued will continue to bring you content with the help of Brad and Jan who will be going to bat in my absence. Truth is I have been saving up their adventures to this point knowing this was on the horizon (note, they also just returned from another exciting adventure in the field).

Since our power hitters are coming on deck, thought the perfect strategy would be to “Bunt” my way to first (of the month ha).

Lark Bunting found at Lorsburg, NM Welcome Center in March 2025

No mistaking that bill for a member of the Bunting family. Hit the jump and we will introduce you to a new featured feathered friend making its debut on the wild side of Intrigued.

Location, Location, Location

It is going to be close, but I think we are just barely going to get in under the wire to meet our self-imposed monthly post quota. Our streak is well over a decade and not willing to just throw all that effort away because of something trivial like lack of sleep ha. That and I don’t want to add “another” blemish to my performance this year with annual reviews just around the corner. Due to the short spacing between this and the last post, not really much to highlight as far as activities go with the exception I hit the 18 mile mark on my trail training today. I am feeling (a LOT) better about my conditioning now as that only puts me 7 miles short of the max training distance target – already at the 50+ mile mark for weekly mileage. Should be able to cover that remaining training distance in the next month assuming I can break away from the haunted trail for some good hard runs. The rest of the race distance is just a matter of grinding/gutting it out and that is exactly how I feel about today’s featured feathered friend.

Cackling Goose found at John Ward Memorial Park, Amarillo, TX in March 2025

Quick, take your first guess at this species and we will check it after the jump.

Feathered Bowling Balls

As mentioned previously, we are burning the proverbial candle at both ends these days. My desperate attempts to squeak out at least 25 hours in a day has been met with immense…dare say galactic resistance. Pretty sure in response to my efforts the planet has retaliated by speeding up the rotation. The tasks on the haunted trail project plan are steadily being worked, trail training has become interesting as the ankle has started to squawk as I get closer to the target pre-race goal (a bit concerning as that is usually only half of the race mileage) and later today we head to the doctor to get the results of Linda’s knee MRI. The struggle is real people ha! I know, I know, most of my stress is self-induced and almost trivial to what life can throw at you when you anger it. My running mantra grounds me on the trail and at home – “run the mile you are in” which leads is to today’s featured feathered friend sprint.

Eurasian Collard Dove found at Bear Creek Lake Park, Lakewood, CO in September 2024

Going with a quick(er) post today as I need to get back in the haunt lab – our new set of tombstones are being prepped for paint today and our 8′ gargoyle needs the final hardcoat on its new head. Brad and Jan are still exploring other worlds, but once they are back I’ll be leaning on them heavily to keep you entertained in my absence. For now, we will continue the “European” theme from last post ….after the jump!

Stumped Me

Howdy folks, hope you are feeling a little more rested than I am at the moment. We are closing in on this year’s haunted trail event and time is becoming a precious commodity. My brother Ron was able to come down last weekend and help get the trail season jumpstarted. We build/fix/buy props year round here at Intrigued, but there are always projects that are lagging for one reason or another – primarily due to nonstop rain lately. With the added help we can hopefully get those over the finish line before we transition into grooming the trail and preparing props for the haul down into the valley (fingers crossed it dries out from all the flooding). The event is the last weekend in September which is the earliest I think we have ever held the haunt. Something tells me I am going to wish I had that extra week from the previous years…also going to wish I didn’t have injuries on my left hand – middle finger knuckle has been “obliterated” and today I decided to see how much pain I can endure by absolutely smashing the tip of my pinky on the same hand – eh, “The show must go on” as they say ha. Just as a heads up, I will be “sparse” from this point on due to the extra time required for the trail..oh, and I still have that little ultra thingy to do in October, so any spare time will be pounding long miles out. Fortunately, I like the challenge…which brings us to today’s featured feathered friend.

European Starling found at Bear Creek Lake State Park, Lakewood Colorado in September 2024

I generally consider myself fairly decent in the field when it comes to these feathered creatures…yet this particular specimen..technically specimens had me stumped. Go ahead and take a quick guess at what you think this particular species is and I’ll see you on the other side of the jump.

A Hummingbird Misogi

Every have one of those to-dos that stares you in the face and it just hangs around and around and around? In my latest situation it was an item on my read list. It has been there since 2019, finally got it as gift this last Christmas and then dragged it on two long trips out west and managed to get through maybe 2 chapters at best. Got back, put it on my nightstand, said goodnight to it every night and promised to turn the pages ….the next night. Even more embarrassing it was about building good habits and breaking bad one. The book – Atomic Habits by James Clear (link here). In my defense, I was keeping up on his thought provoking emails in the midst of this (think he stopped sending those or I got dropped somehow through 2025). My summary, probably would have been more useful while I was still in the grind as my “habits” have shifted a bit and maybe honing them isn’t as critical. I do like the core principles, Make it Obvious, Make it Attractive, Make it Easy and Make it Satisfying, however, my big takeaway was his take on boredom . “Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference. Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way“. That rang absolutely true with me as I always tell people my superpower is the ability to grind in work (formerly) and sport (ultras). Overall, not a bad read, although, I would recommend first consuming my favorite book – Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter (link here) or Do Hard Things by Steve Magness (link here). Those two offerings pretty much summarize my long held outlook on life.

Steve focuses on developing mental toughness and Michael challenges you to participate in activities you have a 50% chance of absolute failure even with focused training (misogi)…and now you know why I do the things I do ha. Why bring all this up..well, because I am about to do something in this post that is hard, which I should make more of a habit of and yes, there is high probability of failure. Today we are taking on the female Hummingbirds!

Violet-Crowned Hummingbird captured March 2025 at Paton Center for Hummingbirds

Before digging into this, I found myself quoting Theron from 300: “This will not be over quickly, you will not enjoy this, you suck at female Hummers“…or something like that. Hit the jump to see the fruits of my misery ha.

Prairie Island…by Brad Marks

Eighteen years for the children of St. Jude….

Hi everyone, it’s Brad. Normally Brian writes the intros to one of my stories, but this time he’s letting me have a go at it.

Long time Intrigued readers know that Jan participates in the ultimate community-based fund-raising effort in the country: The 45^th annual St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run (M2P) to raise money for the Kids of St. Jude. In case you didn’t know, Memphis, TN and Peoria, IL are 465 miles apart. Why would anyone voluntarily run that far during the hottest week of the summer? It’s all for the kids.

The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN is the premiere children’s cancer research center in the world (my humble opinion). Danny Thomas (“Make Way for Daddy” fame) said that “no child should die in the dawn of life” and founded the hospital in 1962 in Memphis to treat, and now cure kids with cancer. Forty-five years ago, former Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy had “One Crazy Idea” to raise money for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis by hosting a running relay from Memphis to Peoria. In 1982, 21 runners completed the 465-mile journey raising $22,000.

Fast forward to 2026. This was Jan’s 18^th year participating in the Memphis to Peoria (M2P) Run. Runners leave Memphis about 11am on Wednesday to the thunderous cheering of hundreds, possibly thousands, of St. Jude employees lining the roadway. Runners then run, 24×7 relay style, back to Peoria over the next four days and nights. Two teams of runners, Gold and Blue, tag-team for eight hours at a time all the way back to Peoria. Jan is on the Gold Team. When she’s not running, she’s also showering, eating, helping in a chase van, and driving a motorhome to the next stop for the team along the route. This means precious little sleep time. Because of her spectacular organizing skills, she is able to eek out a couple of hours of sleep (literally only two or three) each day over the four days. As Mike McCoy is fond of saying, “it’s a fund-raising event, not a running event,” but you’d never know it by the number of runners that participate.

The M2P Run ends at the Peoria Civic Center with not only the 180 runners from Peoria (including more than a few former St. Jude patients), there are 35 doctors and staff running from the St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and another 2,000 or more from 33 satellite runs all over Illinois converging on the Civic Center to start the fund-raising telethon. This year set fund-raising records again. Not only did the M2P smash its efforts from the prior year with a record $1.9 million, the entire telethon (all of the satellite Runs, golf outings, talent shows, corn boils, lemonade stands, etc.) raised over $12.6 million dollars for the Kids of St. Jude this year.

Since 1982, the combined efforts from M2P and all of the satellite runs has raised over $101 Million for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; much of it from right here in Central Illinois. That’s what I call long-term, unwavering committed communities. This is what a community’s heart looks like when banding together to support Hope for children and families seeking cures.

Now that this year’s M2P Run has completed, the motorhomes have been returned to their respective rental companies, the runners safely returning home, and the confetti cleaned up, Jan can rest. Well, at least until next year’s M2P prep starts. As you would guess, Jan’s more than a little tired. She puts on a brave face when she tries to convince me, “but it’s a good tired.” I’ve made the one-night, no running required, bus trip to Memphis many times. Heck no, I’m not a runner; just a huge cheerleader for her. But I know exactly why she continues to run for the Kids of St. Jude.

For now, Jan is resting and recovering. BTW, in a couple days I’m taking her on a fabulous vacation so she can rest and recover in style. Shhh! Don’t tell her it’s also part of another photo assignment.

Take it away Brad. (that sounds funny coming from me)…

During retirement, Jan and I have taken up various activities besides birding. Shhh, don’t tell Brian, he thinks we focus on birds 24×7. We hike with a friend Trish when our schedule allows. While on spring hikes at a Spring Creek Preserve (SCP), I like to listen to the birds to see what’s out there. I can by no means identify all of them by their call, but I can recognize a call when it’s new to me, or the area.

The last few springs, usually from May to late June I heard a bird call that rises in pitch and accelerates the higher the pitch. At first, it reminded me of a staccato slide whistle, stopping to hit all the notes all the way to the top of its range. This song definitely stands out from the chirps and chips and warbles we normally hear on our hikes.

SCP consists of three reclaimed farm fields that have been allowed to go back to nature. Each is full of young trees and grasses native to the Illinois prairie surrounded by mature woods tucked into the folds of the river bluff. There are also plenty of hiking trails through the woods for all ability levels. We seldom have to worry about water in the creek separating the fields, but when it runs, it runs full.

In the first of the hiking fields next to the parking lot, let’s call it Field A (that’s its real name anyway), I can usually hear an escalating song. As we walk along, I hear it again. But by the time we’ve reached the end of Field A, I can no longer hear it. Hiking the path around Fields B and C, I don’t hear the song at all. Turning around, and taking the fields in reverse alphabetical order, C to B to A, I begin to hear the song again once we near the end of Field A by the parking lot. Taking out my trusty bird listening app, Merlin, it identifies the singing bird. But when I go to enter it into eBird later, it tells me it’s very unlikely to hear that bird at that location. Ever. One app says it is, the other says it isn’t.

Prairie Warbler found by Brad and Brian at Spring Creek Preserve

Talk about calling your [bird] shot, hit the jump to read more about this rather pretty rarity..so the experts say.

Just Waiting on a Flame

Nothing like getting in just under the wire. We’ve come to the end of another month or as we say here at Intrigued, officially HT-2 – only TWO months before the annual Haunted Trail event. We have been working hard on creating props, new power solutions and trail prep since we made it home from our western foray, but now the pressure really starts to build. Sleep is becoming a luxury even before mixing in this month’s stepped up run training cycle. I would liken it to being back in the corporate grind if it wasn’t so damn fun hahaha. Oh, speaking of a physical “grind”, the Intrigued family extend their best wishes for “happy feet”, clear skies, cool temps and emotional fortitude to Jan (and Brad) during their annual charity event. I will let Brad comment more on that at a later time – fingers crossed they are not getting the current downpour going on here.

Now let’s get to today’s featured feathered friend and put a wrap on this month’s colorful theme!

Anna's Hummingbird found at Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

Watching Hummers go passing by
It ain’t the latest thing
I’m just standing in a blind
I’m just trying to make some sense
Out of these Hummers that passing by
The tales they tell of nectar
I’m not waiting on a lady
I’m just waiting on a [male to] flame

Yes, I took some liberties on a classic song, but that was me in March of 2025. Hit the jump to learn more.

Bugle Birds…by Brad Marks

Wow, July is really “cooking” by – literally ha. We were spoiled with a few recent mornings/nights in the low 60’s but today’s morning run was a return to the humidity wall – the “feels like” section in the weather report shot to 106F degree by mid-day. To be honest, beyond the trail of sweat left on the pavement, I didn’t really notice the heat as I was completely captivated by today’s podcast selection. Not a big surprise as Mike Rowe’s ‘The Way I Heard’ It is a masterclass in how to find and interview intriguing individuals. Thanks to the distances I train at, I go through ravenous amounts of podcasts and interviews on some form of running, self-improvement, psychology, behavioral, technical and on rare occasions just something fun and light. The more thought provoking, the better or I might start thinking about what I’m physically doing and NOBODY wants that hahaha. At times though, something or someone about knocks me off my feet with an insight or topic that blows me away – today was one of those days. If you are curious, the name of the episode was Todd Rose – One Good Thing. He is the author of Collective Illusions – a book that was put on my wish list the moment I got into dry clothes. His company works in the “private” polling arena which attacks the blatant flaws in assessing public opinion. If you want to know what Gen Z is REALLY thinking, Todd is at the heart of the matter and it will absolutely surprise you. I will not waste print on the details, but if are interested have a listen on your favorite podcast service, Mike Rowe’s website (link here) or if you are not consuming while running, it is on YouTube (link here). There is one thing I know that is definitely not an illusion and that is Brad and Jan out in the field bringing you another great story from their travels afar. While I attempt to replenish the fluids in my body, Brad is going to take over and force birds to play the bugle for us…wait..is it play the bugle for the birds..hmmm, a classic from the Buggles (link here) or maybe just some happy Budgies singing (link here). I really need to start paying more attention at our weekly planning meetings.

In any case, take it away Brad…

On assignment in the Southern Caribbean (I know, don’t feel sorry for us) Jan and I had been riding on a tour coach for a couple of hours when we stopped at a secluded beach area. If my notes were correct, we had just stopped at Playa Kenepa Grandi on the island of Curaçao. The coach parking lot is a couple hundred yards from the beach and is elevated about 100 feet above the water. Getting to the beach itself involves a hike down to the water from the parking area. We only had about 15 minutes off the coach to stretch our legs and use the facilities, so a beach visit was out of the question.

After taking selfies with the beach in the background, Jan and I wandered to the right a little bit to see if we could find the bird Merlin was telling us was in the greenery. We left the pavement to walk a little way along the path when something bright orange caught our eyes. Merlin was having trouble hearing over the people and sounds of ocean.

There it is. I tried to get the camera on it, but it was gone already. Over there. Lifted the camera, but I was too late, again. This bird was teasing us quite a bit by staying inside the foliage on the edge of the cliff. Then Jan spotted an orange flash leaving the bushes and heading across the parking lot to the shady side of the greenery. Dang it, we missed our chance. We walked towards the shade (it was quite warm outside) and were rewarded with a bright orange bird sitting openly on a branch about eye level.

Venezuelan Troupial found by Brad and Jan Marks at Playa Kenepa Grandi

Now that is what I call a video (err, picture) star. Hit the jump to read more about this colorful find!

Keep Your Chin Up!

Howdy ya’ all! I have to say, it feels like a stress weight has been lifted as of noon today. Got through the anniversary celebration event earlier in the week and that all went very well beyond a bit of a let down on our chosen fancy pants dinner location – a LOT of dollars for a mediocre experience which is disappointing when you are ordering “market” priced entrees. Beyond that, a great day just confirming why we both said “I do”. That only left today’s physical to get through and then it was days primarily filled with training and prepping for the haunted trail (that is actually coming at bullet train speed). Didn’t know what to expect at the doctor’s office – late start to training, pushing to the edge in our humidity trying to get caught up, just got back from 2 months living in a tin can and in a battle since January to cut the weight from the sedentary ankle recovery months. A bit shocked, but every diagnostic test indicator came in excellent (some cases better than my peak performance years) and weight was 8 pounds less than last year – apparently rucking mountains, daily core work and limiting yourself to only two if not one meal a day is the ticket – a bit of work, but rewarding! Which brings us to today’s featured feathered friend.

Black-Chinned Hummingbird found at Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

Hopefully you have picked up on my featured theme as of late – Hummers. Like the last several training months, this purple chinned beauty comes with a bit of work. Hit the jump to read about the latest in this rocket-propelled series.

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