Not a Bird

It has been a long time since I have felt birded out. No worries though as this is hopefully only a temporary state. This point has been reached thanks to several weeks of hardcore birding. Multiple days of birding while we were in St. Louis to start, followed by several days of birding the state park down the street and then two long days of birding with Ron over this Memorial weekend. On that note before I go any further, I would like to express our deep appreciation for those that are serving, those that have served, the families that support/ed them while they serve/served and most of all, those who lost their lives for our great country. I will ALWAYS stand and pay my respect for my father and the rest of the brave souls that fight/fought for the freedoms we enjoy. Ron and I spent the two days leading up to the memorial observation hunting for birds at Montrose Bird Sanctuary (Chicago) and Chain O’ Lakes State Park – Linda was running the boys in an agility show they were having close by in Spring Grove. Have to admit, the weather was fantastic for both those days and probably an understatement to say they were very productive. Not sure yet what Ron’s count is, but I crossed off 14 new species bringing me to 319 at the midpoint of the year!! All that birding has left me with “Warbler Neck” and thanks to the weight of The Beast I can scratch my knees without bending my legs. Followed that up with a mini-mini triathlon (10m bike ride, 1m kayak paddle, 5m trail run) before hitting it hard Monday with a 10 mile hill infested trail run. Today, legs are getting their revenge…which brings us to today’s featured non-feathered friends.

UV Lit Scorpion found at Estero Llano Grande SP in Weslaco, TX in January 2023

Hit the jump for details behind this glowy specimen and another leggy creature we came upon during this year’s travels.

In light of getting my fill of birds for the month, thought I would change it up and bring you not one, but two leggy specimens. Both are surprisingly nimble and for the most part, fairly secretive. This first one more than the second as we needed an aid to spot it.

Some of you that live in the south or happen to be familiar with desert life probably already know about this little trick we learned about while staying in an RV park outside Estero Llano Grande State Park. I’ve covered Estero a LOT in the Texas related posts – our absolute favorite place to bird along the Rio Grande Valley. Their volunteers are very knowledgeable and provide incredible bird walks. Linda was confirming the start time of those walks when she noticed they also put on night walks. That sounded interesting, but it sound like it was more geared to families/kids versus serious birders looking for night predators – Ron later confirmed this with a volunteer during the bird walk. The part that intrigued Linda and I is the description mentioned they would be looking for Scorpions and providing black lights to the kids. Hmmmmmm, wonder what that is all about!?!?!?!?!

Being a haunt aficionado, my tactical flashlights also have a UV mode (also good if you need to light up a home invader without giving away your position, but that is a different topic entirely). Ron and I decided to find out for ourselves what this Scorpion hunting thing was all about. Sorry for the lack of stills, but a) we didn’t know what to expect and b) well… it was dark ha. Fortunately, Ron did manage to get a short video!

In case the embedding doesn’t work in your browser, here is the direct link – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x89kYQx0mz0. How cool is that? At first, we were skeptical as the short walk to Estero didn’t pick up anything. As we started walking down the sandy path, we found them EVERYWHERE – on the path, on the side of the path, hanging out on the ground vegetation and even clinging to tree trunks. I definitely need to figure out a way to incorporate that experience into our annual haunted trail – just for the two nights, then they all have to leave of course. Absolutely amazing, although, this has definitely cured me of ever wanting to sit on the ground in Texas..day or night.

Today’s bonus leggy crustacean comes to you courtesy of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge located in Wakulla, Florida.

Fiddler Crab found at St. Marks NWR, Wakulla, FL in April 2023

According to their website, St Marks includes roughly 43 miles of Gulf Coast frontage along Northwest Florida. This was our first time visiting this 17,000 acre refuge and it didn’t disappoint. They have a very famous feathered resident we found by accident – there will definitely be a future post about that. Unlike that resident, these creatures were easier to find … a LOT easier as my quick guesstimate was a billion of these pinchies scurrying along the sand. Note, there is no scientific basis for that number so take that with a grain of salt – similar to any stats provided by politicians, pundits and media these days. I do know there are more than 100 in just the small spot I was standing behind the lighthouse at the end of the refuge road.

Fiddler Crab found at St. Marks NWR, Wakulla, FL in April 2023

From the best of my knowledge, these are Fiddler Crabs…or Sand Fiddler Crabs as there seems to be several subspecies of them. Key characteristic is mismatched claws that give it their name – like their playing a fiddle. Honestly, that is the part that creeps me out about these sideways walking creatures. I’ve found nature to be fairly symmetrical. When I can’t find a symmetry line, I get very uncomfortable…. like clown uncomfortable. Fortunately, the Fiddler doesn’t wear face paint so the flight reaction was kept in check. A Dolphin “colluding” with three Brown Pelicans to hunt the nearby waters took most of my attention. Managed to only take a few pictures of the pinchies. The first shot cracked me up – you might have missed that it has a David and Goliath feel to it thanks to the much smaller crab standing in defense in the lower right. The shot above reveals something I missed in the field. The Fiddlers have a glyph on the back of their shells – the Frog Warrior Clan or maybe an homage to Terrance and Phillip. Either way, pretty cool. Here is the video I took after noticing an endless line of crabs streaming out of a fallen tree.

As before, if the embedded video doesn’t work, feel free to use this direct link to view the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-teIqvJSLU . Note to self, add do not sit on Florida beach logs immediate after the do not sit in Texas sand in my book of golden rules.

Hope you enjoyed this quick break from birds to end the month. The good news is all the birding efforts have filled up my content hopper and Brad has a number of posts ready to go on his side as well. June should be another fun one.

55 thoughts on “Not a Bird”

  1. The scorpion looks like the same kind I find at night with the black light. Nasty critters! Having my home sprayed inside and out every 40 days or so helps a lot.

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    1. Ummmm, please don’t let Linda see that, please don’t let Linda see that, please don’t let Linda see that hahaha. We happen to like Vegas and the surrounding area a lot and often considered/consider relocating out there…If she finds out you have to deal with Scorpions IN the house, she might put an immediate end to that idea ha – actually she seemed less concerned about the Scorpions than the SNAKES that roam our woods. She has threatened numerous times to move if she ever finds one of them IN the house. Thankfully I’ve been able to successfully find and relocate the bold ones so far – sounds like you at least have a spray option. Thanks for dropping in John – good luck on keeping those scorps under control.

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      1. My sister Linda visited recently, she was so creeped out about the scorpions. I told her that I’d been sleeping in that house for four years and had never been stung. I’ve never seen a rattler in the desert outside the city either, but they are certainly there. Can you guys handle the 110-degree summer heat?

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        1. Did that sufficiently comfort Linda…guessing not ha. The worst temps we have ever experience in Vegas was 114 – it was so hot one of our door panels popped off in our car. That was a bit brutal, but for the most part we are conditioned here in the Midwest for the 100-105s – it’s our humidity that will destroy you. I always get a chuckle when the out of staters show up for our June/July races that haven’t been conditioned to it – allows us slower guys to catch up in the late miles ha.

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          1. Linda settled down but is still creeped out, it may be a bit until she returns! I remember too well the high humidity and how much more brutal it was living in Florida in the 90s.Current humidity at my place: 17%…

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            1. I just looked at our humidity here in the middle of IL and it is at 25% ..on its way to 75% by tomorrow morning. Still ramping up our temps for the summer months – currently 92 which will make tomorrow’s long training run real fun). Glad to hear your Linda is in the acceptance phase – mine would be a hard NO ha.

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            2. She’ll get past the scare quickly. I’ve been talking to my sister in Michigan, the 90s are back! You have the humidity which makes 90 feel much worse than down here where the humidity at my place is just 13%, 98 today, 100 Sunday and Monday. Come and feel the heat!

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            3. Yep, we head up to Michigan soon for an outdoor agility show and one of my main ultras is less than a month away – time to clear out the sweat glands, that’s for sure. With our without humidity, those high 90s and triple digit days can be dangerous – take care of yourself when you are out there riding and taking photographs.

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  2. Great scorpion video. I love scorpions and spiders and snakes. Oh my. Those crabs are fiddling around all over the place. Excellent photos and video.

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    1. Thank you Tim…Linda was right there with you until you pulled out the trump card with the Snake.. or as I like to say, the word that “shall not be said” ha. – surprisingly the Spiders and the Scorps don’t bother her, where admittedly, the Scorps did freak me out a bit..well make that a LOT. Those Crabs were definitely putting on symphony for me, all that was missing was a roof and a bunch of Greek dancers.

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      1. Is snake like “She who must be obeyed”? Did you ever see Rompole of the Bailey? I don’t know about Greeks, but I could see Dakota the Dancing Bear getting in on the action.

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        1. Yes! I am not familiar with Rompole and Bailey – did some quick searches on the web and found they have a large number of the shows on YouTube so I’ll try and check a few out (I did find the quote in a quick look at the Confession of Guilt video – too funny). Now Dakota is an obscure reference for sure – kudos – the David Allen Coe Pt II version came out when I was 9…even references one of my favorite folk singers Arlo Gunthrie (I am an old soul, brothers are a lot older than me and influenced my music choices).

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          1. Rumpole is hilarious in his curmudgeonly British way. I started listening to DAC in the mid 70s. He’s one of my favorite country artists. I had almost all of his albums. He has one of the greatest lines in “Need a Little Time Off for Bad Behavior”:

            “Well I’m up and gone at the break of dawn I’ve been workin’ like a regular dog
            To keep the woman and the lights and the water and the phone turned on.”

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            1. Hahahah, that is a great line! I always got my fill of British humor from The Benny Hill show – now that was a classic that could never have aired in today’s PC world.

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            2. I loved Benny Hill. When I needed some old ham readios tested I found a local dude who was quite interesting. He invented the radar devices the police use and owned the patent on it. I also learned he set up the a UHF station in Albuquerque in the late 70s. He put all his money in equipment and towers and didn’t have much budget for programming. He said Benny Hill was in one of the few program packages he could afford when he went live. He was the guy who introduced me to Benny Hill.

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            3. I was really too young to be watching that show, but it was absolutely hilarious (parents were not aware I knew how to manually tune the the series of pots that drove the channels on our TV console – apparently I was born to be a hacker ha) – I must say, you have met a lot of interesting people over the years Tim. If I ever met the guy who invented the cop’s radar device I’d slap him and ask him what they hell he was thinking heheheh.

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  3. I love watching the Sand Fiddlers come out & dance. It’s been years since I have been to the coast but, I remember their fun movements at dusk.

    The scorpion shot reminds me of living in Texas 2002-2011. After the building of a new bus/train station, I started riding the bus into downtown Austin from Round Rock. There were plenty of limestone seats, part of giant plant holders and decorations. One particular morning, waiting for the bus, I happened to look to my right and saw a small scorpion sitting next to me. I freaked a bit inside after hearing stories from co-workers about them surprising people in their homes (like hanging upside down on toilet seats and stinging). It just sat there so, I figured it was waiting for the bus, too. I slowly moved away.

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    1. Okay, that toilet seat visual is going to give me nightmares and cause me to break out in sweats every time I have to use a stall in Texas ha. I am impressed the freak was only a “bit”. I do not know much about Scorpions having been born and raised here in the Midwest, but by appearance alone they are automatically put in the “keep my distance category” – along with our vicious Possums. The first burning question I have is how do they carry their bus fare around and the second is whether you ever opted to sit there again after that experience?!?

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      1. Sorry for the visual. I had many co-workers share stories of scorpion encounters. Most are stirred up via new housing construction…ditto armadillos. The scorpions I saw at the bus/train station were only there for a short while…stirred up by the construction. Didn’t meet up with any armadillos, tho..

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        1. No worries…as long as Linda doesn’t see it ha! I always enjoy seeing Armadillos when I’m out in the field in Texas – Like Scorps, we do not have those here. Seem cute, but guessing that is directly related to how far you live from them…like Prairie Dogs, Beavers and our local nightmares the Chipmunk and the Muskrat.

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    1. Hahahaha, they are wonderful places to visit, – I just don’t recommend sitting directly on the open ground. Oh, and based on Vic’s comment, might want to pass on the Texas bus stop benches as well. I actually have the same rule here in the Midwest as I am not found of pulling those blood sucking Ticks off my body and now that some of the Deer Ticks are harboring Lyme Disease I try to be even more careful – neighbor got it a couple of years ago. My brother always makes me go first when we are birding in tall grass. Thanks for stopping by Tanja, definitely keep those places on your visit list.

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  6. 🤣😂 creepy is the word. Loved both videos! But seriously don’t like scorpions due to never getting a good nights sleep while on field exercises and sleeping in the sandy areas of Texas/Louisiana! Not a fan of them or rattle snakes! But, nature being nature they all have a job to do.
    Thanks for the shout out for all of us who have served and heartfelt thanks for remembering my fellow service members who have passed away while in the service to our government and country. Safe travels.

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    1. You are welcome CJ – we can never thank the brave women and men in our military enough. I can definitely understand your healthy dislike of Scorps and I can only imagine what it is like to have to deal with those creatures at night … and you can imagine the hysterics that would arise if Linda found a Rattler near where we were camping – I did find one behind our RV while staying on Mustang Island a couple of years ago. I chose not to tell her about it for several months after we left… maybe should have waited longer ha. Thanks for dropping by CJ.. I am sooo behind on getting to everyone else’s posts.

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  7. Hey there! Came across your post on the WordPress feed and couldn’t resist saying hello. I’m already hooked and eagerly anticipating more captivating posts. Can’t seem to find the follow button, haha! Guess I’ll have to bookmark your blog instead. But rest assured, I’ll be keeping an eye out for your updates!

    Thanks – TheDogGod

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  8. Totally cool scorpion shots and video. I never thought of trying out a flashlight with UV mode at night – might try it on bugs or flowers. So, how did you expose for the UV shots? Or were these all smartphone shots and videos? Incredible images, and creepy as all get out!

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    1. It was totally new and surprising to me as well. You would think with all the work I do in the UV space for the haunts I would have learned about that somewhere. I believe the species has to produce a chemical reactive to UV light – according to a few website I read, it is still a bit of mystery why the Scorps glow like this, but the best explanation I can find is they produce this chemical during the hardening of their shell which is why it is so effective – ironically, they don’t know for what purpose – science is cool ha! The Scorp shot was just a cell phone picture – my DSLRs hate UV light as it screws up their autofocusing for some reason. I have a heck of time getting pictures of our haunted trail at night because of it – cell phones seem to work great though. The stills of the Crabs are DSLRs, but those were taken during the day so no issues there.

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    1. I can completely understand being creeped out by these crusty creatures at any age! I probably wouldn’t have minded maybe seeing up to five or so milling around, but they were just pouring out of this dead log, even long after I had stopped the video – decided I was greatly outnumbered and got my but out of there – had visions of walking back to the Jeep and Linda seeing me with Fiddlers hanging everywhere off my body… I just shuddered a bit ha. Thanks for dropping by Lisa, hope things are going better for you.

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  10. I really enjoyed this post! It dredged up some exciting memories of scorpions in boots while backpacking in Texas and New Mexico. It also had the feel of familiarity as we grew up (almost literally) among the little Fiddlers on the Beach. (Good bait.)

    The only thing I couldn’t come to grips with was “Not A Bird”. Sigh. Maybe next time.
    (Hopefully obvious that I’m kidding. Sorta.) 🙂

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    1. Thank you Wally! With that visual, you know I will be checking my shoes from here on out when we are in Texas. I figured you had your share of them at least at the places you visit on your birding excursions, but sounds like even closer than that ha. I know, I know, seems like I’m slacking when I don’t bring you a bundle of feathers to enjoy – I do like to keep my readers guessing though hehehehe. Brad got us back on track with his latest, although I’m trying to decide what to pull off the queue for the next – for some reason I’m loaded up with Snakes and Lizards which I enjoy photographing, but I am absolutely horrible at identifying them. I also have all the shots from our April Florida trip…what to do, what to do. As always, appreciate you dropping in and joining the conversation…and thanks for the bait tip!

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  11. Really enjoyed the scorpions and fiddler crabs, Brian. Fun videos and I liked hearing the rest of the night life, the insects. I have used a black light at night while mothing, but I didn’t know scorpions lit up with them, so this is an excellent trick, thanks.

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    1. Thank you Jet! I didn’t know you could use UV light while mothing so I learned a trick as well. Even better, I can try that here at home and do not have to travel south to experiment – although, sheepishly admit, I am a bit leery as to what I will find when I go out into our woods late at night – some crawlies are best left unknown (like this massive spider that keeps showing up on our porch with 10 or more smaller versions hitchhiking on its abdomen – shine a light on it at it looks like it has 88+ eyes glowing back at you. Someday I should take a video of that monstrosity. Appreciate you dropping in Jet and enjoyed your recent GG bridge post, I get to learn so many interesting things reading your posts.

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        1. Not sure what it is yet, but it is perfectly free to roam as long as it doesn’t venture into the house where Linda draws the line…and that’s a HARD line when it comes to this particular specimen ha.

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  12. Learn something new again, who knew they light up like that. I saw one scorpion when we were in Texas, it was so tiny I almost missed it. 🙂 great video to see how it works as well.

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    1. It was pretty amazing Sandra, next time you are in Texas, or probably any of the southern desert states, give it a try, you will be amazed at how well it works – although it may give you seconds thoughts of laying on the ground down there ha. This is on of those times when video comes out so much better than the straight photographs – the UV light really messes with the AF on DSLRs. The Scorpion shot was actually a cell phone shot as well. Somehow I lost the naturally lit Scorpion shot when showed how well it blended into the surroundings versus the night shots. Thanks for dropping in!

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  14. I used to see Fiddler Crabs at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Sanctuary on Cape Cod. It’s been a long time so your video brought back some nice memories.
    I’ve never seen a scorpion as we don’t have them here in the Northeast…I don’t think.
    It’s nice to take a break from a much loved subject once in a while…says the guy who posts bullfrogs almost every week.

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    1. Glad I could bring back some good memories for you Steve! Probably count ourselves lucky the Scorpions have not made their way up through the Midwest and Northeast yet. I keep hearing horror stories of them hiding out in shoes- nobody needs that ha. We all have our photography lanes. I actually enjoy a good Bullfrog encounter, although it usually means I’m out battling with those vampire Mosquitoes and that gets on my nerves pretty quick…hmmm, any chance Scorpions eat Mosquitoes…now the wheels are turning!

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