Everyone involved in the Intrigued Industrial Complex is fully aware of our mission statement, “It’s all about the story, bonus if you get quality shots”. This is supported by two very important strategies: “If there are no shots, it didn’t happen” and “Nobody talks about fight club”. All new members have a two week beat in…sorry, two week class where they are immersed in our corporate strategy. We even have this guiding statement on our coffee mugs, above the corporate HQ entrance and even had it flown on a large banner behind a plane above our corporate retreats to Cancun. Note the past tense there, as those retreats were suspended thanks to what we quietly refer to as “The Incident of 2016”. Thanks to the Federales, that also caused a temporary adoption of a new mission statement “No Hablo Espanol, I Want Our Lawyer”. Sorry Brad you came aboard too late, those were really good times … and why we now have such a large attorney pool. I only bring this up as today’s post is a perfect example of story or image quality.
Hit the jump to learn about how today’s featured bird resulted in the second biggest scare of my birding adventures.
I need to set the stage a bit here to provide the full impact. Linda and I were on our annual trek south a few days before last New Year’s Eve. There was some added stress this year as I was currently short of my 2022 Average Year goal (link here). At the time I think I was around 5 short of 300. Hoping for a few more targets in a last ditch effort, we planned a different route to the Rio Grande Valley which took us through Waco – yes, THE Magnolia Market Waco. Win/win, Linda gets to visit the silos, I get a chance to check off the Harris’s Sparrow. That would be a lifer for me as well as putting me one step closer to the goal.
So we get there fairly late in the day, set up camp over at a nearby COE and run over to a place called Lacey Point which sits on Lake Waco. Light was draining fast and with it any chance of good quality shots. Fortunately, I just needed one good enough to say it happened (see strategy #1). Problem was, I was hunting for a Sparrow I had never seen before in the field in an area I was completely unfamiliar with. I didn’t see any real trails at the time beyond lower vegetation right out from the parking lot. That is where I noticed a number of birds flitting about the tall grass and low branches. I was off, I really needed that check. For the next 20 minutes or so, I wandered about weeds and trees trying to get any shot I could of the birds. Shots were too horrible to tell for sure if it was the Harris’s or a Grasshopper pulling my leg flapping around with two big leaves – will figure it in the digital darkroom – just keep snapping, just keep snapping. Meanwhile Linda was exploring other parts of the parking lot with Merlin hoping for an audio hit.
By now, shots into the undergrowth were coming out nearly black. Figured there was still a chance to pull details out of the Raw, but even visually spotting the birds was getting difficult. Managed to find a deer trail that took me up a bank and surprise, surprise right onto a fairly large fire road/horse trail. I looked back down it and spotted Linda still patrolling the parking lot near the entrance. I decided to explore it a bit more as it was brighter up on this trail. Heading further out, I was busy scanning the trees for any movement when I was met with a “surprise”.
Probably need to drill down deeper into the word “surprise” in this particular situation. Imagine innocently walking along paying no attention to the ground when a teeth rattling shake erupts from the side of the trail maybe 20′ ahead. Paired with this audio cue, a thick object rears out of the weeds, cocks back and holds its position. Ear muff kiddies am going to be honest, I nearly shit my pants. I have NEVER encountered a rattler before and was completely shocked at how massive that rattle sound was. Finally got my heart beat regulated and assessed the situation. It was big, it was a rattler and based on my limited Snake knowledge, likely venomous. The entire last 20 minutes was rapidly replaying through my head now with this added spice sprinkled in.
We were at a stalemate of sorts. I wasn’t going to leave until I got some sort of picture and it was bound and determined to keep me from getting a clean shot. I moved laterally, it moved slightly to make sure there was some weed or obstruction in front of its head. The rattler sound was still coming from the weeds some distance away which implied to me this beast was long. Desperate I gingerly bowled a couple of small rocks in its direction. That produced exactly ZERO reaction beyond a significant increase in rattle frequency and what I assume a much sterner look. What the hell, up to this point I thought Snakes preferred to keep their distance from humans – this one wanted to kill me and spit on my grave. Doubt they care much about their babies (purely speculation on my part as I live in IL – we don’t get the ones with baby toys on their tails). While weighing next steps, it hit me… where was LINDA!! If she saw me intent on something she might venture out to see what’s up. She sees this we are driving straight to Mayo Clinic, do not pass Go, do not collect your $200.
It was getting dark now and I was not comfortable playing Jim Fowler without a better background on these Rattlers. Need a phone of friend here as I am unable to confidently identify this specific species – I swear snakes are worse than differentiating juvi Sparrows. I would have to guess it is a Diamondback as the Copperheads do not seem to have that thinner lighter stripe in the bands. If you have a better ID, please let me know in the comments – will be greatly appreciated.
Time to get back on our featured feathered friend. As you can tell, I did manage to get shots of the Harris’s Sparrow. Oh, before I go any further, I have no idea why it is Harris’s and not Harris’. I never cease to be puzzled by the naming bodies. I had to pull this bird out of some pretty dark shots – all hail the savior RAW format. At the cost of quality, I definitely got visuals to properly ID this Sparrow – I’d hate to have missed it after the shock of that Snake.
The Harris’s reminds me a lot of the male House Sparrow (link here). They both have a black bib of sorts, but in the House that extends further down into the chest, where this Sparrow breaks up a bit before then. The black on the Harris’s then extends up to and back across the top of the head. They also have a pink bill vs the House’s black one. This specimen is in its non-breeding plumage which has a brown wash on the sides of the face and on the flanks. These will turn grey when they hit the frisky season.
I was surprised by the lack of texture in the back through the tail and the back of the neck. Many in the Sparrow family show a lot more barring in that area.
If you happen to be on either of our coasts, you will need to travel into the interior to experience this particular Sparrow. For a Sparrow, they definitely have a narrow range right down the middle of the States. According to Cornell, they winter in Texas up through Nebraska and then take the fast train up to the northern boundary tundra of Canada for the repopulation cycle.
To close out a couple of unique tidbits on this Sparrow from Cornell’s site. It is the 2nd largest of the NA Sparrows conceding size only to the Towhees. To be honest, they didn’t seem that big in the woods, but there wasn’t many other Sparrow species in the area that would have given me a better reference. They were definitely smaller than that beast of a Snake ha. Lastly, this bird was named after John Audubon’s friend Edward Harris (no, not Mitch Wilkinson link here). So it is possessive, which brings me back to the Harris’ argument.
Definitely long on today’s post. Apologies for that, but thought you might enjoy the side story (especially as compensation for the degraded shots). Take care everyone and remember…Nobody talks about fight club.
Wildlife Intrigued 
i was hoping to see a rattlesnake, and you delivered. It looks like a Diamondback, but I can”t be sure without seeing the tail. Did it have black and white rings like a raccoon’s tail? Or did you notice? They can be very defensive and it’s nice it let you know it was there. You should carry a snake stick so you can move rattlers into better viewing spots. Linda probably would not approve of a snake stick. Linda didn’t hear about your standoff, I assume. Cute bird, BTW.
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I kinda of telegraphed my topic more than usual on this one ha. I went back and I am definitely leaning to the Diamondback. I also just learned from another commenter (Sam) that Coppers do not have rattles on their tails – that completely surprised me which means that should not have even been in contention. It didn’t lift its tail up enough for me to get a good look at it and the “Inner Linda Device” she had implanted in my head on our wedding day put a quick kibosh on any stupid ideas of getting close enough to get a good look at it. “Bzzzzeeeepppp” – see, the ILD just went off when I read snake stick. Note, she just learned the full story when she read this post..”Bzzzzeeeeppppp, Bzzzzeeepppp”. Thanks for dropping in Tim!
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I thought you were joking about the copperhead rattles. No rattles on copperheads or water moccasins. Sounds like you in big trouble boy.
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Nope, a solid face-palm when I went back and checked the tail images on the web. I am definitely in big trouble, but in my defense I haven’t changed since we met so technically she still bought the product. By the way, do you happen to know where they sell those Total Recall extraction devices….
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I wish I knew. I could use a bit of Total Recall or at least a memory upgrade. Funny how we guys never change and women think they can change us. Women constantly change making it a real challenge for us clueless Cretins.
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Hahahaha – somehow my ability to get from short term memory to a microsecond past short term memory has been degrading ever since I retired. Linda has learned if she doesn’t start here demands with “Bri” I am likely not going to hear it and even with that the chances are slim hehehe.
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Great story B!
Don’t get much of a problem with snakes over here, we only have 3 sorts and only one is venomous. Like you I thought snakes would leg it (if they had legs) rather than face a human, this one obviously hadn’t read the book.
As for the sparrow, that is a neat bird and I can see a slight resemblance to a House Sparrow (like snakes we are short on sparrows with only 2 to our name).
My snake story. Very early one morning I was poking about a local coastal site. A Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella navevia) was reeling in a nearby bush. I stealthily crept round to get a peek of this elusive bird when I was aware the ground was moving slightly and emitting a hissing sound, I was stood on a group of Adders (yep our venomous ones)! Thankfully it was still cool and they weren’t yet active or my boots were keeping them pinned down!
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Thank you B.! You are right with me before this particular incident – assumed they would maybe take a few quick rattles as a warning and then quickly move along..nope! Most of our Snakes are non-venomous. Of all my encounters over the years, this is only the second time I’ve ever actually seen what I would call a dangerous one and that first one was just laying out in the middle of the road – easily seen – https://wildlifeintrigued.com/2014/07/20/wait-that-heads-flat/ Whoa there… I detect a plurality there with the ‘s’ – One is bad enough, but multiple…better hope I brought a change of pants if that ever happens to me ugh. How exactly do you extract yourself from that without getting a couple of puncture hole?
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Very slowly, backwards! As I said it was very early in the morning and they hadn’t warmed up (at least two, maybe more). A butterflying friend got hit this summer, just above his hiking boots, and had to have a course of anti-biotics. I always hope my boots are high enough to avoid this as adders only get to 2 or 3 feet long.
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I just hope if that day every comes for me, Linda is nowhere to be found or I’m going to have to limp back to the car carrying her! Linda did note, the inaccurate “only” in from of the 2-3.
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A better case for a large monopod I’ve rarely seen. Especially one with a hook on the end. Almost looks like you were close enough to have to manually focus The Beast. I sort of agree with Linda on snakes, especially those that can ruin your day. BTW, nice Harris’ (or Harris’s) Sparrow. Will this one need to be renamed too?
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I might actually have to agree with you in this particular situation. The fact that I was slogging through the weeds the entire time up to that point without a concern at all there might be something slithering about was front and center in my thoughts the entire time I was staring at it. I say we take a stand and go with Harris’ – Ron did some research and this might be an accepted Old World format, but we broke free of those reins a long time ago. This would be a renaming for a valid reason.
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Punctuation?
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Yes!…that I and hate double ‘SS’ thanks to a grade school speech impediment that will still raise its ugly head from time to time.
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Now the extra “‘s” seems to be acceptable for names that end in “s”, like my last name. Maybe the letter “s” has become so much less expensive now that everyone thinks it is acceptable to add to EVERYTHING!
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Ha, maybe they are being paid by the letter these days, or the AI generator they use to do their job these days needs an English lesson.
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Back in the day when we went on company trips, our motto was “What happens on the road stays on the road.” This was waaaay before Vegas adopted that maxim, so I get your reluctance to talk about the “incident of 2016”. The Harris’s sparrow is a beautiful specimen. I wouldn’t be able to tell one species of sparrow from another, so kudos to you for that. As for the snake, I would’ve been too terrified to even take the shot. I’m glad you got a picture of it as proof that it did happen. Have a good week.
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Now I would definitely consider working for a company that had adopted that motto hehehe. We are all sworn to secrecy on the “incident” and in some cases the staff had to take on pseudonyms or outright name changes to prevent future border crossing issues. Spend enough time around here and I bet you will absorb more bird knowledge than you think you do. Next time you are out in the field you’ll be rattling off names right and left ha. Brad would have been upset if I came back empty handed, but I will admit to having a slight case of the shakes while getting those tins. One eye through the camera and the other darting around looking for friends. Appreciate you stopping in.
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Great story, and wonderful shots of the Harrissss’s Sparrow. The low light on the sparrow really accentuated his colors, and he looks very nattily turned out in his Harrissss tweeds with orange bill and legs. The copperhead will shake its tail when disturbed, which may rattle against dried leaves or stems creating a bit of noise. But they don’t have rattles. If you heard loud distinct rattling, you had a rattlesnake, not a copperhead. Happy days!
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I see what you did there, very niccccceee. These were definitely heavily worked in the digital darkroom and thankfully the reduced images on the web make them look a little better than they actually are. You absolutely floored me with the comment about Coppers not having a real rattle. I immediately went and checked the web references and the post from my previous Copper experience (https://wildlifeintrigued.com/2014/07/20/wait-that-heads-flat/) and face palmed myself. Excellent catch Sam, I’ll never forget that in the future. Along with Tim’s opinion, pretty sure this is a Diamondback. Appreciate the assist. Really enjoying your SPI posts – getting us all excited to get back down there.
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We have some poisonous ones in New York. Even at the places I like to hike. Luckily so far no close encounters. Glad you avoided it.
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Most of the time I am a naturally loud walker so hopefully most of the nearby snakes feel me coming and quietly slip off to more isolated spaces. This one on the other hand had quite the nasty disposition. Here in the heartland of IL I have little to fear in the field (there is one that hangs out in the water) – sounds like I need to be a little more cautious up in the big N. I think this is a record year for me having to hurdle our harmless Snakes sunning themselves on the trails during my training runs. Appreciate you coming by Sharon.
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For us it’s been a banner year for bugs. We have had so much rain since June. We still hear the bugs at night. Have a great weekend!
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Cherish the water! I tell everyone that being out here in the country on wells, we can use water as currency ha!
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I know some places are suffering a lack of it. Not New York. Too bad there is not a feasible way to share it with other places in the country that need it.
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I think there is plenty of options for various states to look into before going the sharing route (like a real plan to capture heavy rains – talking to you Cali). Thankfully there was heavy snowfall this year in the mountains so hoping that addressing a lot of the issues come next Spring.
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Just a quick note, I am unable to make comments on your site anymore – just hangs when I hit reply. Trying to figure it out on my end as it is happening on multiple sights now (even mine when I use the post and not my dashboard).
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Just a quick note, I am unable to make comments on your site anymore – just hangs when I hit reply. Trying to figure it out on my end as it is happening on multiple sights now.
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Not sure why that would be. Maybe a WordPress issue?
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I am sure it is a WP issue. I think I have workarounds for most sites now using multiple browsers to get it done. Hoping there will be a browser update that will fix whatever is wrong.
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I get that happening on the phone constantly. The app has never worked well for me on the phone.
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I can’t stand that phone app beyond doing quick checks when others post. Actually as a typist the thought of hunting and pecking with the thumbs drives me nuts anyway ha.
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The old version before they made us switch worked better.
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Absolutely agree!
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Not to be too obvious. But rattle snakes make the rattle when alarmed and as a warning to whomever. They won’t “run away” if they anticipate danger. I also learned when living in West Texas that the baby rattlers are more venomous that the adults. Who knew !?!
And why press one’s luck? It certainly would have spoiled the start of a trip.
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I’m getting a little smarter every day Jerry. I didn’t mention it in the post, but we went back to that spot the next day for better shots of this bird – this time much more aware of my surroundings. When I got there, I saw a guy walking his small dog right past that very same spot – did let the guy know of my experience the night before – he was equally shocked as I was. Had no idea the babies were more lethal either so put me in the didn’t know category ha.
…..but can you imagine the story I could have told running back to Linda with a thick wiggly rope attached to my leg – we both would have been passed out in the parking lot. Kidding of course, I hear ya.
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Good photographs, those of the birds, congratulations.
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Thank you Tomi! A plus one on my life list and a good story to go along with it – I call that a great day in the field. Appreciate you dropping in and checking us out.
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Congratulations on the Harris’s Sparrow! Photos of LBJ’s are rare and precious things. Yours are great!
I reckon since I grew up with a healthy population of rattlers, moccasins and coral snakes, my modus operandi is to assume there will be one on each trip. Make noise when walking, step on logs – not over them, head on a swivel. If I spot one closer than 20 feet, back away slowly. Big lenses were invented by someone who encountered a rattler like yours.
Photos of a venomous snake are great. Bites from one – not so much. Be careful out there.
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Thank you Wally! Normally I try to bring you better quality snaps (the reduced images look a lot better than the full size ones), but in this particular instance I had to make the best of it. Good advice Wally, as I mentioned to another commenter, my head kept going back to the previous 30 minutes I was trying to be as quiet as possible moving through the brush and weeds to keep the birds from getting spooked. At least during my trail running I have my music or podcast playing without headphones just to give some advanced warning to whoever is coming at me (typically bikes) with the added bonus of giving the critters a chance to seek more isolated places. The good thing is we learn from our experiences and I learned a LOT from this one!. As always, appreciate the drop in.
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