I have to thank the weather gods as of late, nothing like waking up on a training day to temps in the low 60s. Basically for the past week or so I’ve had the luxury of enjoying cool temps for at least the first part allowing me to stretch out some of the longer runs. I have to be extra careful on the hot days that I don’t over-cook. My thermostat was severely impaired by a couple of unfortunate mishaps over my running career and now more susceptible to “going over the edge” so to speak. The impact to the body would be one thing to overcome, but worse would be enduring the scorn from Linda. I’ll still need more heat conditioning before the July ultra race, but for now focused on taking the legs to exhaustion and then pushing them again before they’ve fully recovered – little ultra-secret, you NEVER train for the full race distances (similar to marathon training), but we can simulate those hardship miles by training on tired bodies. Now, tired doesn’t mean injured so we have to make sure to keep those heavy feet ABOVE the roots of all evil! I was thinking about those careful foot placements on today’s run when this post topic popped in my head.
About now you are probably wondering what a Ruddy Turnstone has to do with trail running. As a general warning, there is a high occurrence of hallucinations and mental disconnects during long runs, so keep your expectations low – hit the jump and I’ll do my best to explain.
To be honest, it wasn’t so much the relationship with the bird that sparked today’s post. In retrospect, the fact I was running on various sized “stones” along the Illinois River bluff and without a doubt I was doing my best not to “turn” an ankle so close to race day could have subconsciously aided in the selection process.
The main reason was really where this bird was photographed and more specifically what it was standing on – wet granite. I’ve ran on all types of surfaces over the years from cement to sand and almost everything in between. For each of those conditions, there is a shoe specifically designed to meet that challenge. Choose wrong and you will either increase the level of effort or more than likely, find your ass on the ground.
The one condition I have not had to run on is smooth, wet and slimy granite. This is a good thing as I have zero clue on what shoe style works best in that situation. What I do know is hiking shoes can’t be the best choice purely by personal experimentation. Let me step back a bit (see what I did there, I crack myself up).
I happen to enjoy birding locations referred to as “jetties”. Merriam defines this entity as a structure extended into a sea, lake, or river to influence the current or tide or to protect a harbor or a landing wharf. I simply refer to it a way to get birders closer to waterfowl without resorting to skinny dipping (trust me, NOBODY and I mean NOBODY wants that – link here “like a frightened turtle“).
I have found that most of these jetties are constructed with massive chunks of stacked squarish granite. In some cases incredibly gorgeous pink hued granite that tends to distract from the fact these slabs are dangerous as hell and no human should ever risk traversing them – you have been warned. Now that the Intrigued legal department has been sufficiently satisfied, I have to admit that they are quite wonderful for birding, especially if you are into species like Egrets, Sanderlings, Peeps, Plovers and no surprise..Ruddy Turnstones who are drawn to the vegetation and creature trapping puddles/crevices. In addition, having access to the deeper water also provides better sights on Loons, Mergansers, Gulls, Pelicans and those rarities like the Jaegers and Boobies that might be enticed to take a quick rest.
There are actually three jetties in particular that I always try to visit at least once on our Texas winterings. The one featured in these shots sits on the far end of South Padre Island – south of the main Causeway and at the far end of Isla Blanca Park (link here). There is a fee to drive into Isla Blanca, but you can bicycle/run//walk in for free. In the last couple of years, they have had a Purple Sandpiper and a Booby – both of which I just missed. Regardless, plenty of Turnstones, Snowy Egrets, Brown Pelicans, Terns and cute Bonaparte’s Gulls to keep your shutter busy. This place happens to have the distinction of a nasty fall while I was out there with Ron, resulting in a nice gash on my knee trying to save The Beast from a hard impact.
My second favorite jetty is the North Jetty on Bolivar Peninsula. It sits just off the Galveston Ferry landing and a few miles short of the entrance to the Bolivar Flats/Audubon Shorebird Sanctuary (link here). This jetty has a nice cement path that was placed on top of the slabs for a portion of the way. That eventually stops, but then you can navigate the slabs yourself for an incredibly long distance. I’ll preface with the fact we have never had a problem on our numerous visits there, but admittedly it has a bit of a sketchy feel to it. A lot of trash in the area, pretty disgusting porta-potties and the shore area not maintained very well. What it does have is a ton of wintering birds. This year we saw probably 4,000 Avocets, and hundreds of Curlews, Marbled Godwits, Willets, Black-Necked Stilts, Pelicans (White and Brown), Plovers, and several Peeps and Sanderlings. There is also a good chance to see some Clappers if you are willing to walk out to the farther tide pools. This jetty is probably the most dangerous to walk as the slabs beyond the cement path are usually wet and full of algae making them especially slick. It is also more exposed to the direct wind currents which just adds to the chances of using your camera equipment insurance.
Lastly is the Port Aransas, Texas jetty. I believe they refer to it as the South Jetty area and sits off the I.B. Magee Beach Park. That is to the east of Robert’s Point Park if you recall my many previous posts from that location (link here). This jetty also has a smoother pathway for some of the distance, but like Bolivar, you will eventually have to navigate the potentially slick granite slabs. Probably the least of the bird sightings, but I always enjoy a stroll out to the very end. Sure, you will see your resident Turnstones, Egrets, Terns, Mergansers and plenty of Brown Pelicans smashing into the surf as you make your way out there, but the real delight is conversing with the fishermen along the way. Unlike the SPI jetty pole wranglers who like to pull the “I don’t speak English” card whenever you ask them a question, the Aransas anglers seem to always be willing to let you take pictures of their latest catches or answer any questions you might have about fish species, bait preferences and my “Holy hell, does that fish have HUMAN teeth!?!?” introduction to the Sheepshead (it does and it’s creepy!).
Whether it be slick granite or dicey trails, be safe out there. It just occurred to me if I could replicate the shoes that these Ruddy Turnstones use to effortless run along the jetties, I’d make a fortune and stealing the Hoka orange would go perfectly with the orange legs of the Turnstone as a marketing strategy.. the wheels are turning now!
Wildlife Intrigued 
Great photos Brian. I agree the legs are Hoka orange. You need to add basalt to your list of surfaces to run on. It can be slippery and surgical scalpel sharp. But the resulting views are amazing, even orange sometimes.
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Thank you Brad! I typically race in orange in homage to my Alma Mater and I tend to pick a similar color for my shoes – much easier with Hoka ha. Are you actually recommending I run on even more DANGEROUS surfaces..Linda says she wants to have a word with you.
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Is your insurance up to date? At least there aren’t many roots to worry about.
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For some reason Linda recently recommended we up my insurance…something about a difficult race coming up ha!
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And easier to spot runners in the weeds.
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So true!
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Beautiful bird.. Our jetties are made of angle iron and resemble giant jax that look like they are made to stop tanks on a battlefield. Slick granite is almost as bad as a tree root of all evil.
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Is your state expecting some kind of Normandy like invasion, holy cow. I’ve gone back and forth on which is worse to get tripped up by. The trees will trip you with their roots and then beat you to death with their limbs where granite will slide you off into the water where you’ll be devoured by sharks…tough call ha. Thanks for dropping in Tim, thanks for letting me know where to go if WWIII breaks out.
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They were definitely at war with the Rio grande back in the 30s and 40s. Between WPA projects and conservancies up to their usual no good, a lot of really dumb flood control was constructed along the banks of the Rio Grande.
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I can imagine.. as soon as I see the words agencies or conservancies I start to twitch.
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Absolutely. The Village sent Laurie’s parents a letter that they had 30 days to cut down a dead tree on their property or the Village would take them to court. I didn’t know it was against the law to have dead trees on your property in the Village. Laurie’s parents have 4 acres.
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Thank god I’m a country boy!
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We are rural. We are simply infested with Californians escaping California and bringing their stupid crap with them. You would think they would rejoice in having a few dead trees in the desert. Still, they feel the need to californicate with our village ordinances and spawn new evil laws that place people who simply want to be left alone under the prying eyes of the nanny state. We shouldn’t have village ordinances, as far as I’m concerned.
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We are fortunate to have really nice neighbors who pretty much keep to themselves until you need some help and they come at the drop of hat. For the most part our county is pretty laid back, but we are in a broke state with a tax evader as a governor who sent his family to another state so they wouldn’t have to deal with his stupid pandemic restrictions. Life would be better if we could just succeed from Chicago.
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Great captures as always! The season is young!! 📸
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Thank you for the kind words. Yes, the season is still young and lots and lots and lots of miles still to go to be ready for the events I am already signed up for. The good news is I get to spend all that time outdoors ha! Take care and appreciate you dropping in.
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Nice views of this gorgeous bird, Brian. Thank you also for the overview of your favorite Texas jetties. One of these days . . .
I was thinking all along that one could try to figure out how birds manage the slick jetties with their feet when I came upon your last paragraph. Good luck with that project. Reserve me a pair once you figure it out, please!
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You are quite welcome Tanja, I always like to share when I can and a small repayment for all the great locations you have introduced me to out in your neck of the woods. I am sure you’ll find a way to get down there and when you do, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll let you know about as many places I can to get the most out of your visit. I am excited about the “project”, we have a team of Intrigued staff already working up prototypes. Not sure if the running community is going to take to running in three towed orange shoes or not, but we’ll get you out several pairs to be our western marketing arm! … or should I say foot ha. Good hearing from you Tanja – hoping to get caught up on all my blog reading this week (so far behind ugh) as we head up north for a bit of relaxation and kayaking.
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Good luck with the marketing foot!
And have fun up north (no injuries, please!). 😊
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Thanks Tanja – thinking we might need to make a visit to the Shark Tank show ha. Is it really possible to truly have fun without the threat of injury…hmmm
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Truly great pics! Mesmerized!
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Thank you Charlie, appreciate you stopping by and the kind words!
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💛
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Thank you! Appreciate you dropping in and have a wonderful rest of your week.
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Looking cute! Great shot
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Thank you Priti, appreciate the kind words and appreciate you taking the time to drop in. Take care!
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🙂 read my book 😄
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I really enjoy watching the Ruddy’s as they flip over little stones, shells, and other detritus looking for snacks. You’ve caught their rich winter colors (including their orange legs) very nicely. Seeing them in their breeding colors is on my future list (I’d have to travel a LONG way north).
People who drive on very icy roads used to have their tires “siped”, which apparently means slicing across the surface diagonally to create hundreds of tiny diamond-shaped “feet”. Nowadays, the practice is less widespread, because tires are engineered for specific road conditions. I wonder whether you could take your shoes to a tire company with the equipment, and get your shoes siped.
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I have only seen them in their breeding colors maybe once or twice on our travels – as you noticed we tend to observe them in their nonbreeding digs while on our Texas trips. I had to look up the siping process – how interesting and apparently still being done today based on the mass of search responses I got back. I should try this on a couple of my old winter pairs – have about 50 used pairs sitting downstairs waiting for the next Halloween event – I use them on all my Haunted trail character props – (Brad can confirm). I like to say we have the fastest zombies terrorizing our woods ha. Thanks for dropping in and teaching me something new!
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Very nice photographs of one of my favorite beach birds. They are always so “busy” as they actually do turn over stones as well as shells hoping for a meal to appear. And they look good while doing it.
With your running on pebbles along the river bluff to slippin’ and slidin’ on slabes of granite, you truly are – A Rock Star!
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Thank you Wally! Yes, always fun to watch these Ruddies living up to their namesake. I mentioned to Linda you referred to me as a Rock Star…she responded with “more like a Rock Lobster..going ‘down, down ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” As much as she absolutely hates the B-52s, that must have really pained here to use that reference ha. Appreciate you coming by and say hi to Gini for us.
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Wonderful photos of the ruddy turnstone, Brian. It is a bit of a slog when the shorebirds are abundant in murky, slippery or unserviced areas, but in my experience it has always been worth it. I liked your description of the jettys and the orange Hokas are an excellent idea. Good luck in your upcoming run….
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Thank you Jet! You are absolutely spot on, as much as I dread the unsure footing, I always find something that makes it worth the effort – every time. If you ever make your way south, you might want to take a gander in those jetty areas. I am sure you have plenty of similar places out west and guessing those ocean waves are far harder to navigate than the Gulf wind produced ones. Appreciate the encouragement on the run – have a bit of runway still to train, but feeling good about the distance and the elevation – focus is now on getting heat conditioned – Midwest mid-summer heat is no joke and already got me visit to the ER once before. Smarter now so hopefully all will go well. Always smile when I see your comments Jet, take care and have a great rest of your week.
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