Mother Nature has decided I need a break from birding and has turned off the heater down here in south Texas. It has been 20 days of intense birding since the calendar turned and now officially at 179+2 provisionals. That puts me on par with our best Average Year back in 2023 (link here) and significantly ahead of our 2024 productivity (link here) – swapping the Texas and Arizona trips really hurt our numbers last year. Needless to say, plenty of new blog fodder this young year to take us well into 2027. In the midst of all the tin filling I completely forgot to announce the official start of our 18th year here at Intrigued. For all the staff, we’ll officially celebrate once everyone gets back from the field. Note, Brad and Jan are due back to the mainland soon, so get the place tidied up and stoke up the furnace.
Speaking of Brad and Jan, they actually beat me to today’s featured feathered friend.
Hit the jump if you are “Wren” for it! (the puns will continue until you beg for mercy ha)
If you recall, Brad previously brought us a post on their adventures at the Grand Canyon. While at Eagle Rock they came upon a Cactus Wren (link here). Brad is still working on getting his backlog up to Intrigued standards – read larger than mine so he doesn’t make me look so bad by putting out shots in the SAME year they were taken – the horror, the horror hehehehe. Wrenyhow, I finally finished processing all the shots from the January ’24 trip to Arizona right before we migrated south.
Sure enough, those tins were full of Cactus Wrens – which was a lifer for me. Last time I was in Arizona I was too young to bird and was spending my days chasing down Snakes and putting them back in the pit (link here). (note, it may have been frogs..my memory isn’t what it used to be). This particular Wren was spotted at Kartchner Caverns State Park outside Benson, AZ.
We were in the area to visit some dog agility friends that had moved out there to live full time in their RV. I had an incredible time birding the wash and scrub around the RV resort and hope to get back there on our spring trip. While there, our hosts recommended heading over to Kartchner Caverns State Park (link here) – they were members and could get us in for free. Did a quick check on eBird to have an idea what to look for and jumped in the car.
Unfortunately, our time was limited as we were heading to Apache Junction the following day. Opted to pass on the tour through the caverns as they also required reservations and didn’t want to deal with the hassle at the time. Our friends said it is a nice tour, so we’ll hopefully check that off next time. Instead, we opted to bird their hiking loop closest to the visitor center. Aaahhh, fond memories of being able to bird without dragging this stupid boot around going shuffle, KLUNK, shuffle KLUNK, shuffle KLUNK- imagine what my count would be today if I didn’t scare half the birds away just getting into picture range.
It was unseasonably cold that day and from that following day on the snow chased us all the way to Vegas – hmmm, beginning to think we are just cursed with the bad weather here in the southwest! Opted to take the short foothills loop just off from the visitor center, a ~3 mile moderately difficult loop that takes you past their campgrounds and then out to the wash following the Whetstone Block and the San Pedro Block faultline (link here). I will say ALL their trails seem to have a moderate to hard difficulty level to them, so be prepared to work for it if you plan on doing any hiking there. We made it about a mile out before turning back to warm the hands and ears up. Next time I’ll take the full loop with the Mountain View extension assuming the ankle is done with its petulant whining.
Birding was a bit weak that day, likely due to the weather, but we did manage to find this Cactus Wren specimen hanging out in the trees near the campground. Absolutely ecstatic that I could finally get a clear shot at this bird. In all my other encounters I was bouncing around like a spastic Warbler just trying to get a clean shot through the cacti and dessert scrub they prefer to hang out in. I also got really good looks at their red eyes – a sinister touch to the largest Wren in the US. For reference, the southwestern faring Cactus Wren dimensions in at 7-8.7″ where the more ubiquitous House Wren is only 4-5″ long.
Although larger and more full throated than the House, the Cactus still has that classic Wren “grinding teeth” call. Cornell refers to as 4 second attempts at a car that won’t start. Their calls can get downright buzzy whenever competition comes into the area. This particular one was content to balance across two twigs and watch the unprepared hikers navigate the limestone pathways. Clearly in the nonbreeding seasons or this extremely hostile desert dweller would have been attacking the crap out of us. Not exactly the cordial behavior you would expect from the Arizona state bird
Better leave it there to go make sure the waterlines are not freezing (yet). Hope you enjoyed another look at this feathered “Wriend” (trust me, there were plenty of puns I didn’t use ha)
Wildlife Intrigued 
Great photos! It’s so odd that the deep south is getting snow and a darn lot of it – what’s wrong with the weather?
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Usually I blame on “the curse” Linda and I have whenever we travel. I can’t even count the number of times that weather patterns have altered significantly when we visit another location – We joke that we need to start a service where people pay us not to go to their state so the weather doesn’t turn back ha. The good news is this weird storm had a larger breadth than down here in south Texas so this can’t be blame on us..well, I hope not hehehe. Appreciate you dropping in John.
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I suppose you are passing through micro-climates. 🤔😬
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Hahah – we like to refer to is a rapid progression through “seasons”.. a word that is apparently lost on a segment of the population these days.
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Beautiful photos of a Wriendly-looking fellow. Cold happens. The low was ZERO at our house this morning.
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Thank you Tim, if it wasn’t for the color differences you might be tempted to ID it as some form of Thrasher instead of a Wren – every species has its outcasts ha. We made it down to 27 last night and all the standing water froze (we took our water lines off to prevent any line damage). I definitely can’t feel too bad relative to the big fat Goose egg you got. We started our warm up today and hopefully by the weekend we might be up in the 80s again so I can finally get out my IL heavy pants.
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You certainly don’t want to thrash a Wren. 27 is darn cold for that part of the country. It was 6 this morning. Waiting for global warming to happen up here.
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Another topic not to get me started on. We are in the high 50s with a cold wind today. Got some good birding in these last two days and now sitting at 188 for the year which isn’t too shabby (48th ranking on the top 100 Texas birders). Going after two other birds I need hear tomorrow and then start then off to the last real stop on the trip before making the trek back – time has been going really quick even with the stubborn boot.
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Stupid boot.
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Das Boot anchor!
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Too bad you can’t simply pay $75 and have it removed.
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Shame the freezing weather is slowing your birding but at least one foot is nice and warm 🥶 😆😆🤭
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‘Wren’ching yourself away from the snow areas must be rough in those warmer climes if it’s following you two about while you are birding. Such an interesting bird. The tail is nice.
Previously lived in Louisiana and can’t imagine the snow that area is currently getting. But at least the cold is abating here. 20’s today is much nice than the -9 air temps (-25 with wind).
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Nicely played Jerry, nicely played. We missed the white stuff that fell down here, but the temps went to 27 last night and that wasn’t any fun at all. We saw clips of the snow in Houston, Galveston Island and all the way into the Florida panhandle – absolutely amazing. We took the counterclockwise path down here this year or we would have been right in the middle of that Galveston whitening ugh. Back home it is still downright cold, be we started our transition back to normal temps today – hoping in the 80s by this weekend FINALLY. We don’t drive all the way down here to put our winter clothes back in ha! Thanks for dropping in Jerry, appreciate it.
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Hahahaha, in truth you might think the “boot” side would be warmer, but the idiot who designed this torture device decided to have fun with its victims by making it an open toe so my little digits are mighty pissed off being directly exposed to these conditions (well, through a sock). Moved further west today and had a great day of birding as a result. Hope everything is going okay over there and Brad didn’t cause any issues during his recent visit!
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What a stunning bird – even for a bird named Wren !
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Hahaha, reminds of the old Johnny Cash song, a Boy Named Sue. This Wren ended up becoming what we refer to as the “Yellowstone Buffalo Effect”. It was a lifer the first time we saw on our trip to Arizona, but by the end of the trip we had had more than enough of them in the same manner that the first Buffalo you see in Yellowstone you are hanging your body out the window taking shot after shot, by the end of the trip you are wishing they’d just get the hell off the road! Good to hear from ya’ take care.
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Plushy, but with a certain watchful, if not dangerous look. I think, I will choose this as a role model.
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Excellent perspective Puzzleblume, I think you captured the essence of this Wren…or should I make that “wrenssence” ha. They are definitely attentive everyone around them. Hopefully you will adjust the volume down a bit as this species is a bit noisy with their stitching. Appreciate you dropping in and have an excellent rest of your week.
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They do wren-wren-wren, they do wren-wren …
Thank you for all the fun. 🙂
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Hahaha, perfect – I think we’ve created a Wrenpun movement!
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Pretty wren, love it’s patterns! I am presently ‘birding’ out my window with my bins and scope, too cold for me up here to trek out just yet!
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I completely understand knowing how cold it has been out there. We ended up taking the whole day of birding off yesterday just to hunker down in the RV while the thermometer was taking a long walk off a short plank – even broke out the extra heater to take the chill off the floor. Temps rose today on its way back to 80’s for the weekend so we were able to put in a good day of birding along the border wall today. Thanks for dropping in Donna.
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Don’t worry, the boot will soon be a thing of the past, and you’ll be glad you suffered through weeks of recovery. However, I’m going to say it probably slowed you down enough so you were able to capture this wonderful little wren. Jan and I have beat most of the jet-lag and will be able to start sorting photos very soon. Though technically, I’ll be posting some from last year in our next stories. Does that qualify for enough of a backlog yet?
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Linda is convinced I am actually doing additional damage to it down here and preventing it from properly healing. We shall see and if she is correct, I am in for a painful and extended “told you so” thrashing. The Intrigued standard for backlog is a minimum of 2 years so you have a ways to go before you officially qualify ha. Can’t wait to see all the new tins.
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The first pass through the photos is complete; they are all now tagged. Now I go through to weed out the poorest ones. Keep in mind, these are all from our smart phones…something about the best camera is the one you have with you.
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We here at Intrigued take all forms of evidence ha!
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Congratulations on a lifer!
A Cactus Wren is almost too large to be lumped into the “little brown job” category. But it still has that pugnacious “wren attitude”.
Sounds like you had an injury while I was away. Best wishes on a speedy recovery – which is never speedy enough for most of us.
Take care out there and I’m looking forward to catching up and keeping up on your birding expedition.
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First off, welcome back Wally! Right with you on the size of the Cactus – it is absolutely huge compared to our local Wrens at home, but you called it on the attitude – all that desert scrub must be giving it grit on the brain.
I know you and Gini have been going through some serious medial issues as of late that are far beyond my issue – basically dealing with a non-disclocated double fracture in my lower tibia (ankle) as a result of the 50 mile race back in October. Had a horrific turn on a rock under the leaves at mile 2 and the remaining 48 …let’s just go with “not fun”. The first orthopedic surgeon missed the breaks and proceeded to do more damage thinking it was just a “tweaked” ankle – got referred to another surgeon after complaining about the pain and that’s when the real damage was discovered. Put in a boot for the entire trip to Texas and will decided what to do when I get back – possibly more pins and a plate. More importantly, I hope the two of you are past or at least on the recovery side of your challenges.
Thanks for checking in Wally, I am doing a bad job of keeping up with posts, but I should be back on schedule once we make it back home.
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I love the Cactus Wren – such personality. The dark blue sky was a perfect background for all his crazy-quilt colors. His wide stance between the two twigs is just perfect – a strut worthy of Wrenry VIII.
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Hahaha, I think we started a Wrenment! Usually I like a little cotton in my skies, but you are right, in this case it does accentuate this monster of a Wren. He definitely has that Swamp Marsh stance. Appreciate you dropping in Sam – as of a couple of hours ago, we are officially out of Texas – a few more days and we’ll be huddled around the fire with Poodles draped over our shoulders trying to keep warm.
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A Wren in need, is a friend indeed. Beautiful photographs.
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Nice one Cindy! It’s a movement I tell ya’ ha. Thanks for the kind words and for stopping by.
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Nice images of the Cactus Wren, Brian. I have seen this bird only once during a trip to southern N.M. I had to find it in my field guide and was over the moon about a life bird I didn’t even know existed. These are the kind of encounters one never forget.
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Thank you Tanja! Apologies for the delay in responding, not sure how this series of comments got past me. So glad you got to experience one of these massive bodied Wrens – quite stunning something that big is in the Wren family ha. For the first time this last January, we were able to find these Cactus Wrens in Texas – true to the saying, once you find them once, you start seeing them all over the place. Thanks for dropping in Tanja, and again, apologies on the response delay.
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No worries, overlooking comments is something that happens to all of us.
I have had similar experiences with long-sought species, looking for them in vain for several years in a row, then seeing one, then seeing them everywhere (at least in their natural habitat). It’s a sign that we are becoming more aware as birders and I interpret it as a sign of growth.
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Good point, once we know what to look for and preferred locations, things seem to fall in place. Then there are the birds like the Pauraques that sit 3 feet away from you and you’ll never see them ha.
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