Hello everyone! Going to let Brad have a small break from covering for me while I’m on the mend. Difficult enough bringing you the recent rapid fire posts, but having to deal with all the standard stuff around the headquarters is a daunting task without the added burden of keeping our unruly legal department under control – may have to up his bonus this year, but don’t tell him that. As far as an update on the surgery front, there has been a small hiccup with the transition from the surgical dressing to the surgical boot that has brought some unexpected discomfort (oddly more painful than the surgery itself). Other than that, surgeon says everything looks good. He also reiterated the “no weight for 5 more weeks” edict within earshot of Linda which threw a giant wrench in my well contrived plans – back to the drawing board. Seems like everything I want/need now is just out of reach from my crutches and scooter which is starting to annoy me – oh, except for my running shoes that are beyond just “out of reach” to the point I have no idea where the hell they are now. Linda’s devious I tell you, devious. Let’s see, pull up browser, type in H-O-K-A.com and get me some new sho…oh crap, here she comes…backspace, backspace, backspace, H-A-U-N-T.com, “Who, what, me!?! No, no, I’m, just looking for new haunted trail props” – this is going to be a long 5 weeks. Note, I did make a new haunt-to video which I’ll mention at the end in case you are interested.
While searching through the photo queue, I noticed something in one of the image sets that made me laugh in reference to my current situation. Perfect, welcome to tonight’s featured feathered friend.
Hit the jump to see a Northern Flicker characteristic I have never seen before!
Down three posts and coming to the end of July. You are likely going to get some rapid fire posts in large part thanks to Brad, as I am still working through the first phase of the ankle surgery recovery – I thought I would be keyboard warrioring it over the entire 5 week no-weight period, but so far, still getting adjusted to this boat anchor. Once simple tasks are turning out to be a test of my strength and/or will. I did absolutely laugh out loud the other day (something I needed). Last year I ran my last Bix7 road race putting a cap on 20 straight years of toeing that line (link here). Linda relayed a funny scene she witnessed when had made it to the top of the Brady Street hill (she opts for the walker option). A lady and her ~7yr old kid had just made it to the top near her when she noticed the kid was basically balling. The mother notices and responds “I am sorry, I didn’t prepare you mentally, physically or spiritually to make it up that hill”. I’ve been meaning to write a story on the mothership about this scene as it is shockingly antithetical to the manner in which Linda, my brothers and I were raised. That quote has been attached to my monitor ever since then. And there I was, leaning on my crutches looking down at the 6 inch ledge to our shower. That quote had a completely new and profound meaning hehehehe! Tasks are getting easier each day – dealing with this mentally for another 5 weeks is going to be tough. While I push through, Brad is going to “Let the Dogs Out (who?, who?, who?)”.
Take it away Brad…
For regular readers of Wildlife Intrigued, at first this story will seem like a departure from the norm, meaning no feathers. When you see what I have in store for you, forgiveness may be in order. Wildlife Intrigued does include all types of wildlife, feathers or not.
Jan and I were visiting the Wildlife Intrigued Rocky Mountain editorial staff (our daughter Allyson) when we found ourselves with a half day to spare. Shhh, don’t tell the bosses. A quick review of available birding locations revealed an obvious choice not very far from the hotel where we were staying. Nice save going birding in our free time, don’t you think? The other advantage of having a half-day free is that we could use our daughter Allyson’s Honda CR-V while she was working. It sure is nice to have the younger generation working to help support the older, newly retired, generation. Truthfully, other than camping or ski trips on weekends, her car does not get used very often and it seemed to enjoy being out on the road.
For those that aren’t familiar with the 2004-2006 model year Honda CR-Vs, they have built-in picnic tables as the floor of the cargo area. This is one of the best features EVER offered in a car for active people. Once you are at a camp site, picnic site, or ski mountain base parking lot, and have most of the cargo area unloaded, simply remove the cargo floor, extend the legs, and Voila! Instant picnic table. There is also a hole in the middle of the table if you have an umbrella (sold separately) for sunny locations. I’ve told the Honda people they are losing sales to younger buyers because they took this feature out in 2007. Honda, if you are reading this, put the picnic table back in the CR-V.
OK, back to the regularly scheduled story. After driving for about a dozen miles and only getting lost once or twice (not quite sure about map apps sometimes) we found our destination: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve (RMANWP). Yes, even the acronym is a mouthful. I know, the “arsenal” doesn’t conjure up images of cute furry or feathered things. However, that’s exactly what Jan and I found, at least the small furry kind. I’ll try not to overload our dear readers with cuteness. Fair warning: If you are susceptible to cute-furry overload, please only read between the photos.
We are serious, if you are overly sensitive to cuddly wildlife images…do NOT hit the jump … something tells me you are going to do it anyway ha!
As you can ascertain from this post, I survived the ankle surgery! Quite the ordeal, but Brad and I have two friends going through heart valve replacements up at Mayo right now, so comparatively minor in context. Just wanted to give a quick update as some of you had reached out. Unfortunately, once they got everything opened up, the doctor discovered the injury was worse than expected – not what you want to hear as you are clearing the fog of anesthesia. I’ll get more details during the followup. From Linda’s understanding, in addition to the multitude of expected repairs, the tendon was torn severely beyond initial assessment and strongly suggested those extra 48 miles in the race …..were not helpful (I’ll spare you Linda’s commentary, there might be delicate ears looking over your shoulder). Been some rough nights so far, but Linda is taking great care of me and Brad and Jan are keeping good tabs on me. Won’t keep you any longer as I know you would rather get to another adventure from Brad. Oh, apparently there were some comedians in the operating room as Linda found this when we got home…admittedly, I do laugh out loud every time I see it!!
Take it away Brad…
It’s not very often that Wildlife Intrigued photographers are at risk from their subject matter. Not often, but it does happen. Upon reflection, it does seem to be that Jan is the one that most often steps into harm’s way for these stories.
It was a lovely February day on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. By lovely, I mean clear skies and no rain. The temps, however, were hovering just above the freezing mark. Sea spray overnight had frozen on the fences and seagrass near our hotel on the ocean. Jan and I decided to wait until the temperatures were at least in the 40’s before venturing outside. Cold fingers and cold camera batteries do not make good photos.
After lunch at one of the cool breakfast/lunch restaurants on the island, we chose to drive to Jarvis Creek Park. You may remember Jarvis Creek Park from last year’s visit. The park includes a nice pond/lake (depending on your definition), nearly one mile of paved walking and fitness trails, clean restrooms, picnic areas, a fishing pier, and even a bike repair station. On the other hand, before you let the children run amok in nature, it also has alligators. We’ve only ever seen the gators close to the water in the lake, but nothing stops them from crawling up the bank to the walking path, except maybe the effort to get uphill. (see here for gators from Jarvis Creek Park)
But that’s not what this story is about. This is a story about a threat not from the water, but from the sky. Well, almost a threat in retrospect.
Jan and I had been wandering around the lake trying to photograph some spastic flying blue streaks (tree swallows) when we paused under the pine trees near the water. Jan was a bit further along, still trying to catch the tree swallows (future story) and I was watching a gator try to get down it’s first meal of the season. It was rather gruesome, so no photos here. We both paused for a second to give our memory cards a chance to catch up, when there was a minor kerfuffle from a tree near the water.
It is the final countdown and I can honestly say I am ready to get this over with. We are squeezing in a final dog show this weekend up north. Linda is trying her hardest to get the boys qualified for next year’s CPE agility nationals – actually delayed the surgery to get these last two weeks of shows in. Raven is as steady as always and Ruger is trying to make up for last weekend’s rather hmmm…scatterbrained performance. When he is on, he is ON, when he is off…good thing he is so damn cute ha. Ron and I were also able to get one last field outing in yesterday to close out the mid-year cycle. We are in the dog days of birding and pretty slim pickings at the cross section of the birds I still need and the winged ones that are braving the Midwest heat. Managed to notch a new +1 for the year bringing the Average Year total to a shocking 390! It has been a difficult road since that fateful day on Oct 12th (5:26am to be exact) and at this point, the ankle has clearly given all it had left (struggling to hold weight today). The real hardship is knowing that this is one of the big ultra race weekends of the year and I miss suffering with my peeps in the heat and hills out on the trail.
Today will be my last post as Brad will take the helm likely through the rest of this month and maybe beyond depending on how things go. Thought I would go with a final featured feathered friend that has also brought its share of frustrations over the years.
The fact you can tell that is a bird is in large part due to absolute luck. Hit the jump to learn more about a bird sure to bring a chuckle to all high school boys.
We are in the single digits of days before the slicing occurs. Honestly, I am more concerned about getting everything I need done BEFORE the surgery than I am of the surgery itself. At this point I am just trying to guess at all the things that could go wrong around the house while I’m in the official “no weight” for 6 weeks period. Do I have the parts available as I know Linda prefers to stay out of certain aisles at Menards, are the things I will need moved up from the basement or down from the second floor den, when should I put the water tank on the truck as precaution if our wells go dry and how many more practice opportunities do I have on the scooter and crutches for when Linda isn’t looking (tell her and you are on my bad list hahaha!). The good news is I already have a new batch of posts from Brad so there will be plenty of material to keep you entertained when the time comes. In the meantime, going to do my best to bring you some featured feathered friends that have been sitting in my queue for a while. Let’s start with one that also has that “Guessing” theme surrounding it.
Hit the jump to learn more about this rather difficult bird to ID.
Wildlife Intrigued 