Last day of the month and we are officially in the “bonus” round. Thanks to the additional time being sequestered in the den, this has been a highly productive blogging month. Believe this is the 8th post of the month which includes the two browser cache burning recollections from last year’s 2024 Haunted Trail Event (link here). I am incredibly shocked we are only a month and half away from the 2025 extravaganza. Note, we had to push it three weeks this year due to the ankle mishap. Might as well update you on that front as well. Thursday I was officially released from the 6 week no-weight sentencing. According to the doctor, everything is progressing as prescribed which is really good news. Apparently the massive swelling that occurs in the foot soon after releasing it from the air-cast is normal (quite the surprise). The original expectations of being released for “walking” fell a bit short though as he wants me to continue to use both crutches to assist the walking effort for a week or so then take away one of the crutches for a period of time before unassisted walking. Honestly, that seemed like a good plan based on the “owwww” that escaped my lips the first time I put the unprotected foot down on the floor. Physical therapy also started that day which brought some additional mutterings, but those came with a smile – that I can handle, suffering is kind of my game and honestly, what got me into this mess ha. I am looking forward to the pool work that starts soon. Only 4 more weeks and I am graduated to a brace and minutes after getting into that I’ll be out on the trail getting it ready to entertain our guests.
Probably not a secret, but my life is driven by goals. As much as I hated putting them together while in the grind, they are a cornerstone on the personal side. Life with purpose as they say. Before you ask, this commitment continues in the retirement years. One big goal to complete while laid up was to tackle the massive backlog of photos. Managed to get through the Texas March 2024 tins (560G) and over half of my Colorado September snaps. That trip just needs a few more hours of work and I will be current to 2025 (assuredly my long-term readers will be flabbergasted). Just to give you a taste of the newly processed Texas folder, thought I’d go with a fitting featured feathered friend immortalizing that rarely uttered word “Owwww”l.
Well, we will get to the Owl part in just a sec – right now you are basically staring at a hole in a telephone pole at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Linda, myself and about 30 other hardcore birders spent a good hour plus staring at that hole in hopes of getting a glimpse of what was to be a +1 lifer for me. Hit the jump to find out if we managed to get something in the tin!
…but before we get too far into this, a bit of a disclaimer. As mentioned, we are in the bonus period for posts. With every post every member of Intrigued family tries to bring you the best quality images we can in appreciation for your valuable time you so graciously invest in us. When we get beyond our self-imposed 6 post per month quota, we loosen the quality reins a bit in favor of a good story or a new lifer that didn’t get our best behind the glass. We affectionately refer to these as “craptastic”. Don’t get the wrong impression, we take many craptastic pictures…we just rarely show them to you hehehe.
Okay, disclaimers out of the way – these following shots suck. Thankfully we shoot in raw which was a lifesaver on this series as they were all taken basically in the last minutes of any light (warning, heavy digital darkroom manipulation ahead).
“Enough ‘yapping’ where the hell is the bird Bri!”
If you squint hard enough you will notice that hole in the telephone pole has been filled with the body of well, “something”. That something created quite a stir in the small crowd of people whose necks are now screaming out for Advil. We arrived there about 7:30pm based on some advice from fellow birding friends we ran into down the road at Estero Llano Grande State Park earlier in the day. Clearly the word was out as others had gathered at the wall located just before the main gate of the park – down the road from the visitor center and just before you make it to their first bird feeding station. There we sat/stood staring at the telephone pole that sits directly opposite that gate.
Our friends advised us to listen for the male to call from the nearby trees and then soon after the female nesting in the pole will emerge before taking flight with the male. I can’t say I actually heard the male call as I was not overly familiar with the sounds an Elf Owl makes. Normally, I do a good amount of research before embarking on a lifer hunt – for the rest of the Intrigued staff, don’t let my actions sway you from what the corporate training tells you to do hahaha.
Thankfully, there were others there that were familiar with the call and when detected, the murmurs started and they all came to attention. Maybe 5 minutes later, there was a shape in the hole and those with shutters got to work.
This is one of those times where the real reveal comes in the digital darkroom as the naked eye was struggling mightily to pick out the features. Snap, chimp, crank ISO, snap, chimp, lower shutter, snap, chimp, curse and start the cycle again. I wish I had Linda’s D850 which is fabulous in lowlight, but honestly, the D7500 with their new sensors did a pretty good job at the dizzying levels of ISO required for these shots – you can drive a car through that grain!
Much like the Bat Falcon hunt (link here), my heart was pumping. There are not a lot of Owls checked off my life list. The Barred Owls that take up residence in our woods, the Great Horned we see more frequently on our trips south (although one shows up from time to time in our woods much to our Eagles’ displeasure), the Burrowing Owl that has become a regular on our trips to Vegas and the Rio Grande Valley, the Short-Eared Owl we only see at Jocelyn Nungaray (Anahuac NWR), the resident Eastern Screech Owls at Estero and the National Butterfly Center in Mission (just down the road from Bentsen) and the incredible Snowy Owl that graces us with its majestic presence late December. I am proud to now add the Elf Owl to the list! Just need to work on getting you better shots which isn’t going to be easy for a nocturnal bird of prey.
Not many shots to present today …well, there were LOTS of shots – if you think these were bad eeesh. Let’s get you some interesting tidbits on this species before we get you on your way. This Owl was given an appropriate name coming in at between 4.7 and 5.5 inches with only a 13 inch wingspan per Cornell. They are the smallest Raptor in the world – Cornell gave a reference size of a juice box. Curious, I checked on the dimensions of the Pygmy Owl and they tower over the Elf, checking in at 6.3 to 7.1 inches. There appears to be two morphs with the south Texas variety having less rufous in their feathering. They are nocturnal hunters as mentioned earlier and defend their territory as a group, mobbing any unwanteds – clearly making up for their small stature with numbers. They are small, but those two razor tipped weapons they have under their butt are strong and deadly. The Elf is primarily a Central American species, but push up into the Rio Grande Valley, a patch in southeastern Texas and then heavily into southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona for the smoochie season. On the really intriguing front, Cornell mentions they will catch “Threadsnakes” and bring them back alive to the nest box. Talk about an odd relationship. Those snakes are said to munch on parasites which are deadly to their Owlets – “enemy of my enemy…” which probably goes without saying, a mantra that gets NO credence from Linda when it comes to slithery beasts.
Will put a bow on it there as I need to start another session of therapy exercises. Hope you enjoyed a (very poor) look at a new Owl on my life list. Take care everyone, see you again in September.
Wildlife Intrigued 
Nice spot that owl found. But the power pole must be a bit compromised. Still double-crutching it? Reminds me of when I worked for a friend at his garage many years ago, who had a 46 Ford pickup that had to be double-clutched to shift.
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Brad just informed me they reference this same hole and occupying species in the Big Year book (the basis for absolutely incredible movie). I find this really odd that in all the years of going down to south Texas, no one mentioned it to me before a couple of years ago – I need to reassess my bird friends ha. I am still double crutching it – hoping I get released to one crutch next Monday when I see the therapist again (the work in the pool begins). Want to know something funny (but don’t tell anyone or I will lose my man card) – Linda taught me manual transmission just before we were married. She had a performance clutched Plymouth Duster she drove the hell out of before moving to a Jeep Wrangler – then to a twin turbo Beemer. Don’t have to use it regularly anymore, but sure nice to know I can drive them when I need to. Thanks for coming by Tim.
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All our cars and my old Ford pickup truck have manual transmissions. When we picked up a car in southern France, the clerk said, “Oh, you are Americans. We have automatic transmission cars if you want to change.” I told her I didn’t know how to drive an automatic transmission car. That really cracked her up. I can imagine there are a lot of “Americans” who need automatic transmissions. What was funny is the car we got was a VW Up. It was a small VW you will never see in the USA.
We were driving on a road to the peak of Montagne Sainte-Victoire in Aix en Provence. The road had paint on the asphalt from the Tour de France. Even though the VW was named Up, it could not climb UP the grade on that road, which pro cyclists climb with out much effort. I had to do a K-turn without rolling the car and drive around the other side of the mountain on a road with lesser grade to get to the peak.
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Was there a pedal option for that VW to get you over the hills ha. So…in France, is the clutch on the opposite side of the wheel too (right foot)?
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I could have used pedals on the VW. Believe it or not, you drive on the right in France, like here in the US.
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Interesting, I guess France got one thing right ha.
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La merde arrive!
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Hahahahaha!
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Very cute little owl. Very intense stare at the paparazzi gathered nearby. Easier to fix grainy pixels than no pixels at all. Well done. Here’s hoping the next several weeks of graduated crutch independence goes smoothly . . . mostly for Linda.
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She was definitely making sure we all kept in our places before risking an exit. True, even a few pixels can confirm the check or assist in the ID – I wonder if there is a logarithmic curve related to number of pixels and ease of identifying a bird. So far dealing with the second phase – ironically, I have less mobility in this phase as I could cruise through the house pretty fast on the scooter. Now I have to work for it..not to mention the inability to really carry anything. Looking forward to the single crutch phase as I’ll have an arm free! Linda is just happy because I can take the dogs out now.
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Very good to hear mobility is improving, as may be the ankle. But now you can’t ride the scooter down the hairpin stairs any longer. I’m sure some website someplace has a calculation based on the resolution of your sensor and adequate pixel size of an image for identification. Six pixels is way too small, and that’s based on my old 10-megapixel sensor size. You’ll have to be careful once you give up the one crutch and pick up The Beast that you don’t tip over.
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I do kind of miss maneuvering the scooter around our “loop” on the first floor. I used to do laps in the morning just to get some exercise. Had my first pool therapy today and that was absolutely liberating. Felt tremendous to be able to do the treadmill and just walking in the water – been too long since I’ve been able to put any weight on that ankle and thanks to the water it felt like I was whole again…till I got out of the pool and reality sets back in ha. I have to say I am actually exhausted tonight – I have a long way to go to get back to ultra shape, that’s for sure. The birds are starting to migrate back through – I need to get over to Jubilee even if it is just to sit on their picnic tables and see if I can get some of those missed Warblers checked off – need 10 to get over 400! I am already working on a PVC apparatus that will allow me to go into Beast mode while still in recover – think Inspector Gadget meets haunt prop builder hehehe. Take care Brad – assume you are busy getting ready for your big trip.
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Go easy, but I don’t think that phrase is in your vocabulary. I may be able to find a few hours in the next couple of weeks before our big photo assignment to find warblers. Picnic table sounds good. I can see a crutch/monopod concoction to help with The Beast. Did you get all of the tire marks scrubbed off the floor from the hard cornering during your loops?
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Taking it easy is not one of my better qualities ha. I did get the scuff marks off the floor…but the dents from the stupid boot are going to take a hot iron to get out of the wood flooring. I can see light at the end of the tunnel now – once the brace comes off I’ll be ready to go!
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Nice find!
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Thank you Sharon. I was definitely getting a bit concerned as the minutes went by while keeping an eye on the falling light. She came out with just enough light to pull off some grainy shots before heading off to the night’s hunt with the hubby. Appreciate you stopping by and have yourself a great weekend.
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Happy Monday!
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Amazing how much I used to hate Mondays while in the grind…these days I kind of look forward to it as I can get to the hardware store (a staple during the haunt season) and basically have the entire store to myself ha!
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Retirement goals.
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What a thrill that must have been. I can’t imagine the camera settings, that really was low light. I just checked eBird, and there were sightings of an Elf Owl in Big Bend National Park in early August – looks like she might have been in a cottonwood tree. Your sighting at Bentsen – Rio Grande was in March this year? 5.5″ long… that’s the size of my (admittedly aging) cell phone! I was going to speculate that I didn’t think she could take on a hefty mouse, but Cornell corrected me – they eat mostly insects and arthropods. Thanks for sharing this great find with us!
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It was pushing the capabilities for sure – the images are actually still just a few shades above black and had to rely on the RAW to extract out the subject (lifesaver). This sighting was March of last year. I did not see it this year (likely too early in the year), but our time at Bentson this year was a but limited – that is not the place you want to be wearing a boot (for my first stint of recovery). I hobbled all the way out to the boat launch because I wanted a King and/or Green Fisher – got neither and started hobbling my way back when a birder friend I knew asked me to come along with him to see an Anna’s Hummer in the site manager’s backyard. He used to work at Big Bend and I met him while he was on a seminar at Conroe, TX. Really nice guy. He took the time to help Linda and I find the Brown-Headed Nuthatch and the coveted Red-Cockaded WP. Now he lives onsite and manages Bentson. Glad I could share and promise to try and get better shots the next time we find one of these cute Owls.
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Probably one of few bird “homes” wired, although doubt if there are any modern appliances in the nest. 😳😏🤭
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Hahahaha! I suspect she had it all decked out wiith a microwlwave and an owlven… in addition to the apparent live Threadsnakes they stick in there (I shall not speak of that to Linda, she still likes this cute Owl and that could change in a heartbeat. Take care Jerry and appreciate the drop in.
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❤️ 🙏
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Thank you! Appreciate you coming by and checking us out.
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🙏
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