I can no longer deny the concept of miracles as October has definitely had a number of them. From managing to pull off the haunted trail against all injury odds, the weather holding off long enough for almost all of our trail guests on the second night and the stunning fact that with all the happenings this month, we still managed to continue our self-enforced quota of 6 posts per month (with this post). A big help from Brad on that last one who has actually been on assignment himself practically this entire month. The date of the annual haunt is definitely the pinnacle of the year, but the national day of spook is just a small step behind for the year’s excitement. In honor of team orange and black, thought I would show you a few of the sights and sounds from our big event starting with this year’s recap video my partner in haunt Paul has once again created to memorialize the effort and provide an incentive for those that were unable to make it this year.
This is the direct link if the embedded video doesn’t work on your browser – link here.
Hit the jump to see a few more images taken before and during the haunted trail event.
We are inching closer and closer to the official date of my favorite holiday of the year. Although our huge 2-day celebration of the black and orange comes earlier (typically a month earlier), we still enjoy the national day of spook. Being rural we do not get any trick-or-treaters as the effort to go door to door far outweighs the reward. The traditional candy stalkers have gotten soft choosing to drop into the nice neighborhoods with full bar handouts or the drive through trick-or-trunk options at the local malls. Halloween is the night we jump into the car and seek out all the local displays to assess and get ideas for next year’s haunted trail. Fills our hearts to see so many houses still resisting the encroachment of corporate Christmas and keeping the scare tradition alive and well. In honor of October’s special day, thought I would feature a feathered friend that sports a touch of those traditional Halloween colors.
Hit the jump to see a few more images of this flamboyantly tailed Flycatcher.
I have to say, getting a couple of really good night’s of sleep in these last few days has felt really good. Two days of 8+ hours of sleep each when you have been living on 4 to 5 for close to a month feels like a vacation in paradise ha. Best of all, the ankle swelling is definitely subsiding which will please my therapist. Still some work to do to get all the haunt items put away and autumn always brings with it an annual list of homestead work (living in the woods is wonderful until the trees start shedding leaves and nuts), but there is some time while the props finish drying and no sense getting started too early on the leaves when there are plenty more to fall. That means I have some time to get some posts out before November comes calling. Continuing from the last post, we are back in southern Texas with a perennial favorite.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of rather colorful Oriole
Probably one of the hardest elements of putting on our annual haunted trail is the aftermath. During the prep and build out I am full of energy and excitement. A whirlwind of ideas, tasks and problem solving all rolled up into a giant orange and black ball. Then the party is just pure fun..well, after dealing with all the late hour gremlins that always find a way to test my wits. On the second night, the last of the guests leave, we power down the haunt and at some point my tired body is reacquainted with the bed. A day of rest usually follows thanks to a mysterious magnetic pull embedded in the very fibers of the pillow – someone should really figure out how to harness that power! Then the post party hangover kicks in. Gone is the pre-event excitement – it is grind time as everything has to be hauled back up into the out-building for drying and then the masterclass sessions of packing and organizing. Fortunately, “grinding” is my superpower which has served me well over the years, work, ultras and the draining work of unplugging everything, disassembling the props and hauling them out of the valley. That part of the work is done now and just waiting out the drying phase (you do NOT want moisture in your storage bins). While that is happening, jumping back into the blog work with today’s featured feathered friend.
Hit the jump to learn more about this interesting Falcon sporting the orange and black colors of the season.
We did it! I am proud to say the Haunted Trail of Fears 2025 is officially in the books. All that is left is to haul it all back out of the woods, let it dry and then pack it away until next September. It is practically impossible to add up the number of effort hours this event requires as it extends well over 10 months when you add in all the project planning, prop building, assembly and tear down. Add in all the incredible help we get (including my brother Ron who spends weekend after weekend down here leading up to the event itself). Long hours starting early in the morning and rarely ending before well into the next day. This is what we live for here at Life Intrigued’s Haunt Department so through it all we are wearing big smiles (unless absolutely too tired to make those muscles move ha). Overall, I can proudly say it was a great success. Rain did move in on us the last night, but all but two guests made it through the nearly a mile haunt completely dry (even the two who didn’t make it out of the valley until the rain started had a great time as the drizzle coming through the tree canopy upped the eeriness in the dark woods). I’ll be posting some pics and likely videos from the event in future posts. For today, Brad is going to bring you one of his adventures from the northwest while I try to give the body a badly needed rest before starting tear-down tomorrow.
Take it away Brad…(note, Brad is still on his latest assignment)
Regular Wildlife Intrigued readers may remember a birding adventure Jan and I took out into the Atlantic Ocean in unstable seas (here). We were chasing a “must see” bird; one of those “life” birds that are usually only seen on nature shows. You know the ones, where the producer has a huge budget and dozens of cameras and weeks and weeks of time to sit and wait for the money shot.
A year ago, we were on a 65-foot boat out in the Atlantic that was bobbing like a cork on rough seas (4-6’ waves) for almost three hours. I had taken a double dose of Dramamine and wished I’d taken a third. Jan was getting bounced around and bruised from the fiberglass benches we were seated on. I couldn’t see anything because of the zero-visibility fog we were sailing through. The sky was various shades of dark grey. I vowed I’d never get on a boat that was less than 500 feet long ever ever ever again when it is out of sight of land.
And I haven’t, except for a quick tender trip in Hoonah, AK, but that was for only 100 yards on flat calm water. The last ship Jan and I were on was 1,083 feet long when we sailed from Alaska to Vancouver last August. That ship had some great nature programs on board given by The Ship Naturalist Robert Raincock (find him here or here). He was very popular helping to point out various birds, whales, and pinnipeds (seals) as the ship cruised the Inside Passage south from Alaska. BTW, what’s the difference between a boat and a ship you may ask? We were told, in no uncertain terms, that ships carry boats. Clear enough to me.
Our morning started with a slow and careful cruise into Glacier Bay National Park. We wanted to be sure to see glaciers while we still have them; we were not disappointed (may be a future story). Margerie Glacier is one of the few glaciers that is still advancing in North America, even though it detached from the Grand Pacific Glacier in the 1990’s. This 21-mile long glacier is about 1.25 miles wide at the waterline and 250 feet tall. In other words, it is roughly 7 times the length of our ship and nearly half again as tall above the water.
Hit the jump to learn about our new +1 enjoying the Alaskan waters.
Things are really heating up on our Haunted Trail event. You are already aware of this, so no need to go into further detail on that – of note though, my pillow recently filed a missing person’s report on me. These are the days I regret giving up caffeine so many years ago. Fortunately for me, Brad was able to stockpile some posts to keep you entertained while we try to deal with the nasty clown infestation in the woods. Today Brad is bringing you another adventure from one of their favorite locations – Hilton Head Island. Note, Brad and Jan are back on assignment and will have limited access to respond to comments, apologies in advance for that. Suspect the Intrigued HQ is in absolute chaos with both of us gone (I’m looking at YOU legal department!). Time for me to head back into the haunt lab.
Take it away Brad….
As many of our long-time readers know, Wildlife Intrigued photographers constantly travel these United States to bring you the latest on birding, and sometimes, human behaviors. Jan and I have had a very busy photo assignment calendar these past couple of years. To show the extent Wildlife Intrigued will go to bring you a story, a year ago while on assignments, we saw both oceans buffering the United States.
Jan and I spent a few chilly mornings on Hilton Head Island on the Atlantic Ocean last February. I thought South Carolina is supposed to be warmer than Illinois in February. The afternoons all ended up being quite lovely. However, one morning, there was ice on the fence near the ocean at sunrise. After a brief shiver and then a short ride in our warm rental car, Jan and I ended up at a favorite place from prior visits: Fish Haul Beach at low tide. Time for a small sidebar to share what I learned about the names of various tides.
Hit the jump to learn more about this upturn billed featured feathered friend!
Wildlife Intrigued 
