Nothing like getting in just under the wire. We’ve come to the end of another month or as we say here at Intrigued, officially HT-2 – only TWO months before the annual Haunted Trail event. We have been working hard on creating props, new power solutions and trail prep since we made it home from our western foray, but now the pressure really starts to build. Sleep is becoming a luxury even before mixing in this month’s stepped up run training cycle. I would liken it to being back in the corporate grind if it wasn’t so damn fun hahaha. Oh, speaking of a physical “grind”, the Intrigued family extend their best wishes for “happy feet”, clear skies, cool temps and emotional fortitude to Jan (and Brad) during their annual charity event. I will let Brad comment more on that at a later time – fingers crossed they are not getting the current downpour going on here.
Now let’s get to today’s featured feathered friend and put a wrap on this month’s colorful theme!
Watching Hummers go passing by It ain’t the latest thing I’m just standing in a blind I’m just trying to make some sense Out of these Hummers that passing by The tales they tell of nectar I’m not waiting on a lady I’m just waiting on a [male to] flame
Yes, I took some liberties on a classic song, but that was me in March of 2025. Hit the jump to learn more.
Wow, July is really “cooking” by – literally ha. We were spoiled with a few recent mornings/nights in the low 60’s but today’s morning run was a return to the humidity wall – the “feels like” section in the weather report shot to 106F degree by mid-day. To be honest, beyond the trail of sweat left on the pavement, I didn’t really notice the heat as I was completely captivated by today’s podcast selection. Not a big surprise as Mike Rowe’s ‘The Way I Heard’ It is a masterclass in how to find and interview intriguing individuals. Thanks to the distances I train at, I go through ravenous amounts of podcasts and interviews on some form of running, self-improvement, psychology, behavioral, technical and on rare occasions just something fun and light. The more thought provoking, the better or I might start thinking about what I’m physically doing and NOBODY wants that hahaha. At times though, something or someone about knocks me off my feet with an insight or topic that blows me away – today was one of those days. If you are curious, the name of the episode was Todd Rose – One Good Thing. He is the author of Collective Illusions – a book that was put on my wish list the moment I got into dry clothes. His company works in the “private” polling arena which attacks the blatant flaws in assessing public opinion. If you want to know what Gen Z is REALLY thinking, Todd is at the heart of the matter and it will absolutely surprise you. I will not waste print on the details, but if are interested have a listen on your favorite podcast service, Mike Rowe’s website (link here) or if you are not consuming while running, it is on YouTube (link here). There is one thing I know that is definitely not an illusion and that is Brad and Jan out in the field bringing you another great story from their travels afar. While I attempt to replenish the fluids in my body, Brad is going to take over and force birds to play the bugle for us…wait..is it play the bugle for the birds..hmmm, a classic from the Buggles (link here) or maybe just some happy Budgies singing (link here). I really need to start paying more attention at our weekly planning meetings.
In any case, take it away Brad…
On assignment in the Southern Caribbean (I know, don’t feel sorry for us) Jan and I had been riding on a tour coach for a couple of hours when we stopped at a secluded beach area. If my notes were correct, we had just stopped at Playa Kenepa Grandi on the island of Curaçao. The coach parking lot is a couple hundred yards from the beach and is elevated about 100 feet above the water. Getting to the beach itself involves a hike down to the water from the parking area. We only had about 15 minutes off the coach to stretch our legs and use the facilities, so a beach visit was out of the question.
After taking selfies with the beach in the background, Jan and I wandered to the right a little bit to see if we could find the bird Merlin was telling us was in the greenery. We left the pavement to walk a little way along the path when something bright orange caught our eyes. Merlin was having trouble hearing over the people and sounds of ocean.
There it is. I tried to get the camera on it, but it was gone already. Over there. Lifted the camera, but I was too late, again. This bird was teasing us quite a bit by staying inside the foliage on the edge of the cliff. Then Jan spotted an orange flash leaving the bushes and heading across the parking lot to the shady side of the greenery. Dang it, we missed our chance. We walked towards the shade (it was quite warm outside) and were rewarded with a bright orange bird sitting openly on a branch about eye level.
Now that is what I call a video (err, picture) star. Hit the jump to read more about this colorful find!
Howdy ya’ all! I have to say, it feels like a stress weight has been lifted as of noon today. Got through the anniversary celebration event earlier in the week and that all went very well beyond a bit of a let down on our chosen fancy pants dinner location – a LOT of dollars for a mediocre experience which is disappointing when you are ordering “market” priced entrees. Beyond that, a great day just confirming why we both said “I do”. That only left today’s physical to get through and then it was days primarily filled with training and prepping for the haunted trail (that is actually coming at bullet train speed). Didn’t know what to expect at the doctor’s office – late start to training, pushing to the edge in our humidity trying to get caught up, just got back from 2 months living in a tin can and in a battle since January to cut the weight from the sedentary ankle recovery months. A bit shocked, but every diagnostic test indicator came in excellent (some cases better than my peak performance years) and weight was 8 pounds less than last year – apparently rucking mountains, daily core work and limiting yourself to only two if not one meal a day is the ticket – a bit of work, but rewarding! Which brings us to today’s featured feathered friend.
Hopefully you have picked up on my featured theme as of late – Hummers. Like the last several training months, this purple chinned beauty comes with a bit of work. Hit the jump to read about the latest in this rocket-propelled series.
Greetings from the heat wall of the Midwest! Finally getting settled back in after our long trip – had to harvest my yard for the second time yesterday and finally appears to be tamed..for the time being. Along with the catch-up work around the homestead, the body had been quite upset its relative “time-off” from training is over. Back on the road now including two-a-days whenever possible. Typically there is a slow(er) transition to the high heat and humidity typical of the area allowing the internal thermostats to readjust and condition for the mid-year training and races. Being gone for two months, this has been an abrupt introduction and basically getting sweat-spanked on the outings even with the early mornings and darkness sessions. This is a bit tricky for me as you recall from my previous race posts as my internal thermostat is damaged, so I have to be careful not to go over that fine knife edge between training and…well, ambulance. Imagine running with Linda’s voice in your head “Make good choices!“. To my credit, I did pass up this weekend’s big ultra-race (CMAR link here) as hard as it is to admit, just not ready for that distance with the heat or the ankle – next year, no question as I need redemption for that last DNF.
Speaking of Linda, Monday will be our 35th anniversary and just over 37 years since we met on our first day of our new careers – fingers crossed our bosses and HR do not find out we are in a relationship hehehe. Joking aside, we did keep it a secret for a VERY long time not knowing what that might do to our work situation. You can say or training class was really close…we and the 15 other individuals in the training program were all sworn to secrecy – many of which are still close friends today in retirement. In honor of that first day I laid eyes on Linda decades ago, I thought it would be fitting to go with a featured feathered friend that I will also never forget the first time I met and equally beautiful.
How is that for a stunner of a Hummer? Hit the jump to learn more about this new Hummingbird on the lifer list.
Howdy everyone! As noted in my last post, I am officially home from our excursion through the West. There have been moments of pure happiness throughout my life, beating our competitors in the solid modeling innovation realm, passing my 9 hour multi-discipline second degree black belt certifications, crossing the 50 mile finish line for the first time and more recently, getting a good nights sleep in my own bed after two months of living in a tin can – that was aided by a late night run I was able to get in before that to jump start the humidity conditioning. Unfortunately, now having to harvest my yard, get the woods beat back into submission and deal with every critter in the neighborhood that decided to take advantage of my absence sigh. While I deal with the homestead entropy, Brad is going to step in to keep you entertained with another of their adventures from the absolute opposite direction from our recent travels. This also gives my brother Ron some extra time to work on a video I think you are going to like. I would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in, set a spell, take your shoes off, you all come back now (link here).
Take it away Brad…
This is the second time I have tried to write this story. The first time, as brilliant as it was, seemed to disappear when my PC restarted itself during a mandatory update and set my story back to a nearly blank document that was several days old, even after being saved multiple times in the meantime. I checked the backups and they only had the version from the prior days before I did very much writing. I have auto-save turned on, but there was some sort of kerfuffle between my PC and my backup software. Not sure Windows 11 is being my friend at the moment. I’ll try to recreate the facts as best as I can remember them. Trust me, the first version was a brilliant rendition of our visit, truly Pulitzer worthy. Hehehe
Jan and I were on one of our annual trips to escape a week of February weather in Illinois. We like the Hilton Head area in South Carolina that time of year. Temperatures along the Atlantic Ocean are just enough warmer that we don’t need parkas, but not so warm we need short sleeves and sunscreen all the time. There seems to be a sweet spot right before the Spring Break throngs descend on the area and precisely when the hotels are deeply discounted. Yet not so early that state parks and activities aren’t available. We still see gators all over, but they haven’t really warmed up for summer levels of activity, thankfully. And I think I’ve finally figured out most of the roads we use and which traffic lane to use in the round-abouts. This is certainly not meant to be an advertisement, but if someone from the Hilton Head Bureau of tourism wants to sponsor future trips . . . just sayin’.
One of our favorite gems to visit is Wigeon Point Preserve, about 30 minutes away from Hilton Head towards Port Royal. I think Ted Jennings may have guided us to this location in the past, thanks Ted. It can be tricky to find while driving as there is precious little signage, and no separate right turn lane. The preserve is on a bend in the road between bridges spanning two large marshy areas. At the risk of making the preserve much more popular, we are usually the only people there.
Remembering that the park entrance sneaks up quickly at highway speeds, I slowed down and signaled to make the turn into the parking lot. This time, there was just one other car in the lot, but they were already headed to the trails. The couple was walking a new puppy who was rather excited to be in the middle of nature. We could hear the puppy proclaiming its joy as it romped along the trails. When we couldn’t hear the puppy, we could track its progress by the clouds of birds flying up from the trees wherever it went. At this point, we realized there would be no birds to photograph unless we waited several minutes for them to return to their perches. Or took a different path through the preserve, which is precisely what we did. If the crowds go left, go to the right, or vice versa. This strategy has served us well at various Disney parks.
Imagine you just heard an extremely high pitched twill, the calling card of today’s featured feathered friend. “Wax on” the jump button to learn more about this rather dapper find.
Been a few, my fault, upmost apologies. Free time has been at a premium as of late since we started are final drive east for home. In fact, by the time you are reading this we will either be officially back or minimally less than a state away. I’ll likely provide a more thorough recap of our foray through the west, but some key summary (at at least very close) statistics:
In total – 13 states visited 6 new states lit up on my eBird account 140+1 new birds for the year 54 new lifers Current annual bird count – 440+4 (a new record) Hit #125 on top US birder list for 2026 Over 6500 miles driven
This has been quite a trip, the longest we have been away from home and have to admit, looking forward to a good night’s sleep in a large, stationary bedroom. Then up bright and early to get my ass back into hard training. Although I rucked several mountains, wedged in a few 10 miles runs, did my cardio/core routine 6/7 days a week and mostly kept myself to 2 if not 1 meal a day, the body took the holiday to heart and needs a quick reminder it has a big race later in the year. Oh, and the Halloween Haunted Trail work is waaaay behind schedule.
…but you are here for birds and we have another Arizona specialty for you to kick off this new month.
Pretty eh!?!, hit the jump to learn more about this beautiful creature.
Wildlife Intrigued 