We are only two weeks out from our annual Haunted Trail event and let’s just say there is a LOT of work still to be done. Technically, with tremendous help from my brother Ron, we are ahead of schedule from last year’s effort….but, we grow by at least 10% every year. Many of the tedious tasks are out of the way (ex. putting batteries in all the props and our proprietary controllers, testing them and fixing everything that broke during the tear down last year or just from being stored for a year in changing conditions. In all of this the training for the October ultra continues leaving little time for bonding with my pillow. As previously noted I will be leaning heavily on Brad and Jan to get us through September. Just so they do not get too overwhelmed, jumping in today to bring you the One-Offs. Those shots are just hanging in the photo queue because they didn’t have an engaging story and/or just not enough images to entertain you – also sneakily doesn’t require a lot of writing/prep as it is really just meant as eye-candy.
All of these images have a common thread – they are all outtakes from our trip out to Arizona back in March 2025. Hit the jump to enjoy this cornucopia of tins.
These first two shots from Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson. I really like this place as it full of birds and has a wonderful walking trail. Truth be told, I have not made it all the way around their main hiking path. The first year I was not prepared for a long hike in AZ weather (didn’t take water) and turned back – heeded Linda in my head going “Make good choices”. Second year I took water and was better prepared, but was dealing with the broken ankle and hit a risky patch of rock on the trail half way around so opted to turn back – damn you Linda!!! Next time I am getting it done regardless of potentially contrary voices in my head ha.
Oh, that was a Black-Throated Sparrow by the way.
On to the Holy Trinity Monastery Center in David. This place has been covered in numerous posts – usually featuring their Indian Peafowls (Peacocks). Another great place to bird. Not a very big place but a wonderful setting to just relax and take in the AZ wildlife. They have plenty of Gila Woodpeckers to keep your shutter finger busy.
Surprisingly, I have not featured the Gila (pronounced Hila) Woodpecker before on Intrigued. I just made a note to get that remedied once everything calms down here.
Because it is new, here is another shot from the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia. As the birding experts say…not a Hummingbird!
We have the pleasure of staying at a 50+ community resort in Benson when we make our way out there – Linda’s friends moved out there after retiring. Always good to get back in touch with them and see what is going on in their lives. There is also a wonderful wash that surrounds the resort giving me a wonderful chance to pick up some AZ regulars. Apparently I had a break in those specialties and decided to take a shot of a House Finch that I ended up liking more than I should.
Back to Holy Trinity. They have a small pond on their site that has a variety of different waterfowl hanging out on it. There appears to be a lot of hmmmm, let’s just say “Duck”play going on there as there are a high number of hybrids there so no telling what you might be looking at. This is likely a female Mallard…or has a dominant amount of Mallard in it, but there are some characteristics that are a bit off.
Was surprised to see this shot of a White-Crowned Sparrow from the wash at the Benson resort. Like the House Finch snapped there, I do not usually spend a lot of time on these rather common birds…yet I admittedly like this one as well.
While visiting with our friends out there, she mentioned an old historic site called Fairbanks Historic Townsite as a quick place to visit. Rather interesting place, had a few building restored from the era and (more importantly to a birder) had a nice set of trails that weaved through their property complete with a stream/river that cut through it. That is where we found this Say’s Phoebe hanging out. Met a guy there that was doing a field study on the impact a new power line was having on the local Snake population. Now that got Linda’s attention immediately.
Now a couple of shots from my friend in the UK (Butterflies to Dragsters – link here). He is an expert on the delicate winged ones. I do not take a lot of shots of Butters, but really liked this one from Patagonia Lake State Park. Believe it is a Gulf Fritillary, but this is outside my area of expertise – feel free to correct in the comments. I just like how the browns on the wings looked against the light browns in the setting.
Since we are there…might as well go for a two-fer. This Queen Butterfly was taken at Patagonia Lake SP as well. My rig is set primarily for the feathered family members which makes it a lot harder to get these smaller creatures in the tin. If you really want to see good shots of these creatures, be sure and head over to B!s site.
Who doesn’t like a shot of a Bunny…
…or a Squirrel. Something tells me there was a lull in the bird activity seeing as my tin was full of various wildlife shots.
Back to birds! Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon is my favorite place to visit in Arizona…honestly, it Madera Canyon is in my top 5 birding destinations in the US. It also happens to one of the two locations we are considering to move to.
If you are not up for a hike into the Canyon and looking for a place to just sit back and enjoy a parade of wildlife – Santa Rita Lodge is just the place. We heard (and saw) on our trip there several months ago that a Bear had done some serious damage to their feeder area. Last year all the feeders were still available. The White-Winged Dove above and the Acorn Woodpecker below are a common staple in the area.
I need to wrap this up and get back to the haunt lab. In appreciation of hanging with us while we deal with the event at hand, thought I would throw in a teaser for a future featured feathered friend….a plus one for my lifer list, a primary target for our first visit to Arizona and an all-around beautiful species – the Painted Redstart.
This was an absolute thrill to find and equally difficult to photograph. Like the more common member of their family, the American Redstart, these Painted are very hyper. Easy to spot with their flashes of red and white, hard to get in the tin for sure. More to come on these darlings (likely after the event), so stay tuned.
Now to get back to work…
I loved this crazy-quilt collection of wonderful birds and other critters. Heck, even your “also-rans” are worth some ooh’s and ahh’s. I was able to photograph the Black-throated Sparrow at Saguaro National Park West during our Arizona trip, so I was tickled to see him here.
Can’t wait to see more about your Painted Redstart. Interesting how he has the same graphic colors as the Acorn Woodpecker.
That Haunt collection is becoming something for the record books.
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After seeing the Haunted Trail in person a few times, I think it holds the record for a private Halloween event. Well worth the trip if you would ever be in the area.
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Thanks Brad…you and Jan now have a behind the scenes look as well!
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Ah, yes, the Saguaro NP. We spent a bit of time there walking their short trails. Ended up biting the cost and went to Desert Museum since we were there (that was pricey). Ended up really enjoying Desert, but one and done, would not pay again to see it. There was also a really nice hiking trail ahead of that…can’t remember the name now… that went basically UP for a loong time. Not recommended for those not ready for the exercise, but it ended up being loaded with birds. I absolutely love the Painted Redstart – absolutely amazing bird. You are absolutely correct with its color relationship to the Acorn but it doesn’t have that clown look about it which …having an avid dislike for clowns…is a very good thing ha!
Late getting to the responses, but he 2026 haunted trail is in the books – look for more to come on that event!
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Beautiful birds.
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Thanks Anneli, they are quite the sight to see in the wild.
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Thank you for the lovely assortment of feathered, furred, and scaled creatures, Brian. Your Painted Redstart portrait is stunning! I might need to ask you for that list of your favorite AZ birding destinations–AFTER your haunt and run and recovery!
Good luck with all those upcoming events!
Tanja
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Glad you enjoyed the assortment of birds and wildlife Tanja. We do not do that often here at Intrigued preferring to feature a specific species at a time, but every now and then when the conditions exist (read..busy with the haunted trail) we will open up the gallery and let loose ha. The haunt event is over now so feel free to reach out if you would like to know our favorite places to bird in Arizona. We have not done an exhaustive exploration of the state, but we have found some really nice places we would love to share.
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It’s ok, nobody will fault you from straying from your typical MO, especially since we know how much is going on in your life.
Thank you for the offer to share some AZ birding suggestions. I might take you up on that in a month or so, after we return from another trip.
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Like to see these multi-species posts now and again B.
Thanks for the nod. I have tried using the big zoom on butters as well. Found dof not much different than the macro! I really like that Gulf Frit shot, very nice.
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Glad you enjoyed the variety B.! As you mentioned, not a frequent approach to our posts, but always fun to open up the gallery and see what has been hanging around for a while. On rare occasion I get something in the tin on those fragile winged creatures worth sharing – probably need to get on a plane and come take lessons with you! Take care, apologies on the late reply, life got busy on me.
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That’s what happens to the “leftover” photos that don’t quite make a story on their own. I have dozens of those that may now show up in a “greatest hits” story.
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Yep! Usually those just sit in the gallery for near eternity until those rare times come along and I can get those cleared out. Feel free to use the same approach if you need some cleaning of your own.
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Good luck with the Haunted Trail! Wonderful photos of all, I particularly like those of the Black-throated sparrow 😊
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Thanks you Belinda – we made it through the event (somehow with little to no sleep ha) and from the comments received it appears it was a complete success. Now just dealing with the aftermath and waiting for all the props to thoroughly dry out before we can start packing it away for next year. I probably have enough shots of the BT Sparrows so look for those to make another appearance here on their own. I also have all the tins from our recent trip to Arizona which I know have plenty more of those dapper looking Sparrows. Appreciate you coming by and apologies for the delay in replying.
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Whoa! My bunny hopped into your blog. Beautiful assortment of birds, bunny, squirrel, and butterflies. That’s an impressive collection of bones and ghouls ready to hit the haunt trail.
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Hahaha, yep, that Bunny is getting around! Our trail storage area is basically full – will probably have to look into additional space or minimally more shelving to house everything we added this year – likely time to enact anything added equal amount retired rule or Linda is going to put an end to this whole addiction!
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You should start a band called Brian’s Addiction, and take your ghouls on tour with you. That won’t help much with the storage issues, but it would be a fun diversion.
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I like that idea! Linda wants me to put our clown props along the treeline to the country road that comes by the front of our property. I reminded her they would all likely be riddled with bullet holes before the night was over ha!
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My first thought was a yahoo in a monster truck would run them down.
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Nice outtakes, Brian. I could be that lucky, someday.
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Glad you enjoyed the variety of shots Jerry. Refreshing to be able to simply open up the gallery and have some fun. don’t sell yourself short Jerry, we’ve seen your wonderful body of work!
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