Category: Birds

“Chicken”…by Brad Marks

Well hi there! Brad has a special treat for you today and comes courtesy of a trip he and Jan took to the upper northwest of the US – as in very north, very west and definitely very upper! I had been holding on to this out of jealousy…I mean as a safety net, yeah, that’s it (almost ended that with a reference to Morgan Fairchild, but that would have dated me big time ha). With the travels coming up I wanted to make sure I had at least one story ready in case there was a gap in connectivity. Great news as we just received Brad’s latest batch of adventures, so we are absolutely good to go. Now, I may not have been kidding on the jealousy front. I do have a list of nemesis birds that haunt me daily. For some reason I either failed to get them in the tin or worse, never managed to get eyes on one. These are all affectionately called “Effin” birds. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of going after this particular Effin family over 5 times now, which have all consisted of long hikes above 10,000 feet. Have not even seen one of them for my efforts! Whenever our staff goes out in the field I tell them to bring back one of the Effins off my list. Going to cut Brad and Jan some slack as they are still relatively new around here, but when I tell them to “bring one back” I literally mean to bring a live specimen back for me!

Time for me to shed a few shades of green hue and get you to Brad’s adventure. Take it away Brad…

As Brian noted in previous posts, Jan and I survived our August photo assignment to the wilds of Alaska.  This was one of those places we’ve always wanted to visit, but didn’t want to do half-way.  I think our 17-day Alaska trip (land and sea) gave us a good intro to this truly wondrous and wild place.  We both recommend a trip to Alaska.  Go ahead and book it, I’ll let you catch up later.

Only about 2% of the state is accessible by roads.  The rest must be visited by some other mode of transportation including:  boat, plane, horse, dog sled, four-wheeler, SUV/Truck, tour bus, or on foot.  Thankfully for Jan and I, most of the places we visited were by road, only a few were on foot.  We did see and hold a very cute sled dog puppy (maybe a future post).

Thirty-five years ago, when Jan’s dad retired from a major manufacturer based in Illinois (BTW, he just celebrated the same thirty-five years of retirement and is still going strong), her parents took a 6-week driving trip to Alaska.  Yes, that’s right.  They chose to drive to Alaska from Illinois.  As Jan’s dad is fond of telling us, “When you’ve driven from Illinois to Seattle, you are about halfway to Alaska.”  (Now to be completely fair on the length of the driving trip, Jan’s dad did have to order and replace the hydraulic lifters in the car’s V-8 engine somewhere inside Alaska, but that only added 2-3 days to the whole adventure.  Yes, he had tools in the trunk of the car.)  We experienced similar travel times.  No, not six weeks, but it did take us nearly 9 hours of flying, via fairly circuitous route, to reach Fairbanks from Illinois.  Fairbanks is only about 100 miles from the Arctic Circle, or 64 degrees, 56 minutes north latitude.  That means the sun sets for only a couple of hours each night during summer months, leaving us with a twilight-y sort of sky for sleeping.  For those keeping score at home, I think this is a latitude record for Wildlife Intrigued.

As Jan’s parents discovered on their trip, there are many colorful people and stories along the way.  One of those stories is about the town called Chicken in Alaska.  The good people of the town wanted to name it after a local bird from the tundra, but no one could spell the bird’s name.   They ended up calling the town “Chicken.”  Stay tuned for the real bird’s name in just a bit.

Willow Ptarmigan by Brad Marks

If it looks like one, acts like one and easier to spell, then it must be one – hit the jump to read more about this Chicken!

Continue reading “Chicken”…by Brad Marks

Pinky!

Greetings all! Not much to give on the update front. My ankle has been a big disappointment and we are considering simply declaring Excommunicado from the family – no Thanksgiving gathering for you! Been working on it for over a month now and it is refusing to comply to a level I demand. Broke down and went to the Ortho to get some glamour shots to ensure there were no serious reasons for all the whining it was doing. After noting all the historical trauma he could see surrounding it, he noted no fractures. Diagnosis, severe high ankle sprain caused by the second incident during the race. At least 4 to 5 more weeks of recovery..for a normal patient. I was waiting for the doctor to ask the ankle if it felt safe at home. Doubled the rehab and started with 4 mile walks this week. Barring any legitimate complaints, should be on the run in a week – two tops.

Beyond that, it has been an interesting week here stateside as we carried out the keystone of our republic to elect our representatives. I’ll leave assessments on the actual outcomes for individual reflection, but there are a few ancillary things that were loud and clear from my perspective. Lamestream media is effectively dead. Clearly the propaganda machine has little to no influence over a majority of the population. Yours truly has been railing against their hyperbole for years. In that same vein, partisan pollsters and fact checkers deserve a headstone in our haunted cemetery to celebrate their occupation demise. Lastly, entertainers and our self-righteous elites have lost their flock. I am sure there will be further peripheral fallout as America comes to terms with the outcomes, some good, some bad, some red, some white, some blue and all the colors between…as in PINK!

American Flamingo found at St. Marks NWR, FL in April 2023

Hit the jump to learn about a feathered friend that hasn’t compromised its celebrity status from the recent election.

Continue reading Pinky!

At a Snail’s Pace

Got a few things to update you on before we get to today’s post, which happens to be a continuation of a recent feature. For starters, if you have spent any time at all here at Intrigued, you know about our annual Haunted Trail event. The all consuming, year round prep and exhausting build for the two night event held in late September. Our partner in haunt, Paul, has finished making this year’s video recap. I wanted to share that link in case you would like a sampling of how the trail turned out this year. Note, if the embedded link below does not work for you, try going directly to it using this link – https://youtu.be/wnZ5veDpNcA?si=1TM4lSygwhsnYMl_

Amazing how well the finished trail looks knowing the complete chaos leading up to the opening. A huge thank you again to everyone that helps us put this event on.

The other update is on the running front. The recent 50 mile ultra race hit me and hit me hard. I finally got the race recap up on the mothership if anyone is interested in reading about all the mishaps that when on during that torturefest (link here). I recommend not reading that if you are thinking about taking up long distance trail running ha. I’ve spent a solid two weeks trying to get back on my feet. The bad ankle I started the race with doesn’t seem to want to heal and the body is one big ache. Got fed up with the snail’s healing pace and went for a 7 mile run today. Lungs felt great, but the legs were a mess. Worst of all, now the ankle doesn’t even want to hold my weight – damn you weak-assed body parts – you shall suck it up and get in line or I’m gonna keep beating you until you change your attitude.

With those updates out of the way, I can finally get to today’s featured feathered friend (about time Bri!).

Snail Kites found at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Micanopy, FL in April 2023

Look familiar? Hit the jump for the second part of our encounter with the Snail Kites during our 2023 April visit to Florida.

Continue reading At a Snail’s Pace

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron…by Brad Marks

I feel like our haven of trail witches have put a curse on me. First I tweak my ankle during the build up to the haunted trail, then the race beats me down something good only to make it through to put the cherry on top the misery sundae by breaking a toe (on the good foot) in a manner so unmanly I am not about to reveal it. I’ve learned a couple of surprising things since then. One is the revelation that trimming trees for four days is probably not the brightest choice all hobbled up – something tells me some of our readers probably already knew or could foresee that bit of knowledge. The other surprise comes courtesy of Brad who is bringing us one of his adventures from his recent New England trip. In fact, my new birding tidbit comes courtesy of that little space between the third and fourth word in his title. I was about to insert the expected “-” when I decided to dig into this a bit more. Brad is absolutely correct, as of July 2024, the American Birding Association has removed the second dash between Night and Heron. You can read more about that change and several other updates in their 2024 supplement (link here). Note, once again, they FAILED to rename the Ring-Necked Duck arrrgghhh! Enough of my whining, it’s time for Brad to introduce us to one of his newest lifers.

Take it away Brad…

During a recent photo assignment to New England, Jan and I were enjoying the low tide near Boothbay Harbor in Maine.  We traveled to Maine with our friends from the Boston area.  We also had the bonus of having Allyson join us for an abbreviated weekend.

This also happened to be our first photo outing with our brand “new” D500 camera bodies, well, at least new to us.  The old trusty D300’s had served us well, but had begun showing age-related faults (over 200,000 clicks on both of them) during our Alaska assignment.  We had a mere six days after Alaska to get “new” cameras before the New England trip.  I used all of my trusted camera sites ordering bodies, batteries, and chargers.  I’m still working on the Wildlife Intrigued expense report.  Everything arrived in time, some only just, for the trip to Boston and Maine.

Our first morning in Maine, low tide was at 9am.  After breakfast, we all rushed down to the waterline to see what we would see at low tide.  The rented house where we stayed, was about 100 feet from the water.  The tide was nearly at the lowest point of the morning, down over 8 feet from high tide the night before.  Drying seaweed was all over the newly exposed rocks and made walking slippery.  Jan was photographing a Great Blue Heron in the shadows next to our dock.  Allyson was wading in the cold Atlantic water looking for crabs, lobsters, and snails.  I was watching the sunlit part of the terrain opposite our rocky point, when something caught my eye.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron by Brad Marks

Did you spot today’s featured feathered friend? Hit the jump to read more about this well camouflaged discovery.

Continue reading Yellow-Crowned Night Heron…by Brad Marks

Rounds on the Flats

I am finally back on my feet. Still a bit tender in the legs and feet, but the toll for a shiny new finisher belt buckle is almost paid. I must say, I feel a bit like Biden after the first debate with everyone recommending I stop doing the ultras ha. The concern is definitely appreciated, but Linda will confirm I believe one should always know their limits (and ever reach beyond). Luckily I learn from my mistakes and will be taking steps to remedy whatever gremlins snuck into my race plan starting with my “barnacle-bitten swab” of an ankle. That weak bastard is still unusually “round” (and crunchy) which brings us to our similarly shaped featured feathered friend(s) of the day.

Piping Plovers found on Bolivar Flats, TX, in March 2024

Hit the jump to see more of what was “rolling” around the flats of Bolivar Peninsula back in April. As enticement, this is a rare multi-species post!!

Continue reading Rounds on the Flats

Crazy on You…by Brad Marks

It’s official, I can now coast until the new year as the last of the 2024 stressors completed last Saturday night. I was slightly worried going into this last ultra-race of the season. Torqued up my ankle pretty bad during the haunt work that didn’t seem to be responding to my customary barrage of rude insults and brash comments regarding its lily-livered condition. Even broke down and had it forcibly unjammed by my Chiro, plus cut my taper short to give the weak-ass, dirty bilge rat of a joint several days of rest (link here). With all the extra attention. it was STILL tender race morning. I’ll do my regular race recap later, but in summary, about the only two things that went right the entire day was I got up on time and I willed myself across the finish line. Everything in between pretty much the proverbial shit show. Dispensed with the nag and went full blown crush on the bad ankle at mile TWO (slid off a rock under the leaves in the dark), stomach issues prevented me mid-race food, stung by ground PO’d Hornets on 3 of my 5 loops, unexpected heat and switched to just plain water for loops 4 and 5 because the stomach refused any fluids with flavor – exception was the lifesaving ginger ale at the aid stations preventing me from hurling. Oh, and with the ankle destroyed, didn’t dare take the shoe off. No dry sock changes led to massive blisters on feet for last two loops. Not the best outing and certainly not the worst, but all things considered, one of the hardest finisher buckles I’ve ever earned – and I’m damn proud! Wife and friends have chosen the less glorious word “crazy”..which, ironically, brings me to today’s post. While I do my best to even stand, Brad is going to take you out to one of my favorite places to bird in Henderson, NV.

Take it away Brad… (note, responses will likely be delayed as he and Jan are still out on assignment in faraway lands).

During a return trip to Las Vegas to catch Death Valley, Jan and I had a list of birding assignments from Intrigued HQ.  Originally, we had planned a full day at each, but we lost most of a day to a flat tire on our rental car trying to pick up an unplanned birding location.  (See A New Low link here.)  Suffice it to say that we now had one less day and had to consolidate destinations within the remaining days of our vacation. 

One day we had to split between two destinations.  In the morning, we went to Clark County Wetlands Park.  After literally running through Clark County Wetlands, we headed to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (HBVP) just before noon.  Based on our experience, try to get there early because they close at 2:00 pm.  You will want to reverse these two destinations if you must see them the same day like we did.  We were also informed that they lock the parking lot gates promptly at 2:00 pm when they leave, capturing you and your car inside.  We did get the local number to call in case we lost track of time and found ourselves captives.

With the over 40 different species of birds we saw on this trip, I thought I would give you a slow pitch today.  This should be an easy guess on today’s subject.

Canada Goose found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to knock this easy pitch out of the park.

Continue reading Crazy on You…by Brad Marks

Flying Escargot

And we meet again so soon! Probably seems like a whirlwind of activity as of late, especially since my long absence during the haunted trail prep. There has been extra free time around Intrigued while I try my best to rest up for the race this weekend. Unfortunately, that also means I’ll be stepping away from the websites to focus on that race. Suspect the need for some level of recovery regardless of whether I manage to make it through still vertical or those “Root of all Evil” tree appendages manage a retaliation from all the shade I’ve been throwing their way since the last time they bested me (link here). I’ll be at the exact “scene of the crime” again, and again, and again, and again, and again and fingers crossed again if things go as planned. While Brad and Jan are exploring faraway places, thought I would leave you with a special treat from our 2023 pass through upper Florida.

Snail Kite found at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park in Micanopy, FL in March 2024

Hit the jump to learn more about this unexpected surprise while exploring around the Gainesville area.

Continue reading Flying Escargot

Trash Tyrant Goes Moo

Howdy folks. In the days between the end of the haunt event and the fast approaching ultra-race, I’ve been doing my best to get a few body nags healed up and hopefully not add any new dings to pile. Last year I managed to injure my back putting all the decorations back right before the race. Lesson learned, I took the effort to get everything out of the valley and into the out building and left it to hang out there until post run. The run is hard enough as it is without piling on additional difficulty. With all the extra rest I’ve been able to get a lot of miscellaneous to-dos checked off starting with the bird counts. Updated both the Average Year stats (link here) and the life list. AY sits at 307 (two finds still have to be added to our tracking list) and as you will see on the left nav bar my lifelist is now at 432 (it may look like 430, but it is really 432 thanks to a couple of late adds ha). And one of those late adds and missing tracking species in our AY spreadsheet happens to be today’s featured feathered friend.

Cattle Tyrant found in downtown Corpus Christi, TX in March 2024

Hit the jump to find out more about this lost barnyard resident.

Continue reading Trash Tyrant Goes Moo

Cyrus of Sweetwater

A lot of the stress is finally off and best of all, I am finally getting caught up on some badly needed sleep. The annual Haunt Event appears to be another successful venture and since the last post we have received a lot of positive feedback from the attendees (including Brad and Jan, but they may be biased as their annual performance review is coming up ha). The first night we ran out of time for some of the props thanks to an unfortunate late hour incident that took a bit to resolve, however, we were able to catch up on Saturday and get everything working and additional props deployed. I made a quick summary of this year’s efforts up on the mothership if you are interested (link here). Most surprising of all is the weather held for both days even though there was an over 60% chance of rain for both nights at the start of the week. Mother Nature either took pity on me or she is waiting to really hammer me during the fast approaching ultra-race.

Since I am sitting here trying to heal a few leg/foot kinks that developed while hauling all the props back out of the valley, thought I would feature a feathered friend that also has a kink …in its neck.

Anhinga found at Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville, FL in April 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this turquoise-eyed beauty.

Continue reading Cyrus of Sweetwater

Meep Meep…by Brad Marks

Hello folks. As the Twain saying goes, “rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated” (I know that was embellished by Paine, but I prefer this version ha). During these last two weeks I’ve joked that I was close to knocking on that heavenly door as we toiled away preparing for the annual Haunted Trail. The stress is off now as the event was held Friday and Saturday night. Still awaiting testimonials, but from the positive feedback we heard over the course of the two nights, I’d say we had a pretty successful haunt. What I can commit to without question is I’m officially exhausted from the stress, work and woeful lack of sleep it took to wrangle the chaos into shape before the guests started arriving. We owe a big thanks to everyone who jumped in to help including family (Ron/Derek), friends (including Brad/Jan) and pretty much all the Intrigued staff (except the lawyer dept that are still upset I took away their “butt copier”). Tomorrow back on the training program for the fast approaching ultra-race – now officially 7 pounds lighter). Struggling to keep my eyes open writing this intro, so I’m going to reacquaint myself with my pillow and let Brad take you on another adventure in one of our favorite cities.

Take it away Brad.. (oh, and big thanks to Brad for keeping Intrigued HQ running smoothly while I was out battling demons and clowns in the woods).

During one of our compressed mornings in Las Vegas, we had tough choices to make.  Brian had assigned me three bird locations to visit.  However, during day one of the trip, we lost over half a day trying to get a flat tire fixed.  (See A New Low – link here)  While scheming in the hotel room the night before, Jan and I decided to visit two big locations in the same day.  Crazy, I know.  What can you do?  We had already planned many activities for after birding hours.  Early one morning, we headed to Clark County Wetlands on the edge of Las Vegas. 

As Jan and I were wandering through the Wetlands, we kept seeing opened Acme wooden crates everywhere.  Even though Merlin couldn’t pick it up, I thought I could hear a “meep meep” sound followed quickly by little clouds of dust.  Finally, as we were heading to one of the small ponds, we spotted this bird in the shadows, next to little anvil-shaped holes in the dust.

Greater Roadrunner by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about a certain Coyote’s nemesis!

Continue reading Meep Meep…by Brad Marks