Nature – Page 2 – Wildlife Intrigued

Just Hanging Around…by Brad Marks

We are now in a do not pass Go, do not collect $2000 straight line to Christmas. We made it through the day we give thanks for what we “have”, quickly followed by the US tradition of stomping/clawing/punching/gouging/insulting and other equally rude behavior to get all the things we “don’t have”. The irony in the juxtaposition speaks volumes for our society. Luckily, we checked out of that scene many years ago. It is time to haul out the red and green decor and have the annual discussion with the boys that Santa “is” allowed to come down our chimney that one night of the year – excessive barking could result in a stocking full of coal. Note, last year Ruger responded with “Screw it, that fat sooty ass is mine!” (now that is a cocky puppy who knows what list he’s already on ha). Ruger has been (slightly) better this year so we’ll see how he reacts to the home intrusion. He does give a perfect lead in to today’s post from Brad. Continuing the game bird theme, here’s another one of his intriguing adventures.

Take it away Brad…

One thing I didn’t expect to be doing was standing in line at a National Park to experience the scenery. But that’s just what happened at one area of Yosemite. While Jan and I were waiting for our turn to get a photo of Yosemite Falls without a million tourists in our way (not much of an exaggeration on a late summer Saturday), we began chatting with the family next to us. They had been in the park for a few days and were heading out the next day. The gentleman said since we were just starting our visit, we must make sure to head to Glacier Point before leaving the park. Often times advice is worth just what you pay for it. However, this advice turned out to be pure gold. He also said to make sure we were there before sunset for the best view.

Late one afternoon, later into our visit we began the drive to Glacier Point overlooking Yosemite Valley. Jan and I, OK really just me, didn’t anticipate the number of cars also heading the same direction. We were in a minor traffic jam inside the park. Luckily for us, most of the cars were shooting right past the turnoff for Glacier Point. I felt glad to be free of the taillights in front of us. But my shoulders slumped a bit when I saw a sign for “only” 16 more miles of twisty roads. The first mile was all switchbacks, but from mile two to the summit was a smooth ribbon of newly paved asphalt with gentle curves. Jan and I arrived at the summit with time to spare before sunset.

I parked the rental car in one of the few spaces I could find near summit. The elevation was over 7,200 feet for those keeping score at home. Jan and I began the quick walk to the point to see Yosemite Valley from a completely different perspective. A few feet into the journey, there was a group of people looking over a fence into some low scrub brushes. That usually means there’s something worth taking a peek at.

Hit the jump to read about the fruits of the peek!

Floof Hats…by Brad Marks

Greetings all! Took a quick break from the Haunted Trail task list tome to bring you another fun post from Brad. He will be going back out on assignment soon and I wanted to get a few more of his posts out while he still had plenty of time to respond to comments. Before we get to that, we have a new brag to celebrate. Raven needed only 6 more qualifying runs to earn another trip back to CPE Agility Nationals, so we decided to head up north and enter a show for the long weekend. I was concerned about losing all those days prepping for the haunt (basement currently full of 8′ spiders, a 10′ wolf, 5 tombstones and a myriad of other props in various states), but this would take a lot of pressure off Raven (and Linda) if we could get the qualifying checked off early.

Our little rock star got it done. Not only did he get his 6 qualifying runs (plus another for assurances), he also earned his 2nd CPE Championship complete with a giant ribbon – matching his now inflated ego ha. He spent most of the show pointing at it whenever another dog passed by. Showed him Brad’s post and his only comment was “Woof, Mwoof, Gwoof, Cwoof” – canine translated – Where’s MY Golden Crown!?! Sigh, a lot of sass for an under 5 pound Poodle. Anyway, I’ve delayed you too long already, let’s get to another of Brad and Jan’s adventures at Acadia.

Take it away Brad…

Let me help set the scene a little bit. Jan and I were on vacation at Acadia National Park. The morning Puffin and Lighthouse cruise we were scheduled to take had been cancelled because of fog. Not to worry, because we were able to catch one later that day. (See prior published story about Puffins, link here)

The Big Question remained unanswered; what do to for the next five hours until the cruise. See the rest of the park, of course — fog or not. We asked the GPS to take to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

As we neared the lighthouse, the fog thickened again; something about warm water and cold air mixing. I drove into the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse parking lot and secured the very last official parking space in the rather small lot. Several others had already parked on the grass, in the striped-out areas, in the ditch along the road, etc. The fog wasn’t the thickest we’d had on the trip yet, but it did add a spooky English mystery story feel to the place.

Hit the jump to see Brad and Jan’s finds on this foggy day.

Three Hour Tour…by Brad Marks

Welcome to September everyone, or as I like to call it “Weight Watcher’s Month”. The first means we have less than 30 days to get ready for this year’s big haunt (link here). Damn you short day months!! From this point on until we officially open the trail, sleep will be very sparse and days/nights will be driven at a hectic pace. On top of that, there’s a lot of miles still to be put in on the trail as my 2nd 100K ultra attempt looms a mere two weeks after all the guests have had their fill of food, drinks and frights – thus the significant amount of weight loss. As you would probably assume, I need to back away from the day to day Intrigued responsibilities to focus on the 15+ still in process props that are littered about my basement (some started at the end of last year). Then I can then start assembling all the veteran scares that have already had their fright night debut. Don’t worry, you will be in good care as we once again put the Intrigued HQ in Brad’s capable hands. Quite fitting, as this also happens to be his 1 year anniversary month (his first post was on 9/12 – link here). It has been a true blessing to have him on board, especially in these frantic times. I’ll try to pop in from time to time to check on things and make sure things don’t get too crazy (looking at YOU Lawyer Dept!). Turns out, Brad has the perfect post too kick off this month chock-full of huffin’ and puffin’.

Take it away Brad…

Earlier this year, Brian and I participated in the First Annual Intrigued Corporate Team Building Event, ICTBE v1.0 (see here). Brian and I were hiking through the woods and talking about upcoming events for the summer when I mentioned that Jan and I had booked a trip to Acadia National Park. When Brian heard this, he gave me a photography assignment: find a Puffin. I said, “Sure.” Little did I know, there aren’t any Puffins anywhere inside Acadia. At least not in the parts of the park you can drive or walk to. However, many tour operators near Acadia will take you on a “Puffin Cruise” to see them. This meant we’d be on a 65-foot boat (anything under 500 feet in length is small to me) on the Atlantic Ocean on a “three-hour tour.” Remind you of any 60’s TV theme songs? Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale . . . (try to get that song out of your head now)

As Jan and I arrived for the morning Puffin cruise, we were told the fog was too thick and the morning cruise had been cancelled. There was another cruise that same afternoon if we wanted to switch. We did. Jan and I arrived for the afternoon cruise and were told there was patchy fog and that, most likely, we would be “in and out” of fog all afternoon around the islands. The tour operator also warned us that temperatures on the open ocean are sometimes much cooler than on land, so we brought along rain jackets and an extra base layer. Standing on the dock with the warm sun and a very slight breeze, it felt like we had too many layers of clothes

Visibility in the harbor was great. We could see fog in the distance around some of the outer islands and thought we might be OK. Jan and I boarded the boat, covered our cameras as best we could, and motored off through the harbor islands.

Hit the jump to read how this foggy Puffin excursion turns out.

What Dental Plan?…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone! Things are starting to rev up around here as we approach the 6 week mark before our annual Halloween Event (link here). It also means I’m about a week from getting very little sleep until the haunt is over. Adding to the chaos, my second 100k attempt is just two weeks after (Bri shall not fail again – link here). Basically when not finishing up the multitude of props that have been in construction since January, I’ll be pounding out miles and miles on the trails. As you would suspect, we are going to be relying heavily on Brad to make up for my limited availability. He has been working like a “black-tailed” dog over the past several months putting posts in the Intrigued queue that will surely keep you entertained. There is one to-do that needs to be addressed before the chaos begins and that is to sneak over to Farmdale and cut down a notoriously evil tree. While the saw chips fly, I’ll let Brad get into the swing of things.

Take it away Brad…

In retirement, Jan and I are trying to check off as many National Parks as we can. We were almost finished planning a trip to see our daughter, Allyson, in Denver this past April when we asked what else she wanted to do while we were there. We try to pick a location or activity Allyson has not done yet because it’s all new to us. We offered the southwest, since it is, after all, April in Colorado. She quickly said she’d like to see Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills again. We said “Punkin’, it’s April in South Dakota, some stuff might not be open yet. It could be snowy and cold.” Allyson said she didn’t care and that Alec (her boyfriend) hadn’t been to the Black Hills yet. After spending the night near Denver, Jan and I picked up Allyson and Alec and started the 5 ½ hour journey to the Black Hills.

While we were there, we wanted to make the most of the location, you know, getting our money’s worth from our Annual National Park Pass. We decided to add Devils Tower National Monument to our trip.

Literally, seconds after entering the official park boundary, I hear from the back seat, “Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Stop the car!”

Hit the jump to find out the reason for the excitement!

Bigger Than Your Head…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone, we are back with another adventure from Brad’s queue. Today’s feature is a perfect reflection of today – too big of a bite as it were. Ever had one of those days when you feel a 1,000 percent and decide to step up your game in celebration? My friend had to bail on our trail run today, so thought “Hey Bri, let’s put on the big boy pants and go hit the second hardest trail course in the area”. Mind you, Inner Bri has NEVER turned down a challenge and now several hours later sitting here wondering at what point an alien is going to pop out of my lungs. 2 months to go before I have a 50K on the big daddy course – Inner Bri is evil ha. I’ll let Brad take you through what kind of bite his subject took.

…take it away Brad! (note, you can use the image links to view the full sized images)

Like most of you, winter gets old pretty fast for us. Jan was looking at fun, quick, and warm trips for a February getaway from central Illinois. Not that the weather can’t be lovely in central Illinois in February, but it’s usually not. She found an inexpensive hotel suite in Myrtle Beach. I asked what’s there to do in Myrtle Beach (not knowing since we’d never been to South Carolina before). She said there are more than a few nature and wildlife reserves in the immediate area. By the way, did you know that Myrtle Beach is the mini-golf capital of the world? There are over fifty, fifty as in “five-zero”, mini-golf establishments located in Myrtle Beach. Jan and I saw two or three new ones being built.

One of the best winter locations for birding (IMHO) is Huntington Beach State Park, south of Myrtle Beach. The park has multiple environments to attract all sorts of birds: seashore habitats, tidal marsh habitats, brackish and somewhat tidal habitats, freshwater habitats, forest habitats, and open grassy area habitats. Need I say more? It’s a fantastic place to see a plethora of birds in a variety of habitats without traveling to multiple states over multiple days.

Hit the jump to read about Brads hungry GBH(ippo)

You’ve Been Mooned!

Been a weird couple of days. We ended up getting absolutely slammed with storms last night with an initial round of hail. As I type, we are probably less than 15 minutes from the start of what looks to be several more rounds of angry weather, except this time with a forecast of ping pong ball sized hail. Mother Nature spurned. Managed to get my butt out of bed early today in hopes of getting at least 13 miles pounded out assuming the ground wasn’t too saturated. What I wasn’t expecting is the highly humid steamy temps – by mile 10 I looked like Johnny Storm had flamed on. Heeding the “Linda Voice” (surgically embedded while I was sleeping) decided to shut it down only to resolve the gnawing defeat by going back out for another 5 right before dinner (and before the storms were supposed to hit). All this to simply say I’m exhausted and decided to go with something we will not be seeing tonight.

The Moon taken at Choke Canyon State Park in January 2022

How is that for a curveball!?! Technically, more like a knuckleball as there isn’t a perceivable spin. I am in the midst of processing more images from the Vegas and Dauphin trip and wanted to give Brad a break before his next feature. Looked in my queue and decided it was time to finish this draft.

Prepare yourself before you hit the jump, you are about to endure several more moonings!

Under the Sea – Part II of II…by Brad Marks

Yesterday we reached the second stopover on our current adventure. Quite the surprise I already have 5 more adds to the Average Year (bring me to 245). Three of them were standard fare that had managed to eluded me back home, one is an absolute asshat (link here) that pains me to give even the slightest attention, but the 5th was a nice pickup from a miss this year at Conroe, Texas (link here) – every time I hear their “squeak toy” call it puts a smile on my face…even better when they make it into the tin. We break camp tomorrow and move onward. Not knowing what the connectivity is going to be like, wanted to cut the suspense, as they say, and bring you the second part of Brad’s underwater adventure.

Take it away Brad…

Welcome back. When we left off last time in Part 1, our intrepid underwater photographer was sorting through stacks of negatives in envelopes and piles of printed photographs. (Did you like the alliteration?)

Since the mishap with the leaky seal in our underwater camera, I had been trying to find a replacement camera to fit the housing. It had been several years since we bought the Sealife film camera. In that time, Sealife quit making underwater film cameras in favor of digital versions. However, since they were very proud of their new products (they really do make a good camera), and digital cameras were still very expensive in general, the prices had increased accordingly. Not wanting to pay far too much (IMHO) for a camera we only use every few years, I kept searching. I wanted to find a housing for my Nikon DSLR. But when I saw I’d have to give up two appendages to purchase one of those, I thought it best to keep looking. Ironically, in early 2010, I found a small company that made reasonably good underwater cameras and housings for a reasonable price. We ended up buying an Intova underwater housing and camera kit. Intova just happened to be a Hawaiian company, not that it was any influence over our purchase. Unfortunately, they have since been bought out by a larger photography company who decided to discontinue the product.

On our next trip to the Big Island of Hawaii during the summer of 2010, I was eager to give the new camera a test run. One key difference between the digital camera and our old film camera (purely coincidence) is that its hard clear plastic case has TWO silicone seals to keep seawater out. Plus, now I put a small desiccant packet in the case with the camera, can’t be too careful. The Intova case has more tiny buttons than you can easily use underwater, but it does a decent job focusing at a distance or close-up. Unfortunately, the camera takes almost a half-second to actually take the photo once you press the shutter release button (newer ones are nearly instantaneous like a DSLR). The subject and photographer are always moving. Just point and pray.

Under the Sea by Brad Marks — (digital photo, 2010)

Hit the jump to learn what this intriguing creature is and a few more of those below the surface inhabitants.

Under the Sea – Part I of II…by Brad Marks

As you read this, we are on our way to catch the Gulf migration. We had to cancel this trip last year and looking forward to giving the Average Year efforts a booster shot (a few ticks behind, but link here). Thanks to some local finds, the count sits at a healthy 240 with just a shade over 9 months left. A few days in Dauphin Island will assuredly push me closer to the 300 goal. We first head to Florida for a boys agility competition and then make our way back across the panhandle to Gulf Shores. While we travel to our first base camp, Brad will be taking the helm to boldly go where no Intrigued post has gone before! Thankfully there are people like Brad (and his wife) that are willing to risk it all and live to post about it. …catch you later in the week, meanwhile, take it away Brad…(note, you can hit the image link to see larger versions of his shots)

With the exception of Hawaiian green sea turtles, nearly every Intrigued article has been about something with feathers, or at least above sea level. This one is going to completely different. The only air you will see is what’s reflected on the underside of the surface of the water, or the “underside of air”. There’s also an evolution of photography woven throughout the story. Grab your reef-safe sunscreen and a towel, because we are going snorkeling.

But first, set the way-back machine for a bit of history before we “dive” in. Our friends from Boston scored a “free” condo on Kauai (kah-oo-ah-ee) for eight days in February 2000. Of course, we said we’d go with them. We found babysitters for Allyson (she was not quite four years old then and retired grandparents are wonderful). Once we booked flights from frozen Chicago to Kauai (known as the Garden Isle), we were on our way.

Jan and I were in Hawaii! We were very excited to squeeze out every ounce of fun during our first trip to the islands. We decided to snorkel at Ke’e (KAY-ay) Beach on the northwest side of the island. We were looking forward to some sunshine and warm water.

This was going to be our first underwater photography experience. Not knowing what to expect, and not wanting to spend a bunch of money on a camera if we didn’t like it, we used disposable film cameras. Five of them if I remember correctly. Each little “camera in a box” had 24 exposures of ISO 400 film, a nearly microscopic (smaller than most smart phones) fixed focus plastic lens (only in focus for about 3-10 feet away), and a thumbwheel to wind the film. (Kids, go ask your parents or grandparents about manual winding film cameras)

After arriving at the beach, I jumped right in. Holy crap the water is cold! We were in Hawaii, right? Shouldn’t this water be warm? After the initial temperature shock, I eventually remembered to breathe and started snapping photos. The water around Hawaii is very deep and never gets a chance to really warm up. The ocean currents push very deep water up the steep slopes of the islands (upwelling) towards the surface. Here is the first fish I saw, and photographed, underwater.

Under the See by Brad Marks — (digitized* film photo, 2000)

It is a surge wrasse (Thalassoma purpureum). They are about the size of the 2-3 lb. bass from a farm pond but much more colorful. The surge wrasse likes heavy surf areas (hence the name) and is usually within 30 feet of the surface.

Hit the jump to read more about this underwater adventure!

Feathers and Fur – Part 2 of 2…by Brad Marks

Body hurts, eyes red and very exhausted, I must be in Sin City! Most of that condition is due to non-stop birding since we arrived – the rest of the time, well, as the say, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. The birding front has been incredible. Already +22 for the Average Year (link here – not updated yet) with a number of lifers in the mix, all of which will assuredly be featured here sometime in the future. Meanwhile, I wanted to get the 2nd part of Brad’s Yellowstone adventure out to you.

Take it away Brad…

In the last episode our intrepid travelers had arrived in Yellowstone National Park in June. It was June . . . remember that. There was a blizzard on the first night. They scraped snow from cars, endured closed roads, saw geysers, bison, birds, rotten egg smells, etc.

Now you are up to date. Time to continue on after our second of three nights in the park. This is our last full day at Yellowstone. Here’s the map to help set the stage again. (It’s a big one a takes a few seconds to open.)

It is still mid-June in Yellowstone. Another 4” of new snow fell overnight (second night in a row) at Lake Lodge, though much more snow fell in the higher elevations. Again. All of the park roads were closed until about 10am. When some of the roads were finally opened and the car was cleared of snow (same benefit card snow scraper) we headed to Fishing Bridge a few miles up the road. However, when we arrived, there was only one car in sight with the ranger inside her car frantically waving and yelling for us to stay in our car. After about 10 minutes, she came out of the car to check the area. She motioned it was OK for us to get out now. We learned she was in her car because a grizzly sow and her cub had ambled through about 30 seconds before we arrived. Their tracks were still visible in the early morning snow.

Shots from Yellowstone National Park by Brad Marks

We walked out onto Fishing Bridge to get a view up and down the waterline. We’d only been there a few moments when this pair of American white pelicans went flying by.

Hit the jump to learn more about Brad’s Yellowstone adventure.

Feathers and Fur – Part 1 of 2…by Brad Marks

Well, we are officially off to the West. During our absence, I am turning the keys to the Intrigued Headquarters over to Brad. He will be keeping you entertained while Linda and I quest for the Holy Grail…eh, more like a bird or two or fingers crossed 20. Figured this would be a perfect time to roll out one of his two-parters from probably my favorite destination – Yellowstone National Park. Enjoy!

Take it away Brad and remember, no mega-parties at HQ until AFTER the work is done …

Many years ago, our family (Jan, Allyson and I) took a trip to Yellowstone National Park. You may remember me telling you that our daughter Allyson didn’t want to spend so much time looking at rocks in this prior post. Based on the pushback from a tweenager, I only booked three nights at a lodge in the park, giving us two full days for exploring. Accommodations inside the actual park are limited and usually fill up 8+ months in advance for summer visits. Two full days is by no means an extensive amount of time in Yellowstone (we still drove hundreds of miles inside the park and barely saw anything, IMHO). Taking the advice of a fellow traveler, photographer, and friend, we had flown into Salt Lake City and rented a car for the drive to Yellowstone. Our trip was in early June, hoping to miss most of the tourists with their kids still in school. We approached from the west entrance through West Yellowstone in Montana. Literally within a few minutes of the park rangers checking our annual park pass, we stopped along the road and were greeted with this view.

Shots from Yellowstone National Park from Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about Brad’s Yellowstone experience.

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