Category: Observation

1600 Days

Hello everyone, it’s been a while. Things are a bit chaotic at the moment as both Brad and I are out in the field. This means the Intrigued HQ is under the supervision of our legal department and, well, “shudder”. I am pretty sure it is going to devolve into a Project X event (link here) purely based on the “Incident that shall never be mentioned” that occurred the last time they were in charge. For a group that prefers to wear suits and gets $300 haircuts, they go balls out without supervision. Brad will be getting back sooner, so he will have to deal with the cleanup, bail money and/or the angry neighbors. Meanwhile we have made it to southern Texas and today was the FIRST day it hasn’t rained the entire day. Of course, that means the humidity spiked and those $#%!@#!% bugs are out in force to make up for lost blood. Now I can get back to some serious birding and press that little ISO button on my camera and turn the dial down from 1600. I should see if there are photo competitions with a category for “Best Use of Grey”.

This being the first time down here during spring break we have noticed a few differences. On the disappointing side, our favorite state park Estero Llano Grande is basically bone dry (the rain over these last few days isn’t going to improve that situation at all. For those familiar with that park, there is no water out from the visitor center or any of the middle ponds before Alligator Lake. Luckily a lot of the waterfowl and shorebirds have moved to the reservoir beyond the back levee. Also on the negative scale, there is more foliage on the trees making it far more difficult to get a clear shot. Hmmm, maybe another competition category – “Most Obscured Bird”. Counterbalancing those, we are getting looks at several new lifers and the other birders and park volunteers we have met continue to be the shining examples of goodness in our society. Refresh your mental state by burning the newspapers, turning off the babbling TV heads, putting your phone away and simply go birding. If that happens to be in south Texas, we do recommend taking gallons of bug spray unless you want a blood transfusion to go along with your mental therapy.

While I try to dry out and recover from early morning ups and late night Paraque hunts (link here), going to go with a short feature today. One that south Texas birders now quite well.

Found on South Padre Island Jetty in January 2023

Hit the jump for a couple more quick shots before I lather up in DEET.

Continue reading 1600 Days

Gentlemen Prefer Gingers

By the time you are reading this, we will be off to southern Texas. Believe this is the first time we have visited our favorite state at this time of year. By now I am sure everyone is aware we spent lot of our vacation time on the Gulf Coast and down along the Rio Grande Valley during our corporate years. We have continued… and extended our time there now into our retirement years. Our company would shut down between Christmas and New Year’s (initially started to reduce costs at our manufacturing facilities). No longer bound by the designated vacation days, we have been spending all of January in that warmer climate – well, up until this year when we decided to try out Arizona instead – regretted. Having missed our time in Texas, we are making our first Spring visit and excited to try out a new birding season. There is a bit of concern about the tourist competition being in the midst of Spring Break for many of the schools across the nation. Time will tell, but honestly, it is hard for us to ever be disappointed down there. I may be a bit sparse as we chew up the miles and I also know Brad will be heading back out on assignment soon, so apologies in advance for the expected delays in responses. The good news is we have plenty of material ready to go to keep everyone entertained while we are out and about.

Without further delay, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend!

Hit the jump to read more about our ginger feathered specimen.

Continue reading Gentlemen Prefer Gingers

Stellar…by Brad Marks

I must say, as far as days go, last week was pretty good. Although the rain finally arrived at the end of the week, I was able to get a number of good runs in on the trail – definitely enough to remind me just how hard the July 50K ultra is going to be (link here). If you recall, that is the race I missed last year due to shattering my elbow a mere week before I was supposed to toe the line. It’s redemption year and building the base early to leave nothing to chance. Then my brother Ron was able to come down thanks to an opportunity to attend TransWorld down in St. Louis. Horrible name, but before you jump to conclusions, it is the premier Professional Haunt Trade Convention/Expo in the States (link here). This is somewhat of an “invite only” event and you have to prove you are in the haunt business to be allowed to attend. AMAZING. To put it into perspective it took us 3.5 hours just to make it through maybe a 3rd (at best) of the exhibits. While I recover from the trail training and the miles of expo walking, going to let Brad take over and take you through another “stellar” experience.

Take it away Brad…

If you haven’t seen the majesty of Yosemite Falls when there’s water flowing, add it to your bucket list of future destinations right now.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

We had been planning a trip to Yosemite for years, but something else always came up and it slid down our list.  Last fall we decided to team it with other destinations we wanted to see Out West to make sure we’d end up going. 

Sidebar story:  Normally the waterfalls (Bridal Veil and Yosemite) only run in the spring when there’s ample snowpack melting.  The winter before Jan and I went, Yosemite received record snowfall, some say on par with what they used to receive way back a hundred years ago.  Others said it was twice as much as usual.  A few of the roads in the park didn’t even open until late May or early June.  Even when we went in September, the upper mountain roads were just then opening.

Steller's Jay by Brad Marks

Quite breathtaking. Hit the jump to learn more about the falls and a rather stellar resident.

Continue reading Stellar…by Brad Marks

Ghostly

March is proving to be a fickle month from a running perspective. With an unexpected delay in getting my training ramped up thanks to some less than appreciated weather in Arizona, I am admittedly behind on my training. Built back the base as well as I could during the first part of February and transitioned to the hard trails a few weeks ago. Long runs, steep technical terrain and lungs determined to break their rib cage confinement. The annoying part is dealing with ever-changing weather conditions. 30F’s with slick heavy frost, then 50’s with trail weeping in the lowlands followed by beautiful 75’s only to give way back to the 30’s the following day producing some comical scenes catching black ice lurking below the leaves. That was all manageable until the grey skies arrived yesterday and tossed me back onto the pavement. While I impatiently wait for the trails to harden, thought it would be a good time to get my first post of the month out.

Male Northern Harrier (Grey Ghost) found outside of Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco, TX in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this ghostly predator.

Continue reading Ghostly

Leaps, Jeeps and Misfits

Every four years we are granted and extra calendar day to attempt getting all the crap done we’ve procrastinated on since the previous gift of 24 hours. We’ve come to that charity point and I sit here staring at all the things on my to-do list wondering just how long ago each of those items were added. Each comes with a progression of analysis honed over the many years in the corporate grind – does it really need to be done, does it actually have to be done now, is there something more important that delivers greater benefit, is it still as critical as it was when the item was added, is it really independent or it is preceded by another task on the list (or worse, not even there), is it too daunting and needs to be broken into subtasks and more important than all, what kind of trouble will I get into from Linda if I delay any longer. Scan the list, re-prioritize, rearrange, prune some, add some, stare at it, flip some coins…screw it, let’s have some fun and write a post!

Want to give Brad a little bit more time to process all the tins from his recent adventure, so spent some time going through the recently processed shots from our Texas 2023 snowbird migration- you have probably noticed the heavy emphasis on that January trip as of late. What could we feature in celebration of this Leap Year. Then I jumped over to see Jet’s latest post and she absolutely Caarussshed it (link here)! All of my Bunny shots have been used and the only other good option was a Leopard Frog I took several years back – pretty lame. Maybe I could get “close”

Ladies and gentlemen, would you accept Jeep Year!?! Unfortunately, I should have been working on this years in advance to have a nice collection of shots to use (like it says right there on my to-do list ha). As a substitute we are going with a Free-For-All clear out of the (mostly) Texas one-offs. Put your seatbelts on and hit the jump for a joy ride.

Continue reading Leaps, Jeeps and Misfits

A Whisper of a Screech

I need to take a rest and towel off a bit from our annual round of office golf. I didn’t realize the full extent of the elbow injury until I took too much carpet and wrenched my elbow back – don’t cuss in front of the staff..don’t cuss in front of the staff..shit that hurt. Thanks to a member in the HR department (name withheld to protect the guilty) who developed a nasty slice in the off-season..might want to consider switching to disc golf for next year’s office competition. Said individual will now be required to enter TWO ultra races this year instead of the standard one for risking our recordable injury record and for getting me in trouble with Linda who came asking for the cause of the shattering noise. Note to self, call a glass repairman Monday. In light of our competition to get an object INTO a hole, decided to go with a featured feathered friend I have only seen already IN a hole.

Eastern Screech Owl found at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco, TX in January 2023

Apologies for the clutter in the shot, when it comes to this particular creature you pretty much have to take what you can get – especially in “light” of the fact that the best time to photograph them is when they should be counting sheep. Luckily the shots do get a lot better, so hit the jump and let’s see what we can find in the hole.

Continue reading A Whisper of a Screech

The Flying Bill with Eyes

With Brad out on assignment, I am hanging around the Intrigued HQ a little more than usual – watering the plants, making sure the pipes don’t freeze, keeping the butt prints off the copier, wiping down the escalator hand rails etc. – top level management duties for sure. Since I am in the office, might as well put the feet up on the desk and bang out a few posts. Linda just planned our spring trip to Texas, which has me in a Rio Grande Valley frame of mind. In the last post, we talked about the Clay-Colored Thrush and what turned out to be a rare sighting of the White-Throated Thrush at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Going back there for today’s featured feathered friend.

Green Kingfisher found at Estero Llano Grande State Park in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about the Flying Bill with Eyes.

Continue reading The Flying Bill with Eyes

The Good, the Wet and the What the Heck

I feel like I know a lot more about those little furballs from Brad’s last post. Adorable little ears, frisky tails, cute whiskers and a joy to observe … IN OTHER PEOPLE’S yards! Hehehe. We have the basic Eastern Chipmunk variety out here in the country and to be honest, damn annoying. They just cost me several thousands of dollars thanks to under-digging my steps and attached concrete slab. They also drive my dogs crazy when they pop out of a hole, give them the finger, wait for them to get all worked up, turn and wiggle their tan ass at them and then run like cowards back down their hole. One of these days (when Linda isn’t looking) I’m going to give Ruger the green light .. or should I say “tan” light.. and see how they like being chased by a 19.5 mph bloodthirsty, merciless Toy Poodle. I still need to assess the punishment I’d get from Linda if she found out. While I ponder that, how about we talk about a much more benign tan creature.

Clay-Colored Thrush found at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Weslaco, TX in January 2023

Hit the jump to find out more about our clay colored feathered friend.

Continue reading The Good, the Wet and the What the Heck

ADHLAS…by Brad Marks

Howdy folks. We know you don’t come here out of a thirst for statistics, so we wanted to get you back into the action as soon as we could. Brad had perfect timing as he just provided us the latest drop of adventures to share. Nothing better than the present to pop a fresh one off the queue, while I battle the last remaining spirits in the new machine. Only one pillar left to port, the digital darkroom – no more delay excuses, I’ve run out of distractions and all the “squirrels” have been rounded up and put to work cleaning the Intrigued HQ grounds….wait is that competitive gardening coming on the TV!?!?!…I better let you go.

Take it away Brad…

Recently Jan and I signed up for an assignment in Alaska during late summer.  Tough duty, I know.  To get ready for our trip to the Yukon (actually, I’m not sure we’ll even see the Yukon, but it sounded better), we attended a presentation on the tour we were taking.  The tour guide was giving us some information about some of the wildlife there.  He said that often visitors are not able to tell the types of bears apart.  Alaska has both grizzly and black bears.  But often the grizzlies are very dark colored, and the black bears have very light fur.  To the casual observer they are indistinguishable.  The guide gave us a sure-fire methodology to tell them apart in a pinch.  Are you ready?  Here it is:

If you find yourself too close to a bear and you don’t know which kind it is – climb a tree.  A black bear will follow you up the tree.  A grizzly bear will simply knock the tree over.  Identification problem solved.

Nothing we saw on our trip through Yosemite and adjoining parks was anything like that.  Well, except for this black bear from Sequoia National Park last summer (link here).  Jan and I only saw very small furry critters.  To be fair, some were quite good at climbing trees, we can’t rule out that they are part black bear based on what we learned above, but I seriously doubt it.

Our story begins here.  As does the identification dilemma for hikers near National Parks.  No, I’m not talking about bears any longer.  Thankfully today’s subject is much more approachable and far less dangerous and does not involve any tree climbing, at least not on your part.  I’m talking about chipmunks and ground squirrels.  Yes, there is a difference between chipmunks and ground squirrels.  Before I jump in, I know this may get confusing (I certainly was), so let me give you a primer.

Chipmunk vs. Ground Squirrel identification primer:

  • One website says the difference between a chipmunk and a ground squirrel is:  Chipmunks are small mammals with distinct stripes, while the ground squirrel has body stripes like chipmunks, but no stripes on its head.
  • Another website says something similar:  One easy way to tell them apart is by their stripes.  Chipmunk stripes run the length of their bodies, including their heads.  Ground Squirrel stripes start at the neck and run along their backs, but they do not have stripes on their heads.  (Someone was splitting hairs when they wrote up this definition, IMHO.)
  • Still another website says that ground squirrels can weigh between 1 and 10 pounds, whereas chipmunks are usually under a pound (not based on the amount of the sunflower seeds they eat near my bird feeders).  Good luck getting them to hold still while you weigh them.
  • Ground squirrels can live between 5-10 years while chippers only 2-5 years.    This one isn’t the most reliable visual indicator, unless you have lots and lots and lots of time.  (Allyson’s grandpa (Jan’s dad) used to tell her “chipper” stories when she was little.  The story was different each time, which kept Allyson coming back for more.)
  • Their tails can be an indicator all other things being equal.  Ground squirrel tails tend to be longer and bushier than the chipmunks “shorter and not nearly as fluffy” tails.  Chipmunks will sometimes run with the tails straight up or out behind them. 
  • Habitat can be a big differentiator as well; except we saw all of the critters below in nearly the same habitats.  None held still long enough and we didn’t wait around to see to know if they ran up trees (ground squirrels) or not (chipmunks). Chipmunks tend not to climb trees, but climb over fallen trees. Ground squirrels have no qualms at about climbing trees, or so we are told.
  • Though not really a visual differentiator, hibernation patterns differ slightly:  chipmunks wake up every few days to eat during colder months while ground squirrels can go for longer periods of time between winter feedings.

Well, there it is.  Clear as mud, right?

You are all ready now to hit the jump and put some visuals to that primer!

Continue reading ADHLAS…by Brad Marks

Killdeer…by Brad Marks

Sitting here killing time one keystroke after another. Now in the midst of the annual “digital clean-up” process and it is mind numbing. Part of this is making the final push to cross the finish line of the PC migration marathon. Some of it is due to massive procrastination last year (okay, maybe last TWO years) and need to get the birding folders/spreadsheets/trackers etc. updated. Then there is the standard annual rollover resets of the blog post backups and general archiving that needs to be done to keep my OCD from raging out of control (and NOBODY wants that). I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I need to go back to the corporate grind in order to get all my free time back! The good news is I think my North American Bird List folder (link here) is updated. That is my running gallery for the best shots of every bird on the list in case a client wants a specific species or if I want to author something someday. Even updated the left navbar with the latest count – 421 species! While I slash through minutes like Scooby through snacks, going to turn it over to Brad to bring you a North Carolina “killing” of a different sorts.

Take it away Brad…

There’s something about being warm during the winter months.  Jan and I live in the middle of Illinois, so February is usually a heavy flannel month.  Jan suggested we head southeast for a week to escape a bit of winter (really didn’t need much arm twisting).  We also wanted to see what we could see in a new part of the country for us.

Jan and I spent a week at Myrtle Beach, SC last winter.  During one of our “free” days on the trip (they are all “free” when you are retired) we headed to North Carolina since it was just up the road a piece from where we were staying.  The locals all said to go to a preserve a mile or two across the state line.  Our GPS was a bit confused for a while, taking us down unpaved roads to an empty lot at the edge of the water.  This can’t be right.  We stopped in a parking lot for a few minutes and picked a spot (on an actual map) that might actually get us to the coast, without having to stop to ask for directions.  Our new destination was Sunset Beach. 

After driving across the long and tall causeway bridge, we arrived in a small community of summer cottages on a narrow spit of land just a bit offshore in the Atlantic called Sunset Beach.  I’m not saying it was a ghost town, but there were very few cars around, and even fewer moving about.  Once I found the parking lot near the beach, I readied the cameras.  Before I closed the hatch on my car, there was some movement in the sparse foliage behind me.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about Brad (and Jan’s) adventure.

Continue reading Killdeer…by Brad Marks