Category: Observation

Crown Me

Currently, I’m sitting here grounded from running thanks to recent neck surgery.  Good news for you though, since that gives me more time to post – yeah!

Getting right to it.. meet Mr. Golden

Golden-Crowned Kinglet shot in Jubilee State Park April 2014

Pretty cute eh!?! This Golden-Crowned Kinglet was shot back in April of 2014. Yes, I’m waaay behind, but slowly coming to terms with my latency. This colorful specimen was photographed in the middle of Jubilee State Park. For those familiar with the area, the exact location was a small clearing off the road that leads to the back part of the campground. The easiest way to get there is to walk down the pond trail about a third of the way and then hang a left. You might encounter some thick brush, but if you follow the deer trails it will lead you to the clearing which actually sits on a bit of a bluff. This is usually a treasure trove of field birds enjoying the spoils of the open brush with close proximity to the safety at the surrounding tree line. It might be a bit noisy getting to the spot, so you might have to give some time for the birds to get comfortable again – a little patience usually brings a target rich environment.

Golden-Crowned Kinglet shot in Jubilee State Park April 2014

Hit the jump to see a few more images of this Golden-Crowned Kinglet.

Continue reading Crown Me

By Any Other Name It Would Be A Crab

Greetings everyone! It has been a big weekend with the release of this Wildlife Blog.  In tribute of that new chapter, I bring you another wildlife post…Hermit Thrush shot near West Alton Missouri (Ellis Island) March 2014

This cute little specimen was shot on a birding trip down by Alton Illinois back in March 2014. My catalog system was slightly compromised because I put this up in the Birding Illinois gallery. Technically we were birding Illinois until we went over the bridge into West Alton which puts us officially in the State of Missouri. What’s a few thousand feet between birding friends hehehe. While on the other side of the river we paid a visit to one of our usual spots down there – Ellis Island. This is the first time I explored the trails at the end of the main trail from the parking lot. Most of the time we entertain ourselves with the backwaters on the left side of the trail looking for interesting waterfowl. Little did I know there were some nice trails that take you through a nice variety of landscapes (wooded, clearing etc.). This specimen was hanging out on some vines on the edge of the timber.

Hit the jump to find out what this bird is and see a couple more shots (although the one you are looking at is the best of the lot)

Continue reading By Any Other Name It Would Be A Crab

King of the West

The upside of a recent surgery is I have to stay down for a while (and you know how I HATE that) which equates to more time for posting…. on birds hehehehe.
Western Kingbird shot at Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden Colorado May 2014
As is the norm around here, my featured bird comes from a number of years back.  To be precise, all the way back to May of 2014.  I used to beat myself up more on my tremendous backlog of pictures, but the more camera enthusiasts I meet, the more I realized this is pretty common – especially for those of us holding down a primary job completely unrelated to photography.  I know for a fact my brother Ron is starting to experience a growing queue as well which is especially painful for him not that his bird count has plummeted to like three thanks to initiating his new blog (see the link in the navigation bar).  Of course, this means I can spend those cold winter days inside birding from my queue in the comfort of my den sipping hot chocolate – yeah!
Western Kingbird shot at Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden Colorado May 2014

Hit the jump to see a lot more pictures of this bird … might even reveal what it is.

Continue reading King of the West

My What Big Feet You Have

Apparently I crossed some kind of red line in the sand from some of my loyal readers. It appears having the audacity to have 8 … count them … 8 posts on the topic of birding is enough to bring out the claws! It is quite surprising that these people are able to be so verbose in their email angst having to tap away on the keyboard with those pointy talons. So kudos to being able to pull that off, but now my email provider is sending me warnings that I’ve exceeded my quota and threatening to send out the National Guard. I even tried to defend myself with the argument that one of the posts was technically just a book report that happened to have some birds on the cover – nope, no appeasing the spurned. Well, we cannot have an unhappy fan base so in an attempt to rectify my wrongs I bring you ….

Hare taken at Rocky Mountain National Park in May 2014

Hoping this cute and cuddly bunny will put everyone in a better mood. This little doe was taken at a trail head in the Rocky Mountain National Park back in May of 2014. (let’s go with “doe” this time because in truth I have absolutely no clue at this point and none of my shots reveal any clues – probably for the best). We had just come off a trail with a healthy collection of snow covering it. The Rocky Mountain May is a lot colder than our Midwest Mays – a lesson learned the first time we went out to Yellowstone at a similar point in the year – burrrrrr. On the return I spotted a Junco hanging out on a fence post and hopped over there to get some shots in the tin. Based on the number of shots I took of that Junco, the birding on the trail must not have been that good. After wearing out my shutter finger I headed back to the vehicle to warm up (guessing this was also at the encouragement of Linda who was likely getting frustrated at my long attention to a single bird). On the way back, this cute fur ball caught my attention hanging out in a small opening under a tree.

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this bundle of fur and find out why it is so intriguing to me.

Continue reading My What Big Feet You Have

A Biltmore Hummer

This is definitely not a month to dawdle.  You wouldn’t think the loss of only two days would be that stressful when it comes to blogging, but trust me, IT DOES!  This, of course, is more of a byproduct of my procrastination than a deliberate curse on my quota obligations by Pope Gregory XIII.  A large portion of blogs lately have been focused on our birding trip to Texas back in November 2013.  Figured I would break from that theme and give you something completely different.  Are you ready for something new?  Okay, you asked it… today’s new topic is …

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird shot at Biltmore Estates in Asheville NC July 2014

A bird! (hehehehe).  I didn’t really deceive you – this particular bird picture was taken in July of 2014 in a completely different state.  Yep, this master of the air currents was shot on our trip out to North Carolina.  On our way, we spent some time at Biltmore Estate.  If you recall, I was in a bind back in 2014 and pulled out a post covering the Mockingbird that was also shot at that time (link here).  Oh the days when posts used to come out in the same year the pictures were actually taken.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird shot at Biltmore Estates in Asheville NC July 2014

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of suspended motion.

Continue reading A Biltmore Hummer

The Big Boys Come Out to Play

I’ve been featuring a lot of birds as of late and just wanted to assure all my readers out there that … you are in store for a lot more of them.  Just being honest, my backlog of bird shots is so large now it is going to buckle the floor in my den.   So, if you happen to like bird posts, you are going to be extremely happy over the next couple of months.  Now, on the other hand, if you happen to consider bird posts as simply pointless filler between my liberal rants or book reviews… well, my absolute apologies.  There is a reason I am trying to get through the bird posts as fast as possible – no, I am not going to reveal why until I get further along with that project.  I’ll try to sprinkle some non bird posts in whenever I can, but for now, check out one of the Greats
Great Egret Shot on Texas Birding Trip - November 2013

Obviously the Great Egret is not a new bird on my list – it appeared on Life Intrigued way back in 2011 (link here). The best thing about the hobby of bird photography is even though you have a bird on your list already … you can always try to improve your shots.  Maybe you can get it in a new setting, displaying some new behavior or maybe just improve on the technicals of taking a photograph.  With the exception of those damn Coots, I’ll still take shots of whatever I see that has feathers.  Just so happens that the Great’s are a lot easier to see (ha).
Great Egret Shot on Texas Birding Trip - November 2013

Hit the jump to see a couple more pictures of this long necked member of the Egret family.

Continue reading The Big Boys Come Out to Play

T in Texas

Been a tough week in Peoria – apparently the plague is making its rounds through the area.  A lot of people have been hit with it at work and now it’s made its way to my household – Linda has been pretty ill the last couple of days.  Not a doctor,  but at this point looks to be some kind of stomach attacking flu (yuck!).  Anyway, trying to keep my distance so I do not fall prey to it.  I can’t afford to lose any training time at the moment with the April half marathon quickly approaching.  While I tend to Linda, figured I’d pop out another post.

Once again digging into the November 2013 Texas birding trip grab bag, I bring you this intriguing bird…
Texas Birding Trip November 2013
Apparently our subject likes to look at himself in the large glass of The Beast.  Strutting its stuff for the camera – “I’m too sexy for my orange legs, too sexy for this beach, and I’m too sexy for my feathers”.  You can thank me later for embedding that song in your head for the rest of the post and likely the rest of the week.
Texas Birding Trip November 2013

Hit the jump to see what this bird is  (although you probably already know!)

Continue reading T in Texas

Dive Bomber

Might as well get the third post out on the Pelican series.  This post is also from the draft queue like the last few posts – definitely chipping away at the processed backlog.  Pretty soon I will actually have to open the door to my digital darkroom and start processing again or I’ll be short on the upcoming quotas.  Always good to have a few held back in case of emergencies, but it is a somewhat demoralizing to have so many laying around just pleading to hit the mainstream ha. I promised you a different perspective of the bird in the previous Brown Pelican posts and here it is ….
KK
Umm, well, not exactly that picture.  I forgot I wanted to set the stage.  That is the traditional perspective of the Pelican coasting through the air with little care in the world.  However, there is one aspect of life that does required attention by all living things… nourishment.  When that time comes for a Pelican, there is a decided transformation from the calm, cool and collected behavior we are used to seeing.  In fact, the whole thing is turned on its head … literally
KLL

Hit the jump to see how this plays out

Continue reading Dive Bomber

We Got the White

Fresh off a huge win for the Green Bay Packers over American’s team the Dallas Cowboys.  This was one of those strange games where it didn’t really bother me who won the game.  I have a lot of respect for Aaron Rogers both in the way he plays the game and probably more important how he handles himself on the field – calm cool and just goes about the business of winning even when the chips are stacked against.  On the other side I have similar respect for Tony Romo.  A fine product out of Eastern Illinois, but he was on the sidelines today watching his rookie replacement Dak Prescott.  Dak has impressed me as well, especially the way he has taken over the reins since Romo’s injury.  With admiration for elements of both teams I have to look for the negatives to determine my favored side.  Front and center Dez Bryant.  ‘Nuff said, go Pack!

Decided to catch a bit of the Steelers vs Chiefs game and since I cannot just sit and watch a game (what a waste of time), figured it would be a good time to pop another post off of the draft queue.  Since I went with the Brown Pelicans in the last post, figured it was only fair to give a little love to their white counterparts.
White Pelican Shot on Texas Birding Trip - November 2013

Unlike the Brown Pelicans in the Texas region, American White Pelicans are not year round inhabitants.  They migrate down from the colder regions to bask in the sun like the rest of us heat seekers.  Thanks to Robert who was giving birding talks at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, Linda and I now know an interesting fact.  White Pelicans are the largest birds in the region … when they are down there.  When they migrate back, the Brown Pelican inherits the top of the size chart.  In jest, that tidbit became our mantra for the rest of the trip repeated at every sighting of the Pelican.  This was generally prompted by Linda who basically doubled her bird knowledge thanks to that informative comment from the local bird authority.   If we had more time we might have taken Robert up on one of his birding talks – seemed like he was up on his aviary facts and the details on what all the local restaurants were doing for New Year’s.

White Pelican Shot on Texas Birding Trip - November 2013

Since the Whites are pretty common here in the Midwest I didn’t spend a lot of time getting new shots in the tin – just took a few that I thought were interesting.  Wish I could tell you where we took these, but my memory is failing me at the moment – these were taken back in November 2013.  My guess is somewhere in the Galveston area or possibly off the shore in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.  That is the downsize of having such a backed up photo queue and an aging brain.

White Pelican Shot on Texas Birding Trip - November 2013

Before I let you go, it might be worth mentioning that neither one of these two White Pelicans were breeding – neither one are sporting the large knob that protrudes off the top of their bill (about 2/3rds the way down) signifying they are a breeding adult.  Admittedly a crappy picture, but you can see what it looks like in a previous post (link here).  Also note, the more dusky one in the back is likely a juvenile.

Just a quick post today folks, catch you again real soon.

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How Now Brown Pelican

It’s another day of playing catch up here at Life Intrigued.  In the same pattern as the last post, this one comes from the draft queue – Yeah, I’m taking the easy way out but I’m dragging today having completed my first outdoor hill room of the young year.  Only ran a little over 6 today, but it was a struggle thanks to all the black ice that was doing its best to put me on my ass.  Only lost traction a couple of times, but the required shorter stride only added to the burden.  I still miss being in Texas a few weeks ago, so to help bring back some fond memories, going with another post from our November 2013 trip.

KK

These shots were taken at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Austwell, Texas.  That was our target destination back in 2013 and more of a side stop for this year’s trip down there.  Of course, we were down there for the chance to get the Whoopers (link here).  After that, everything else we got down there was just a bonus.  I already had the Brown Pelican from the Ft Myers trip (link here), so no +1.
KK

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of the Brown Pelican.

Continue reading How Now Brown Pelican