Allyson Marks – Wildlife Intrigued

Can be Bite-y…by Brad Marks

Howdy all! It has been a hectic time as of late, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel – granted, Linda frequently tells me to stay away from the bright light in the sky. Fortunately, this one comes from the lightening of the schedule. One more major dog show next week (Canine Performance Dog Nationals) in my hometown of Springfield. After that, home for a good spell so I can go into beast mode training for the daunting 50K in early July. In the bustle we did manage to hold an Intrigued bird outing last week that was quite productive…at the cost of HR berating me about an office full of “Warbler Necks”. More to come on that front. For now I am going to focus on getting packed while Brad takes you to the water’s edge. Quick note, one of the locations mentioned happens to be where a similar encounter left me prematurely grey!

Take it away Brad…

We learned a very valuable birding rule of thumb: Be very aware of your surroundings. There can be rocks, uneven ground, water, mud, camera equipment, snakes, holes, birds nesting on the ground, etc. All of the above can be an inconvenience if encountered, or perhaps even painful. But none of those can really ruin your day like today’s topic. Since we encountered this subject all over South Carolina, I’m going to take you to many locations for today’s story.

One of our first stops was Jarvis Creek Park. It is a very nice park with many hiking paths including a 1-mile paved walking path around the central pond. The park was full of families picnicking and having fun. Dogs were pulling their people all around the path.

After about halfway around the pond, Jan came across something that had its eye on the tourists and small critters on leashes. I was up on the footpath talking with someone walking their dog, a boxer named Oscar if I remember correctly. Jan walked down the bank by the water to get this photo.

Want to see more spiky creatures (you know you do), hit the jump!

Need a Tow?…by Brad Marks

Linda and I have just arrived at the Purina Farms Event Arena in Gray Summit, MO, which means we are officially surrounded by Poodles. Small ones, medium ones, and even ones that stand three times the height of ours. Pick a standard breed color and it will not take long before a matching Prima-Donna will prance by, nose in air and sparkles on the collar. Yep, we are at the AKC Poodle Nationals or Poodle Specialty for short. The boys will be competing tomorrow in the agility ring and then give way to the confirmation events scheduled for later in the week. That would be rows and rows of grooming tables covering an entire exhibit hall – imagine a Build-A-Bear factory had exploded. Once that is done, Ruger will toe the line for FastCAT, which is the canine equivalent of the 100 yard dash (hoping to improve on his 19.5mph PR). Time for the pups to earn their keep ha. I also have a three part Halloween themed post to get through on the mothership that is about 7 months overdue (I swear I retired..where does the time go!!). While we get things taken care of here, Brad is going to take the Intrigued reins and bring you wings I’ve never seen!

Take it away Brad…

Ever run across a very unassuming bird, just sitting and minding its own business? That’s what happened for me on this bird.

I was wandering along the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve (UNBNP) trying to find Jan. She was photographing the California Thrasher (link here). I thought I saw her on a parallel path so I tried to find my way over to her.

On the way, there was a smallish tree/bush with a brown lump in it. The chances were very high that it was a bird I’d never seen or photographed before, so I snuck up on it. I chuckled to myself (CTM). I’m over 6 feet tall, carrying a very large piece of glass on a long stick. I think it’s hard for me to sneak up on anything on pebbly gravel paths.

As I got closer, it seemed to be alerting someone. John Wayne Airport was still pumping airplanes into the air at an astonishing rate drowning out the bird’s call. I sure am glad my house isn’t within hearing distance of an airport. The wildlife in the preserve must be accustomed to the noise to the point they can’t hear it any more. Sort of “ear blind,” if you will.

Upon further inspection (on the big screen at home) I noticed the tiny orange eye ring. I’m pretty sure there was no way I would have seen this at the time, and it is a great indicator if you can see it.

Hit the jump to reveal the identity.

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.

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

The Intrigued Family Wishes You a Very Merry Christmas

Everyone here in the Intrigued family would like to extend a hearty Merry Christmas to each and all! We have had a wonderful year here and that is entirely due to all our wonderful readers.

Hit the jump for some more merry good cheer!

NAWWS (Not Another White Wading Shorebird)…by Brad Marks

I do not want to put a big ol’ sour rant before Brad’s post, so I am just going to quickly mention that I am having boatloads of WordPress issues as of late. Not so much on the posting side, rather on the commenting side – particularly commenting on other people’s posts. It’s a crap shoot if it works and for the life of me I am unable to figure it out. This is especially infuriating for a career IT person who earned his early retirement exorcising ghosts in the machine. I’ll update later, but for now, accept my apologies if it appears like I have been ignoring your posts. Where my eyes happen to be blood red, today’s feature has a much more calming and pleasing color. Enjoy another of Brad’s adventures while I round up a Goat for some yoga therapy.

Take it away Brad…

I know, I know. I can hear it now. Not another white wading shorebird. OK. It’s not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen today’s featured feathered friend wading. Not that they don’t wade in very shallow water from time to time. It’s just . . . I’ve never seen them wading. Or swimming. Or diving. Actually, I’ve never seen them doing much of anything except watching the world go by (see Notes). Plenty of sites show them to be very active. I usually see them sitting on a post; or on a rock in the water somewhere. Or at their most vigorous, casually paddling around on the edge of the Mississippi River. In fitting with the theme of recently published stories, our guest today is not a wading shorebird. Nor is it white. It is nearly black, except for piercing emerald green eyes.

Have you guessed our featured feathered friend today?

Hit the jump to reveal the latest “emerald” gem from South Carolina.

Cotton Balls on Stilts…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone! Linda and finally made it back from Rochester, MN. We were up there for Linda’s annual heart checkup and I am pleased to report everything looks excellent. Linda has a bit of PTSD on these visits from all that has been through up there, but she pulled through like a champ. We even celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant, Canadian Honker – DELICIOUS. Think I have mentioned this before, but there are two things that always strike me about the Mayo campus. First is the perfect entropy that plays out in their waiting room. It happens in every medical waiting room since Covid, it’s just on a larger scale there. By entropy, I am referring to the fact patients will always pick the set of chairs that maximizes their distance from anyone else. I enjoy watching the visible thought process as the options narrow ha. The other intriguing element is everyone walking around with cotton balls on their arms. Pretty sure 95% of the patients with visits that day have to start out with a phlebotomist. Just thinking about all those pokes makes me want to faint. Luckily Brad is back with a much happier story about fluffy balls to help put my mind at ease.

Take it away Brad…

Have you ever been digging through some stuff piled on your desk or the kitchen counter and found something you thought you already took care of? Well, that’s this story. I started writing just after Jan and I were in South Carolina this past February. We were (OK, I was) overwhelmed with the embarrassment of riches of birds to photograph and write about. I think I mentioned in an earlier story that we took well north of 11,000 photos over the course of three days. Our primary reason for being in the area was not birding or photography. We had really been trying to leave snowy February in Illinois behind for a week. We also wanted to visit a State Park or two to be out in Nature without a parka. It just so happened that the birding was rather spectacular, “forcing” us to fill up memory cards along the way. I guess that’s what two backup SSD drives are for.

At first, I treated every white wading bird the same as I was trying to identify them. I learned that some white wading birds are supposed to be blue, not white. I also learned that all of the medium-sized white wading birds aren’t all the same bird. I guess you need to pay attention to their feet, legs, and bills to know for sure.

Hit the jump to learn more about the “fluffy factor”!

Hall’s Pond…by Brad Marks

Going to be setting a new land speed record for getting this last post of the month out – check off another successful meet on the Intrigued post quota. At some point my superiors are going to stop accepting that as a “stretch” goal ha. Have good news for everyone, we have “proof of life” for Brad. That sounds a lot more exciting that it really is as in today’s day and age, it simply means we got a text he’s on his way home. Probably dating myself here, but it feels just like the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom show. If you recall (assuming you are old enough), Marlin Perkins would sit back in his smoking chair with a snifter of Scotch while Jim is out in the field getting mauled by a pack of Hyenas. “Honey, I would like to get this bird located here {spins globe stopping it with a well placed finger}, what do you think?” “There!!! HELL NO..send Brad.” “Good idea, where’s my snifter?” I am sure he will have a number of future posts covering his adventures. In the meantime we are pulling one of his queue to keep you entertained while I tend to things that go bump in the night.

Three short little days until the first night of the Haunted Trail..as they say..or rather sing “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn” (link here). Sure wish I had “Eight days a week”.

Kick it Brad…

If you’ve ever been to Boston, you know how frantic life can be there. Like any other large city, there are big buildings, crazy people everywhere “driving” with a coffee in one hand and a smartphone in the other, and other people with a smartphone in one hand and a cup of coffee in their other hand posing as pedestrians. Of course, nearly everyone has obligatory earbuds firmly ensconced. Jan and I were visiting Boston for the umpteenth time (really, I’ve lost count over the decades) for our goddaughter’s high school graduation. Knowing I’d like to see what birds were living in and around Boston, our friend Connie suggested I try a little pond near our hotel in Brookline.

When I first arrived at Armory Park, all I could see was a giant dog park (very few were picking up, BTW, so watch your step if you visit) and a half dozen tennis courts with players who thought they were getting ready for Wimbledon. It was then that I noticed a heavily wooded area behind a fence with a swing gate; that’s where I headed: Hall’s Pond. I went through the gate, wandered along the wooded trail, and came upon a serene little pond with a small deck extending over the water. The pond is roughly 150 feet wide by about 200 feet long. The surrounding gardens and wooded area may only be 3-4x as big as the pond itself.

Hit the jump to see more finds from Hall’s Pond.

GAWWS (Great! Another White Wading Shorebird) or Déjà Vu All Over Again…by Brad Marks

We are now in the pressure zone, a mere two weeks before the big haunt and my days are starting to feel like back to back ultras. The good news is we are making progress – a lot of that thanks to my brother Ron spending multiple days down here helping me out. Probably have maybe 3 or 4 days max to wrap up the new props before clearing the trails and starting the mind-numbing battery installation phase. Last year required well over 300 AAs, 50 AAAs, 120 9vs and a myriad of other formats – with all the new props those numbers are going to jump significantly. Note, things would go a LOT faster if the younger generation(s) would stop sucking on batteries causing that #$%@#%@#$# little screw to be on all the battery compartment lids. Fortunately in all this chaos, I have been able to get in a little birding…

You might have noticed I am back to using my injured elbow…how about we just keep that to ourselves for now, first rule of Fight Club – “Don’t talk about the elbow”. While I toil away, Brad is stepping in to once again throw me a lifeline with one of his birding adventures. He is currently out in the field on assignment, so responses will be dependent on his connectivity – if we are lucky he will stumble upon some forgotten jungle tribes with Internet access points and let us know how it is going. Well, “I Bis” be getting back to the haunt work.

Take it away Brad…

I think I’m finally beginning to understand why Brian has such a backlog of bird stories. When he and Linda travel south during the winter, he racks up 200+ birds per “vacation.” Jan and I encountered 56 on our trip to Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina last February. As I was reviewing photos for other stories, I noticed this unassuming bird in the background of many of the photos. I started writing this story just after our trip. I guess it was on my keyboard too long because in the meantime, Brian published a story on this exact same bird (link here). Well, not the precise bird, but a bird of the same species. So, what to do, what to do . . . Should I scrap it or continue writing about the same bird, but with a different perspective and habitat? After a week or so I chose to continue the story.

I have to admit that initially, I was going for the herons and egrets. But our featured bird today is no less exciting than those are. Granted, its name is grander than the lighting in these photos allows. Jan and I found these wading birds very early in the day, less than an hour after sun-up.

Hit the jump to read more about our pink legged friend.

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.

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