Tag: Benson AZ

I Love Lucy

It has been a good week around the Intrigued HQ. To kick things off we held what I believe to be our 4th Annual Intrigued Corporate Warbler Watch and Walk in the Woods event. Jan was busy organizing her St. Jude event at the local high school, but Brad was able to make it out along with Lisa, a fellow local birder who we met up while we were down in Texas – it really is a small world. We got some really good finds and had a great day walking the back trails at a nearby state park. This time managed to come back tick free unlike the week before when one of those hell spawn blood sucking heathens broke my defenses and started draining me of vital fluids. Follow that up with another outing with Brad to tin the Prairie Warbler for the year. Talking about calling your shot, Brad said it would be at this place and audible from the parking lot. Sure enough, we make a quick loop around a nearby field where we heard then spotted it and then right when we got back to the parking lot, there was another one waving and singing its sweet notes for our listening pleasure – note, it did occur to me it was really just mocking us for walking right past it into the field. The recent bird haul put me at 302 with my 3 provisionals for the year! Then the cherry on top, came home from that successful Warbler check and popped off my first 10 mile nonstop run. Life is good.

Per my last post, this month’s theme is “May I have another [chance]” where I am featuring field encounters that didn’t … for a kind perspective…go as well as expected. Primarily this involves some degree of craptastic execution behind the glass. Not always my fault (okay, mostly my fault, well, all my fault) the shots came out soft, blown out, dark abyss or eclipsed. Normally these would be promptly slammed into the circular file with a fitting commentary, but some of these are lifers and no telling when I’ll get another chance at it…but when I do, I PROMISE to get better tins. With that said, here is today’s less than stellar featured feathered friend.

Lucy's Warbler found at CT RV Resort, Benson, AZ in March 2025

This particular species is especially painful as I did get a second chance and pretty much blew that as well. Hit the jump and I’ll show you what I was able to clean up enough to tell it is at least a bird.

Continue reading I Love Lucy

My Eyes Spy a Stripe

Welcome to May everyone! I’d say that April went by fast, but I just think my time perception needs a calibration to make the accelerated calendar page turning frequency the new norm. I’ll just note when it goes slower than expected. A couple of quick notes on the personal front. Successfully completed my first ~9.5 mile nonstop run on pavement with some serious hills in the mix. There is still pain (norm per surgeon), but it feels strong and time to start pushing it to get back into ultra shape – yay!! The other note is we’ll be heading to the southwest in a couple of weeks for the Canine Performance Events Agility Nationals competition. Not exactly excited about the drive, but, as currently planned, at least 6 brand new states to bird and a pass through my favorite birding locations in Nevada and Arizona on the trek back. Translated, a lot more fodder to share on the blog – double yay!!

With that out of the way, let’s discuss May’s theme. Last month I hit you with the Breeding Season and a few months before that the Circle of Life. Thinking I am going with “Thank you sir, May I have another [chance]” (link here). Long form, I am always thankful for the opportunity to observe a given species, but at times I’d really appreciate another chance to execute on the capture. To a person, we here at Intrigued do our very best to bring you the very best photography product we can to accompany our experiences. Our cleaning personnel can attest to the piles of rejects on the cutting room floor in the digital darkroom. The downside is a number of our +1s from the field may go uncelebrated due to technical mistakes, obstructed views or fleeting observations. Every once in a while, I’ll comb through the trash and pull out a few shots to keep just as evidence for the listing. If you have seen the Listers documentary on YouTube (and you definitely should if you are a birder – link here), you’ve witnessed the feeling when a sighting is “stolen away”. We’ll see how this goes – might end it early if the images give me too much cringe – but let’s start with this +1 featured feathered friend.

Zone-Tailed Hawk found at Holy Trinity Monastery, Saint David, AZ in March 2025

Wait, that is definitely not a +1, hit the jump to learn about what was flying nearby which was definitely a lifer!

Continue reading My Eyes Spy a Stripe

Twisted My Ankle

We are officially at the 4 week mark since the ankle surgery. That means it is has been 4 weeks since I have put any weight on it. I have noted that is quite an accomplishment for me. Unfortunately, I have ANOTHER two weeks of this insanity before I can start the physical therapy phase and finally get start introducing weight bearing (in between the screams from the PT). I have been doing my best to keep myself busy. A huge chunk of time has been devoted to working on my backlog (did I just hear cheers, someone definitely cheered), trying my best to catch up on my post reading and all the work in the haunt lab – I’ve linked the latest short video at the end if you are interested). YouTube is now my friend – there isn’t stupid Cat video I haven’t watched! In all this, there are always posts I can work on, so let’s get to it!

Battling my inner Venom:

“Do it!”
“But I don’t want to do it”
“Yes you do, do it now”
“Umm, really don’t wanna”
“You shall do it and like it”
“But it pains me”
“You are already in pain, what’s the difference!?!”
“Hmm, that is a valid point, but I’d rather do something else…anything else”
“Do you really want to stare at that series in the queue anymore?”
“Sigh, but I’ll say you twisted my ankle”

Here you go, today’s featured ugh, feathered ugh, friend double ugh Finch – make it stop.

House Finch found at CT RV Resort in Benson, Az in January 2024

As a general rule, I take at least one picture of every bird I see when out in the field. The amount of additional shots I take of a specimen is based on a complex internal mental algorithm which would probably rival any current AI engine. Is the lighting halfway reasonable, did I get a good enough shot to officially claim the check, is there a good story to share on the blog, what is likelihood of seeing it again, are there new behaviors to document, where does it rank on my “cool birds” list, is it on my “crap bird” list (I’m talking about you Asshats link here) and is it out of region all come into play. The logic engine turns, the lights dim and depending on the results zero or more pulses will be triggered to the shutter finger. This processing is repeated, of course, on subsequent shots.

Every once in a while I surprise myself in the digital darkroom and ask myself – “what the hell Bri, did the algorithm glitch?” Hit the jump if you want to see more of apparently one of those surprise results from the field.

Continue reading Twisted My Ankle

A Wriend of Mine

Mother Nature has decided I need a break from birding and has turned off the heater down here in south Texas. It has been 20 days of intense birding since the calendar turned and now officially at 179+2 provisionals. That puts me on par with our best Average Year back in 2023 (link here) and significantly ahead of our 2024 productivity (link here) – swapping the Texas and Arizona trips really hurt our numbers last year. Needless to say, plenty of new blog fodder this young year to take us well into 2027. In the midst of all the tin filling I completely forgot to announce the official start of our 18th year here at Intrigued. For all the staff, we’ll officially celebrate once everyone gets back from the field. Note, Brad and Jan are due back to the mainland soon, so get the place tidied up and stoke up the furnace.

Speaking of Brad and Jan, they actually beat me to today’s featured feathered friend.

Cactus Wren found at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson, AZ in January 2024

Hit the jump if you are “Wren” for it! (the puns will continue until you beg for mercy ha)

Continue reading A Wriend of Mine