Las Vegas NV – Wildlife Intrigued

Two in the Bush…by Brad Marks

Welcome to 2025 everybody!! Admittedly, I am now officially 0 for 2 in actually getting the date right, but don’t worry, the year is still young…there will be plenty more mistakes ha. The Intrigued holiday break is officially past and those not already assigned to the field are back in the office, stoking the fireplaces, cleaning up after the raucous year end party and based on the last weather report, shoveling the parking lot and salting the walkways. Fortunately, Linda and I are getting ready to enjoy the sun-soaked days of South Padre Island. Birding has been excellent so far including some very successful chases to pad the 2024 Average Year (not updated, link here) and getting the 2025 version off to a great start. Best of all, we have met some extremely kind and helpful birders on our trip down here! A big thank you and shoutout to Tim, Q, Tom, Tonya and Arthur – best of luck on your 2025 birding goals. While I dig out the sunscreen and finish up all the 2024 paperwork (hope I didn’t leave all those staff expense reports in the fireplace, wink), Brad is going to bring you a few finds from Sin City.

Take it away Brad…

As Brian has stated many times over the years, he has quite a backlog of photos to process and write stories about. I’m nowhere near his backlog levels. Even if I am, it’s only because of the grueling travel schedule Intrigued HQ has Jan and I on this year. Looking back through the queue of stories, I found this one that I had started, but had “misplaced” and not taken the time to finish. This story is from our trip to Las Vegas during September 2023.

In the afterglow of seeing a Desert Tortoise (see here) in Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas, Jan and I decided to drive to the Willow Springs Picnic area to see the Petroglyph Wall.

We arrived at the park late in the day, after 4:30pm. Shadows were long in the canyon. We weren’t hopeful of seeing many desert birds. The shadows also helped reduce the desert temperature to a comfortable range while standing outside of the air-conditioned rental car. Early Fall can be quite warm in the desert. Forget about that “dry heat” nonsense, hot is hot. While we did see a few musings carved in the stone at the Petroglyph Wall, that wasn’t the really interesting part.

As Jan and I walked further up the trails and into the shadows in the canyon, we were cranking up the ISO as we went. Our cameras (replaced with the next model since writing this story, they did each have over 200K clicks on them) were most effective up to about ISO 3200, but past that it’s really an iffy proposition to get publishable photos. As it was, I thought I was stretching the cameras to the max with high ISO, aperture as wide as the lens would allow and a slower shutter speed than I would like to be using. Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) helped a bit, but not nearly enough to keep the other settings low enough to catch spastic little birds in the scrub brush.

Sure enough, there were two little birds teasing us mercilessly. These LBJ’s lived there and probably knew our cameras were being taxed. Both of them were within feet of the ever-darkening trail. Each would flit to the outside of their respective bush/shrub, pause for about 1/250^th of a second, and then bury themselves in the dark interiors again.

Bewick's Wren found at Red Rocks Canyon Conservation Area by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about these very active finds.

An American Imposter

Although we have closed the Intrigued HQ so the staff can enjoy the holidays, thought I would jump in for one last post before the calendar turns. Some could accuse me of trying to pad the end of the year stats, but all the performance reviews are already in the books so this is pure bonus…in addition to giving me a break from all the last minute Texas birding I am trying to get in before we reset for the 2025 Average Year (link here – note not updated yet). Additional annual +1 opportunities are getting really slim. Currently sitting at 322 species for 2024 which is a boost from the 317 I was sitting at before we made our way down here. That now includes 2 new lifers from Bolivar Flats and Galveston Island – one of which was a rarity that took Linda and I a solid three days of hunting to finally get in the tin. Those in the Texas birding community know which one I am referring to, but I’ll keep the details for a future post. While looking at the queue I loaded up before we left home, decided to go with another rarity found during our January trip to Last Vegas.

American Robin found at Corn Creek Station in Desert NWR, Las Vegas, NV January 2024

Follow the jump to reveal this special rarity

A Greater Setback

I suppose you could say it is a fitting time for getting things “wrapped” up. All the excitement of seeing the festive colored boxes with their pretty bows bringing joy to kids and adults. The catalyst for this heartwarming affair, a jolly big-waisted fellow that shimmies down the chimney (or alternative burglary entry point into your homestead). Unfortunately, my coal colored gift this holiday year reflects some bad actions earlier in the year. To be exact, October 12th, one of those days that now takes its rightful place among my other noteworthy “mishaps”. The ankle specialist wasn’t wearing festive clothes yesterday, but he did take the time to wrap my gift in a shiny shade of black coal…ho, ho, ho, you are the proud recipient of a non-displaced double fracture! Grinch said WHAT!?!?! Now, in my joint’s defense I need to apologize for all the hurtful comments hurled at it since race-day. It was not faking it for sympathy, a stunt that it has pulled many times in the past – nope, it was damaged and now I am the proud receiver of a black boot that will loudly proclaim I’m damaged goods to anyone we come upon during the next 6 weeks. No running, of course, no long birding hikes (we’ll see) and beach time is likely right out. My Texas trip just took a mighty blow thanks in large part to the first orthopedic surgeon I went to in early November telling me it was nothing, take two aspirin and find your own way out of the office. Lost 4 weeks of recovery time and I’ve been doing chiro visits and physical therapy that was likely making it worse – shocked that it didn’t displace as a result of all the yanking and twisting. While I try to move on to the acceptance phase, decided it was an appropriate time to feature the totem animal for all runners.

Greater Roadrunner found at Saguaro National Park West, Tucson, AZ in January 2024

Hit the jump for some looks at a bird that probably has more running shoes in its closet than I do..and that is saying a LOT.

Déjà Vu All Over Again…by Brad Marks

First off, we want to send our wishes out to our Texas based family, friends and others that were recently impacted by Hurricane Beryl. Texas is our home away from home and it is disheartening to hear about them experiencing another severe weather related event. Over the years, we have barely escaped crippling ice storms, hunkered down for a wicked tropical thunderstorm and witnessed the destruction at Rockport from Hurricane Harvey (link here). You are all proven Texas Strong! Locally I am going stir crazy waiting out the final days before the big race. Been getting some Beryl fallout as it has been raining extensively here the last couple of days and likely to continue up through the race. This race is already a “sufferfest in the valleys of death” – adding in a mudfest isn’t going to help my spirits any (link here). While I make tweaks to the final race plan, Brad is going to take you back to California…no wait, Vegas…so confused ha.

Take it away Brad…

Ever have the feeling you’ve done something before? Or been someplace before that you’ve never been to. That sort of happened to me when I was reviewing photos from a recent trip to Las Vegas and points nearby.

This story, and the bird, are nearly identical to another one, except that all of the facts have been changed. The venue is different. The nearby airport is different. The bird is different (mostly). The desert setting is nearly identical. The lighting conditions are nearly identical with the featured bird sitting high on a twig like before. The camera body is the same. The lens is different. Jan took all of the photos of both birds. The fact that I was nowhere nearby is identical. In fact, I didn’t even know Jan photographed this bird, too, until I reviewed the photos at home, just like last time.

Wait a minute. Is he just re-publishing the story about the California Thrasher (here) and simply retitling it? Has Wildlife Intrigued gone bonkers? Well, sort of. See if you can spot the differences from this photo.

Jan and I were, can you guess, on vacation again. Last time we were in California at the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve in California. This time we were at the Clark County Wetlands Park just outside Las Vegas, Nevada.

As is the custom, once we park the car, I assemble Jan’s camera first. This was the first trip with her brand-new Nikon 200-500mm lens. (Wildlife Intrigued uses exclusively Nikon equipment. If anyone from Nikon is reading this and wishes to sponsor the Wildlife Intrigued blog, please contact our Legal department.) I knew she was itching to try it out on birds. Once the lens was on the camera, I handed it over and got out of the way. For some reason, it took me a few extra minutes to assemble my camera this time. Maybe because we traveled by air and had to use two camera bags with bits scattered all over. It could also have been that I was tangled up in my new Black Rapid strap (not their fault). After a minute of untying nylon webbing knots, I was ready to go. In the meantime, Jan was busy capturing this feathered friend.

I wandered across the empty parking lot to the first trail into the brush. Literally, as my feet hit the well-groomed trail, my mobile phone rang. I didn’t recognize the phone number (it wasn’t in my contact list) and was going to let it go to voicemail. But remembering I’d had a call from that area code a few days before, with a similar number that was legit, I answered it. It was the hotel we had booked to observe the eclipse (booked 18 months prior to the eclipse). The little town near the center line of totality for the April 2024 eclipse had been hit by a tornado. About the only buildings left standing in town were our hotel and the school gymnasium. As tragic as that is, the senior center and senior housing were completely leveled. The hotel was going to house the newly homeless seniors and needed my room. After a bit of teeth gnashing, I realized I really had no choice and let the room go. It’s now scramble time for finding a spot to view the eclipse. At the time, the eclipse was less than two weeks away, which meant that finding a hotel room anywhere near the centerline of the eclipse, without costing my firstborn child, would be impossible. (See the story Twice in a Lifetime for the result of the search if you are curious.)

Just as I hung up the phone Jan came back and wanted to show me a bird. As we walked up to the twig where it was sitting, it had chosen to skedaddle. (I really didn’t get to see it until later.)

Hit the jump to find out today’s feathered friend.

So Long Bunny, Happy New Year!

Best Wishes for a very happy New Year Everyone! This morning I was thinking to myself how overjoyed I was to finally close the door on this current year. According to a site I was reading regarding Chinese astrology, the year 2023 was supposed to be the “worst luck” for anyone born in the year of the Rooster, Horse, Rat or Rabbit. Immediate assumption – I was a Rabbit. Looking back on it, this past year lived up to that prediction. Up to this point in my running career, I had made it to every single starting line. Banged up at times, feeling under the weather, sure, but my ass was on that line to let the chips fall as they may. That streak was ended thanks to the “root of all evil” (as Tim over at Off Center & Not Even has accurately coined it) and a devilspawn tree. The 50K ultra trail race lost and still doing nightly therapy to try and get the broken elbow back to something closer to pre-break mobility. Then managed to blow my back out the day before the 50 mile ultra race. More recently, for the second year in the row we planned to head out to Arizona only to have Linda come down sick the day before. Canceled it last December and had to delay our departure this year. As I began to mentally list all the shortfalls for the year I started visualizing giant ears, button nose and those monster feet of the Nevada Jackrabbit.

Jackrabbit found at Henderson, LV in March 2023

Then I stopped and smiled – because that is EXACTLY what you do when you encounter one of those absolutely adorable creatures. My outlook changed immediately and a flood of counter offers came flooding in.

Hit the jump if you need a shot of cuteness to right any frowns.

A Thanksgiving Gamble

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! As this is the time to reflect and be thankful for those around us, I wanted to start by stating how appreciative I am of having Linda and the boys as an important part of my life. We touch a little upon Linda’s influence from time to time here on the blog, but reality is she’s the main element that makes everything run smoothly behind the scenes and has a secret “nudge” talent that keeps me on the rails. I rarely leave the house without hearing “Make good choices!”. That warning has a fast decaying half-life the longer I am away, but definitely keeps me mindful during the early ultra-miles. Unfortunately, our parents have since passed, still thankful for the valuable life lessons they bestowed before going to a better place. Our older brothers (and their families) are always there to right our frowns, to act as our sounding boards and always quick with a hand whenever we need them. Our virtual family here at Intrigued are simply the best and there isn’t enough time to cover all the important work they do each and every day to make our multiple blogs and other endeavors successful. At the “gamble” it doesn’t go to their heads, yes, that includes our legal department – Brad has really whipped that group into shape and haven’t had a single complaint since regarding their former notorious office shenanigans ha!

Lastly, I wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to all you out there that read our musings, bear through my rants and willing to offer us a kind like, a quick wit, key insights or additional information related to our posts. You are the reason Brad and I (and our editorial staff) can’t wait to share the next adventure from the field. We appreciate your time and wish you a safe and filling Thanksgiving holiday!

Speaking of “gambles”, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend(s).

Gambel's Quail at Sunset Park, Las Vegas in March 2023

Hit the jump to read more about our Wild Turkey substitutes!

Slow and Steady…by Brad Marks

The Halloween season has come to a close which brings with it a mixture of sadness and relief. We hate to see it end, but it also feels like the steam has finally been released from the pressure cooker. Yesterday (the 1st) was “Spirit Day” as we have come to call it. The night before the haunters were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of ghouls and monsters danced in their heads. Away to the local Spirit “popup” Halloween store we flew like a flash for what to our wondering eyes should appear but an entire store at 50% off. A bundle of props we flung on our backs. We were heard to exclaim as we drove out of sight, we can’t wait until the next haunt night! Actually, there is a little pressure still left in the cooker as I have to find places to store all the new stuff – eh, worry about that another day ha. In addition to celebrating another successful haunting season I also managed to reach an annual running goal. In all the Halloween chaos and injury setbacks, I managed to still hit my 1200 mile annual running goal – 60 days early!

I mainly bring this up as a lead in to let you know Brad will be taking the helm to give me a badly needed rest and because his post happens to be about another trail “speed demon”.

Take it away Brad (and Jan)…

Let me set the stage here for you.

It’s late September. Jan and I are in a National Park in southern Nevada just outside Las Vegas. We are in the desert with Red Rock all around. That’s right, it’s Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 20 minutes outside of Las Vegas. The temperature is in the upper 80’s or low 90’s at 4pm. Yes, we remembered to bring water with us.

We flashed our Annual Park Pass (surely you all have one of these beauties by now) at the entrance gate and started on the 13-mile scenic drive to see what we could see. One of the first things we saw surprised us a little bit.

It was a “Tortoise Crossing” sign. I figured the chances of seeing a Desert Tortoise were just as high as our seeing a Bighorn Sheep in Arches National Park (still haven’t seen one there, despite the myriad of road signs). Although the Elk Crossing signs near Estes Park, CO are very accurate.

About four miles into the scenic drive, we came upon a white sedan with its doors open and flashers on, taking up the right side of the road. We crept past and parked to see if they needed any help. Two young men (college age I’m guessing) were kneeling in front of the car. I suspected car trouble.

Imagine the surprise when Jan and I got out of our car to find out what they were doing.

Hit the jump to find out what the surprise was!

Brags, Stones and Scaups

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again, I have no idea how I got anything done while I was in the corporate grind. Even with the forced downtime to recover from the recent ultra race, it still felt like I was “busy”. The bright spot is looking back I was able to get a number of the “Bri-do” items checked off. The break gave me a chance to turn my attention to the Mothership with two mega posts on this year’s Halloween Haunted Trail Prop Tutorials – the new 2023 tombstones (link here)

..and the Radioactive Spiders (link here). Along with those prop posts, also threw in the Bix 7 recap (link here) and the all too painful recollection from the recent 100K ultra attempt that caused the whole extended rest in the first place (link here). Definitely some heavy lifting posts. Now time to get back to the “wild’ side where we have plenty of material to bring you. Brad just sent me a number of new adventure posts you will surely enjoy and I still need to dip my toe into our Texas and Florida adventures. I want to give Brad and family a bit more time to focus on their affairs, so you are with me today….but first a quick brag.

Ruger Fastcat Beginner Title October 22, 2023

Congrats to Linda and Ruger who earned their Beginner FastCAT Title yesterday. Basically the 100 yard dash for doggies. Found something Ruger was basically born to compete in and he absolutely loves it. In previous runs he was in the 19.5mph range – dialed it back this weekend to 18.5mph which is still amazing (they had two patches of straw on the course covering muddy areas which he didn’t like and basically leaped over it each time likely accounting for the slower time).

Guessing about now you are wondering if we are ever going to get to the featured duck of the day. Without further delay…

Greater Scaup found at Sunset Park in Las Vegas in March 2023

Hit the jump to see a few more pictures of our yellow-eyed wave runner.

Black Forest Pie

Today’s post comes with some sadness as a member of the extended Intrigued family was laid to rest this afternoon. From wonderful stories learned and the good people that surrounds her, clearly she had a far reaching impact and will be truly missed by all. With deepest sympathies to the family, relatives and friends.

As you can tell from the post output as of late, I am still trying to recover from last weekend’s run. Getting antsy as sitting around (technically in this case, laying around) isn’t my thing and Linda knows all too well that a non-running Bri starts to get the crazies – NOBODY WANTS THAT! For now, trying to get through while doing my best to get ahead of the monthly quota for a change. Honestly, a bit of a win-win for all of us ha. Last post I brought you the Redhead Duck, If you recall, I mentioned with one possible exception, that species is pretty distinguishable in the field. At the time I was thinking the Canvasback Duck could cause some confusion. B. across the pond (link here), pointed out their Pochards are similarly colored and after some research on this UK Duck, I can absolutely confirm, not only similar, but basically doppelgangers. Fortunately for us, the two species do not overlap that much. For those Stateside, thought I would go ahead and cover the one we might have difficulties with.

Canvasback found at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of the Canvasback and a bit of a discussion on the similarities and differences between them and Redheads.

Red Back, Red Elbow, Red Feet, Red Knees and Redheads

I should probably start by addressing the elephant in the post – another year, another attempt at the 100K ultra run and unfortunately, the exact same results. Last year, extremely disappointed missing the 100K mark, this year ecstatic I made it one mile much less 50. Full summary in an upcoming post, but the synopsis is the master plan of completing the 50 mile race, tossing that finish for a DNF after one loop of the 100 mile category fell short (again). Called it after completing the 50 mile distance and accepted the finisher belt buckle. Too much to overcome – the elbow still in recovery and unable to stand up the day before the race thanks to blowing up the back tearing down the trail. Already missed the 50K this year, wasn’t going to miss this start. Again, details to come, but I lathered up with Tiger Balm before each loop and gritted through the 10 mile repeats. Bad enough, but tragedy struck on the second loop – nailed a hidden root in the middle of a prairie crossing and crashed down on the bad elbow. When it rains it … Anyway, on the 40->50 mile loop the back screamed it had enough, the elbow was pissed and the roots were living rent free in my head ever since the sun went down. Essentially 49 miles more than I had any expectation of completing, declared victory, graciously accepted the buckle and set my sights on next year. All things come at a cost as I am now paying the “pain toll”. Thought it appropriate to get out this year’s Fail collection while I recover (link here).

Going to be a bit of time before I’m back on my feet, so wanted to make the best of it and get a few posts out starting with today’s featured feathered friend.

Redhead at Sunset Park in Las Vegas March 2023

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this patron duck of ultra runners.

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