Tag: Las Vegas NV

A Fitting Bird for the Times

I am officially half way through my hellscape with one event down and one event looming at the end of this week. We put an official wrap on this year’s annual Haunted Halloween Trail late Sunday night as we finished pulling all the props out of the woods. Based on the feedback we have received so far, the scare division had another successful year. I’ll let Brad weigh in on how he thought it went.

Halloween Haunted Trail 2023

To be honest, the trail doesn’t happen this year without a lot of people pitching in to help me out. My injury really put a strain on all the things that needed to be done to put this event on: prepping the trails, pulling everything out of storage, loading up the power sources, organizing the items into their zones, hauling it all down into the valley, putting it up, turning it on and then in a state of total exhaustion, pulling it all back up. A special shout out to my brother Ron who came down several weekends including the three days leading up to the event to help work out the kinks and keep everything rolling. There will definitely be posts coming to cover the highlights of this year’s haunt.

With that out of the way, I can now focus on the upcoming 100K attempt that launches 5am Saturday. Like with the Halloween party, a lot of things will have to go right to get through that. Now doing my best to catch up on sleep and tamper down some pains and strains that cropped up from last weekend’s efforts. In honor of what has past and what is to come, I bring you today’s featured feathered friend.

Female Phainopelpa found at Sunset Park, Las Vegas NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to read about our rather pointy feathered specimen.

Continue reading A Fitting Bird for the Times

Nevermore!

…and on the 25th day he rested. Howdy everyone, this has been one hell of a month. Just looking at the production on the Wildlife side of Intrigued may appear we have been slacking off, but nothing of the sort. Dog shows, running, more dog shows, more running, hand sledging concrete, more running, haunters convention, more running, Halloween prop building…and yes, even more running. Actually, that seems more like a regular month around here, but what has been gobbling up time is getting the Average Year progress updated (link here) and 3 massive posts on the mothership. With the extra time during the last dog show, decided to bite the bullet and finish the recap of our annual Haunted Trail event – nothing like being 9 months behind…well, being 3 years behind, my photo queue would have some snarky comments about that. If you are interested in what we do around here all year or if you happen to really be into Halloween, you might be interested in those posts:

Haunted Trail 2022 – Prep and Build (link here)
Haunted Trial 2022 – Day Walker (link here)
Haunted Trail 2022 – Night Terrors (link here)

Warning, your browser’s image cache will likely be smoking by the time you make it through all three of those posts. Funny how it doesn’t seem like that much work to put the event on until I go and make the recap posts.

Tomorrow I am planning to run the final simulation run for the upcoming 50K. This would be the one that is a total elevation nightmare and put me in the hospital on my first attempt (link here). That blemish was addressed the following year (link here) and then I took my wife’s advice and said “Nevermore”. That lasted a couple of years…and, well, let’s just say I like a good challenge,. Not sure I am going to luck out like the last time and have cooler temps (thanks to 6 hrs of nonstop rain). Thinking this one is going to have conditions more like the first attempt. The first simulation went okay last week (only 16 miles of it) with no support team or refueling. The support team with be in play tomorrow (aka Linda), which will test the hydration/fueling plan and will cover all the major elevation traversals…Brad might have to take the helm while I recover for the real thing in less than two weeks.

While I rest up for the test, thought I’d feature something else that has “Nevermore” connotations.

Common Raven found at Corn Creek Field Station in Desert NWR, Las Vegas NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this traditional haunt inspiring creature!

Continue reading Nevermore!

QiaT and a Bonus

I have to say, this has been quite a week! Started with a trip down to the St. Louis area for the boy’s agility show. Raven was a rockstar qualifying 8 out of 10 runs placing in all if I remember correctly. Ruger, well, as they say…at least he’s cute. He did qualify on one of his runs – he’s young and still getting used to the big ring stress. Went for a run the day after and blew my May training goal of an 18 mile day out of the water with a 22 miler (the cooler temps were greatly appreciated). Then, as if that wasn’t enough, had a fun outing with the Intrigued staff – except the lawyers, they are still on double secret probation thanks to their previously mentioned copier stunt. Word has it Brad might cover that event, so I’ll leave those details for him. Retirement life is certainly good!

For today’s feature I am adding a new entry in the “in a Tree” series.

Gambel's Quail found at Henderson Bird Viewing Center, Henderson NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to see more high branch topknot glory and for the bonus content!

Continue reading QiaT and a Bonus

Thrushing to the End of the Month

I cannot believe how fast this month has gone. Granted we were out of state for most of it, but even then, it feels like we accidentally took a wormhole to May. I’ve been in a bit of a panic since glancing at the post count for April. Even with Brad’s help, I was still way below my self-imposed monthly quota. Managed to claw my way back over last week with several finds from our trip to Las Vegas in Feb/Mar. Needed one more in these last couple of days before May. Checked out the queue – Brad has several ready for us, but he is still on assignment and want to keep him focused on the Ptarmigan objective. That left me three choices – a grey bird that continues the Desert NWR theme, a grey bird with quite the proboscis or a complete left turn to some creepy crawlies. Grabbed a coin, made a few tosses and welcome to today’s featured feathered friend.

Townsend's Solitaire found at Desert NWR, Las Vegas NV in March 2023

Powers of deduction can quickly reveal the winner. No bursts of color and by birding standards a pretty normal bill…yep, we are going to stay with the Desert National Wildlife Refuge theme from the last couple of posts. While reading the latest finds from this site – specifically the Corn Creak Field Station area – three birds stood out. The Western Bluebird, the Mountain Bluebird and what I thought was a surprising addition based on our location.

Hit the jump to see how our quest went!

Continue reading Thrushing to the End of the Month

Sky Blue

We just got back from our trip to St. Louis were Linda ran the kids at the Poodle Club of America Agility Nationals. A big congratulations to Linda and Raven who qualified 2 out of the 3 runs they competed in. Not only did they qualify, they took a first and a second. His third run was just about there, but Raven decided to “improvise” a little. Ruger had two runs and he lived up to our low expectations ha. He just turned two years old and a bit ..hmmm.. let’s go with Linda’s word – scatterbrained. Absolute speed demon in the ring but, just gets distracted easily and seems to enjoy bringing comic relief to the audience. That’s to be expected and once Linda gets that worked out, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. It was also a bit nostalgic for Ruger as he was reunited with his brother (was actually running against him). We had a great chuckle as his brother (Orion) is EXACTLY the same – full of speed but prefers his own path through the obstacles. Can’t wait to see these two compete next year! Oh, and even Raven had a reunion as he got to see his mother, now 14.

With the accolades out of the way, I should get to the featured feathered friend of the day.

Mountain Bluebird found at Corn Creek Field Station, Desert NWR located in Las Vegas, NV in March 2023

You might have seen this one coming if you caught some of the hints in the last post. Carrying the theme from the last post, I am pleased to bring you another Bluebird for today’s topic.

Hit the jump to learn more about our gorgeous blue tinted specimen.

Continue reading Sky Blue

Flying Work of Art

Howdy folks! Even with Brad’s help I am running behind this month. Having been gone nearly the first three weeks of April and now heading out to St. Louis for a few days so Linda can compete in the Poodle Nationals at Purina Farms, I’m a few posts behind. Trying to get at least one more in while I am waiting for some glue to dry on this year’s signature Halloween prop – a piece that is definitely ending up to be a lot more effort than initially imagined. Cue Linda eye roll “Every one of your projects turns out more than you expected!!!!” True, but most of the time … in the end…”wooooorttthhhh IT” ha (like in this link here). We’ll see how this is going a few months down the road. For now, will try to clear the head of glue fumes and bring you an incredible feathered feature of the day.

Western Bluebird found at Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Las Vegas NV in March 2023

Don’t worry, if you hit the jump I’ll get you closer to our feature.

Continue reading Flying Work of Art

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Birding World

Hello Everyone, Happy “Spend Lots of Money on Your Significant Other” Day or minimally shower them with affection and let them know how important they are in your life (the latter being a hell of a lot cheaper .. just saying). So a few posts back I mentioned that I had already selected the featured subject for this special day. That foreshadowing resulted in Ron spending every available minute from that point on theorizing, hypothesizing and speculating on what I would possibly select to represent SLoMoYSO Day. He actually had a few good guesses, but failed to put two and two together even though he already knew what birds were in my queue. Granted, his guess of a Vermilion Flycatcher (link here) would have definitely been a fitting tribute to the traditional color of the day, I went with another option – one that is making its debut on the blog.

Anna's Hummingbird found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, NV, November 2018

Yes, a Hummingbird! How cute is that!?! In every post involving these delicate birds I’ve mentioned how I have to travel to get any variety in the tin. If you live in the Midwest you basically have three choices of Hummingbirds. The first being a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Secondly, if you stand real still in a yard full of Hummingbird feeders you just might see a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Now lastly, if you are feeling really lucky, and I mean really feeling lucky and cover yourself in sugar water and shimmy up the largest pole you can locate you might find yourself in a mental ward …soon after seeing a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. I think you get the picture.

Anna's Hummingbird found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, NV, November 2018

So instead, we load up the RV and head out to better locations. Las Vegas happened to be the spot where this specimen made it into the tin. Over the last Thanksgiving holiday we headed out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to see what we could find being already elated to have checked off the Costa’s Hummingbird the day before (link here). While coming out of the Visitor Center I noticed the unmistakable sound of a Hummingbird blasting by with full burners engaged. Challenge accepted. This proved to be a bit more difficult than usual thanks to choosing to leave the Beast at home and rent a 180-600mm from a local camera store. Although it was definitely lighter than the Beast, the focus was incredibly slow making in flight shots impossible. All was not lost, just needed to wait until these sugar freaks took a break.

Hit the jump to discover why this little bird was chosen for V-Day.

Continue reading Happy Valentine’s Day from the Birding World

Often Heard, Rarely Spotted

In preparation for tomorrow, I did some digging in my out building, found a lawn chair and dragged it out to the middle of the yard. Grabbed a pair of flip flops, a bottle of suntan lotion, cheap sunglasses and my favorite birding reference book. Going to be some fun in the heatwave forecasted to hit sometime tomorrow…40F. However, there are possible clouds and rain sneaking in for the afternoon through tomorrow night. Needless to say, I’ll take it. It might look a bit odd being surrounded by a foot of snow that is still lingering, but I “needz my vitamin D”. In truth, I am skeptical it is going to get that warm with this much snow and ice about, but I will definitely be lacing up the running shoes and getting a few miles in snow, rain or sunshine. It might be a bit sketchy on the footing, but it will help the soul to lift the winter blahs. If nothing else, I can simply recall warmer places… for instance Las Vegas.

First a public service warning to those of you that might have adverse reactions to creatures with red eyes. As with the previous post on the Cinnamon Teal, today’s featured bird also possesses a blood red eye. Feel free to view the rest of the post through your fingers if that will make you feel more comfortable ha!

Spotted Towhee found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 2018

I was just talking to Ron tonight on how odd it is that so many birds have red hued eyes and I am not talking about the night owls squinting through strained eyes and hazy rooms trying to hit the big payout on the one arm bandits (another term that is becoming outdated with the advent of digital technology/machines). We were wondering if it provided some evolutionary benefit, maybe better able to see at dark or perhaps provide better tracking of UV urine trails of prey (yes, some birds have that ability like the Kestrel) or perhaps it is simply a defensive mechanism – if I was a bird I would stay way the hell away from something that had red eyes – clearly bloodthirsty heathens – just saying. Neither of us have a definitive response to the quandary which means I’ll have something to research while enjoying that lawn chair tomorrow. If you happen to have some thoughts on red eyes feel free to let us know in the comments. We here at Intrigued are thirsty for wildlife knowledge.

Short one tonight, but if you hit the jump, I have a few more words and one more image to share.

Continue reading Often Heard, Rarely Spotted

Purple Shimmers in the Desert

How is this for a weird experience? I mentioned a few posts back that I was recovering from a back injury, but I didn’t go into too many details. Now that I am completely healed from it, thought I’d loop everyone into a bizarre injury that had me pretty worried. The last thing I need when training for a 50K event is to have an injury – especially in such a critical area. Usually On Sundays, some friends and I do long training runs on a hilly nightmare of a course through a local cemetery (figure they can bury us where we drop). A few weeks ago we were taking on the course in pretty warm weather for an early January day – mid 40’s accompanied with a strong wind. Decided I was too layered up for the conditions so took my Gore-Tex coat off, removed a layer and put the outer shell back on (important tidbit for later). Although a rocky and uneven course, we know every square inch of it – no slips, bobbles or wobbles occurred up to mile two. That is when I felt something pierce my lower back. I noted the strange feeling to my friend and kept on running – quirks and pains happen all the time – runners learn to ignore them because they almost always work themselves out. 2 more miles and my hips started seizing up. 2 more miles and serious pain started radiating from the lower back. 3 miles later we were back at the car and I was trying to figure out a way to stand without letting my friends see any hint of tears. 30 minute drive home and I couldn’t move without a knife twisting in my spine. Most concerning was a 5×8 inch badly swollen red bulge near where the initial stab was felt. All I could think about was the setback to the 50K training (goals are not taken lightly around Intrigued). For brevity, will skip to the juicy part. Got into my doctor the following day – explained the story above preparing myself for the herniated disk diagnosis. Was not expecting the doctor to hypothesize that it sounded like a spider bite. The recluse would have destroyed skin by now, so they speculated Black Widow, grabbed a magnifying glass and went to work finding the holes. Good news, not a Widow, instead they pulled a stinger out of my spine what I imagined to be the size of this bird’s bill.

Juvenile Costa's Hummingbird found at Henderson Bird Viewing Center in Henderson, NV, November 2018

Not sure who was surprised more, the doctor or me. Apparently a dagger wielding demon of an insect decided to unload all the venom it had a few inches up from my waistline and directly into the center of my spine. From there it traveled my nerve network down into the in the hips and up the back causing the lockup. Remember, this is the first week of January – those things are supposed to have died off or went into hibernation. No way it stung through the outer running shell. We have come to the conclusion that a wasp,hornet,large ass bee or possibly a Tarantula Hawk (link here) sneaked into the coat when I was removing the layer, panicked at mile two and unloaded everything it had into the spine – I could see a blood spot on the base layer next to the skin. The good news is 5 days of steroids had me back on the trails this morning running in 5″ of snow. I bet I know what you are thinking right about now – what the hell kind of bird is that?

Hit the jump to find out!

Continue reading Purple Shimmers in the Desert

Blue Tones in the Desert

Greetings to all from the big white tundra we like to call the Midwest. A bit of an icebox at the moment as we are dealing with ~12″ inches of the fluffy stuff. Add to that a layer of ice that accumulated overnight from freezing drizzle and you have yourself a recipe for hilarity. Case in point. Our dogs decided that 4:50am is a perfectly good time to demand I take them out. Wipe the sleep from the eyes, remind the legs they were designed to move me from one place to another, put some shoes on and leash up the dogs – you would think by their expression I take evil enjoyment out of cinching up their necks as opposed to the truth there are “eyes in ‘dem trees” that think 4:50am is a perfect time for an early morning snack. Shut the alarms down and take a groggy step off the porch onto the wet concrete. Except it wasn’t just wet, nope, black ice quickly causing my feet to go eye level and my eyes to go feet level. Just got my back all healed up and now I’m being snickered at by sure footed furballs. Later that morning, a semi ended up jackknifing by the main highway exit I use to get to work shutting down that access and choking up all the alternative routes (which had their share of wrecks as well). Some days were just designed to stay in bed and enjoy thoughts of warmer locations.

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas NV, November 2018

Like for instance the desert – specifically the Mohave Desert in Las Vegas. The Rock Wren was not the only bird hanging out at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area back in November 2018. Unlike that bird (link here) and Abert’s Towhee (link here). that came before it, this bird possesses coloring that contrasts sharply with the desert floor. Yep, this one is adorned in a pretty blue and grey palette.

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay found at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas NV, November 2018

Hit the jump to find out what kind of bird this is!

Continue reading Blue Tones in the Desert