Tag: Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Vespa…by Brad Marks

We are officially in our last phase of our southern migration. Not for a lack of effort, I’ve missed a few target birds that somehow managed escape The Beast. A few of those species appear to have headed north just a few days before we arrived at their wintering grounds (read Whooping Cranes and missed by less than 2 days). With a little luck we’ll be able to catch those escapees later in the year. I cannot complain too much as my annual species counts now sits at 268 with a good chance that number will edge up a bit more if the Warblers manage to make it across the Gulf tonight and visit us here at High Island. The first wave was hitting South Padre Island while we were down there last week. Hoping they’ll phone their relatives back home and give word that the bugs are a plenty. That would be an understatement for the horde of Mosquitoes we are currently battling. LBJs have an all new meaning – Liters of Blood Jettisoned – we’ve replaced the soap dish with Deet juice. While we try to defend against these needle-nosed bugger sorties, Brad is going to take the helm and bring you a more traditional meaning of the LBJ.

Take it away Brad…

This story is about another LBJ that was nearly overlooked.  I’m learning to photograph everything; I can sort out duplicate photos later.  Lightroom can help me sort and “fix” nearly 100% of the photos I take.  However, even Lightroom can’t fix the pictures I don’t take.  Future enhancement perhaps?

Jan and I had just been in Golden Gate Canyon State Park at Panorama Point seeing the Grey-headed Junco.  The elevation at Panorama Point was over 9000 feet and rather chilly for April in Colorado.  Two hours later we found ourselves at the more temperate Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge (RFNWR) at just under 6000 feet of elevation northwest of Denver.

Once I parked the car and opened the doors, we were hit with a blast of warm air.  The outside air temp was nearly 80F, well above average for April in eastern Colorado we are told.  This is the same parking lot where I saw the Western Meadowlark (here), and the Grackle (here).  Lurking in the shadows of the tall grass was another LBJ.

Vesper Sparrow by Brad Marks

Naturally, Jan started taking photos while I was still putting my camera together.  Long time readers of Wildlife Intrigued are beginning to notice a pattern.  While I’m readying my camera, Jan is already getting photographs for the next feature story.  Besides, you never can tell when you need another LBJ photo to fill out a gallery or story.

Even at home on the big screen, this LBJ looked like many of the others we’ve photographed on our vacations.  I was just about to give it the “just another sparrow (JAS)” moniker when I noticed the “V” pattern towards the back of its head, where I imagined its ear would be.  Fortunately, Jan took enough photos from varying angles to be able to see the “V” clearly enough to differentiate it from other sparrows.

Vesper Sparrow by Brad Marks

Mystery solVed, hit the jump for the reVeal!

Continue reading Vespa…by Brad Marks

Stink Eye…by Brad Marks

Brad is continuing to hold down the Intrigued HQ back home while we are officially on our way back from or winter migration (much to the chagrin of our nefarious legal department). Honestly, I am not sure it was a true “migration” in the sense the cold weather followed us nearly the entire way and now, still days from home, we are once again in freezing temps. I suspect Linda will quickly put an end to any future discussion of going back to Arizona in the Winter. The good news is there is plenty of new birds in the tin for future posts. I am also excited about getting back so I can officially kick off the ’24 running season – legs getting lazy. While we calculate the best timeframe to slip back in IL, Brad is going to take us along on another of his Colorado adventures.

Take it away Brad…

Normally these pages are filled with rare, exotic, or extremely colorful birds.  This time I decided to focus (pun intended) on a bird we probably all overlook.  You’ve probably seen them hopping around everywhere you go, but like me, you probably just ignore them. 

Jan and I had just left the lofty Rockies (above 9,000 feet) and the freezing temps (check out that story here) for the rather warm plains of eastern Colorado (6,000 feet and nearly 80F) and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge (RFNWR).  Did you catch the irony in the name?  Usually the word “Rocky” conjures up images of snow-covered peaks soaring towards the stratosphere.  The word “rocky” isn’t usually associated with the word “flat”.  But that’s just what the organizers decided to do for this particular location.  Sort of like “jumbo shrimp” or “military intelligence”, “Rocky Flats” seems to be an oxymoron itself.

On the same day we encountered the Western Meadowlark (link here), this sinister looking character was hanging around the parking lot.

Common Grackle by Brad Marks

If that look hasn’t scared you, hit the jump to read more about this “commoner”.

Continue reading Stink Eye…by Brad Marks

Western Meadowlark…by Brad Marks

We are nearly to Christmas, the stores are bustling, the roads are jamming and the last minute shoppers are starting to panic. It also means we’ll soon be shutting down Intrigued headquarters so our staff can spend time with their family and friends. Brad is going take us along on another one of his birding adventures today, our traditional Christmas Day post and then we will probably call it a year to enjoy the festivities and play with all our new toys. Maybe another one while Linda and I are migrating south, but we’ll play that by ear.  Before Brad takes it away, wanted to extend congratulations to my brother Ron who reached the 300 unique species annual goal today towards our Average Year (link here). He scored a +1 lifer to put the proverbial cherry on top – if you recall last year, we both fell short of the goal (link here). Quite fitting as today’s post features a +1 for Brad as well!

Now you can take it away Brad…

When we left Hill City, SD it was relatively early morning for the kids, but mid-morning for Jan and I.  By mid-afternoon, we had already been to two National Parks (Black Hills and Devils Tower) in the same day mind you.  Why not try for a third?  By the time we arrived at The Badlands, we had already travelled 300 miles that Saturday morning.  After we flashed our National Parks Annual Pass at the gate, we followed the winding path to the depths of the park.  Gotta love the Annual Park Pass!  What, you don’t have one?  Go get one right now . . . go ahead . . . you can catch up on the story in a minute. (No, Wildlife Intrigued doesn’t receive any commission from Annual Park Pass referrals.  But hey, maybe that’s something productive our Legal department can work on.)

Just outside the car on the right-hand side was a small group of Bighorn Sheep, lounging and munching on the sparse early season grass.  I slowed down to take a look since we rarely see them in the parks.   But after rolling down the windows, the soundtrack I was hearing didn’t fit the scene.  There was this solitary sweet song coming from across the road.  At first, all I could see was dried prairie grass and reddish-brown dirt.  But then something bright yellow moved in the grass.  This little fellow was singing its heart out.  As far as I could tell, no one else was around to appreciate the song:  birds or humans.  It was singing for the joy of singing.

Western Meadowlark found at the Badlands by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about this little yellow fellow!

Continue reading Western Meadowlark…by Brad Marks