Texas Gulf Coast 2022 – Wildlife Intrigued

Green Legs and Hamming

Well, we are well into September and it is turning out to be as expected…BUSY. Thankfully Brad has come to my rescue with his recent adventures. He is now getting ready to go back out into the field and I wanted to give him some time to gear up… and…wait for it… wait for it…allow him time to properly celebrate his 1 year anniversary with Intrigued. Was shocked it has been that long until going back and reviewing all his posts since that debut… if I count correctly he has let us ride shotgun on 31 adventures! Normally we would have a small celebration with cake and alcohol, but since the infamous “sparkler incident” our kitchen has been under renovation and our baker is still bandaged up tighter than a mummy on our haunted trail. In lieu of that, let’s all give Brad (and his crew Jan and Allyson) a big round of applause. Best of all, he has plenty more in the queue to keep us entertained going forward.

While the celebration continues, I thought I’d work on a post while the paint dries on my two new 8 foot (yes, foot!) spiders – we grow ’em big out here in the Midwest country. Can’t wait to show everyone how those turn out. Looked into my queue and found today’s featured feathered friend.

Little Blue Heron found at Galveston Island State Park in January 2022

Hit the jump to “Say hello to my little friend”

How Bizarre, How Bizarre

I would first like to welcome everyone to August…or as I like to say “holy crap we are now less than two months from our annual Haunted Trail Event” (link here). Being behind is standard operating procedure when it comes to the haunt side of Intrigued, but thanks to my little mishap I am doubly under the gun. The good news is I saw the therapist today and I’ve apparently made impressive progress in getting the swelling out and my flexibility has jumped considerably. At Linda’s insistence, the race last Saturday and my return to the scene of the crime for an 8 mile trail run last night were both confessed. His response…”I had no doubt after our first session”. We are going to get along just fine (Linda rolls eyes). With that said, today’s therapy work did push my limits and now replicating Caine’s branding scene with a giant bag of ice (link here). Grasshopper no like putting ice on elbow. With the inevitable hand numbing, thought this would be a perfect time to go with a post I’ve been saving for just such a time – heavy on pictures, lighter on words.

Oh, almost forgot! We wanted to wish Jan (Brad’s wife) well on her St. Jude run that launched today. Her team is running from Memphis, TN to Peoria. IL to help raise money for that great organization. Last I heard she had finished her first leg and her next one comes before the sun comes up tomorrow morning – and you think I am the crazy runner ha. Watch out for those evil trees.

American White Pelican found at Goose Island State Park, Rockport Texas, January 2022

Hit the jump to “see” more about what has this Pelican’s tongue so to speak!

Freebird

Howdy folks! My apologies, it has been a while since hearing from me. Been a bit of a struggle with my injury and the therapy exercises are pretty much wiping me out after the 4th session of the day. The thought of then trying to type with one hand turns into a frustration bridge too far. The good news is every day is an improvement and more of a check of my expectations than a criticism of the healing progress. Linda can confirm, I’m hard to handle when not getting my miles in – fortunately, I have been able to walk ~7 miles a day so that is burning some of the crazies off. A heaping dose of gratitude to Brad for holding down the Intrigued complex while I’m trying to get better. Figured we would give him a rest from having to deal with not only posting, but also keeping those pesky lawyers in line – like trying to get mercury back in the bottle. Note, did anyone else use to have quicksilver races on the school bus when they were kids? We use to put drops in the channels in the tread between the seats and bet on which one would make it to the back first – it was a different time for sure ha. I digress, how about we get to today’s feathered feature of the day.

Tricolored Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center January 2022

Hit the jump to read more about this glamorous Heron.

Wet, Still and Feisty

Howdy folks. I have good news. Brad has checked in and thanks to a harrowing escape from a very agitated splinter tribe of the Baka, he’ll be returning to home base soon yeah! Best of all, he has digital cards full of future post fodder sure to entertain our readers. I’ll have to wait to hear the full office report out – dodging poison darts sounds like some serious popcorn munching stories. Linda and I are heading out into the field ourselves. Just a week stint for us, although I contend it feels a lot longer with limited amounts of sleep in Sin City. Expecting a big boost to my current Average Year count (link here) currently sitting at a respectable 210 thanks to two recent visitors to our feeders. Just to set the schedule, this will be the last post of the month from me in order to give me a chance to respond to comments etc. before we jet out. Brad will then take the helm to close out what is left of February and the first post or two in March.

With the admin work out of the way, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend.

Green Heron found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center in January 2022

Completely opposite the sun soaked issues I had to deal with in the previous Cattle Egret post, today’s series is more of a literal drenching. Rather than having to battle the exposure gods to keep from blowing out the brilliant whites of that Egret, I found myself trying to suck in all the light I could to pull this Green Heron out of darkness. Rain had just passed, the sky was still thick with overcast and the waters around the South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center (and now Alligator Sanctuary) had taken on a dreary tone.

Hit the jump to see a few more pictures of our rain soaked shore hunter.

Rails and Tails

Hello everyone! Trying to get ahead of the posting curve as it looks like we might be heading back out for an extended period of time in the proverbial field. If plans work out it will be later this month – cautiously trying to not jinx us as we had some very difficult times trying to get to places towards the end of last year. Unexpected family situations and a bout with Covid threw those plans right into the dumpster. More on that as we electric slide closer to those dates. In the meantime I have some topics in my queue and there are several in Brad’s queue I want to get to before then. He will be traveling as well, so doing my best to get everything timed out correctly. To keep things rolling, here’s a series I took back in January 2022 (essentially yesterday for those of us here at Intrigued ha).

Coyote found at Galveston Island State Park, TX in January 2022

As you can hopefully make out from this distant shot, today’s feature has fur instead of feathers. Hit the jump to learn more about this rather big eared creature that showed up while I was hunting for Clapper Rails.

Salt Life Pipers

Just a quick note before we get started. I intentionally let my birthday pass without fanfare last month, but I was planning to make special note of an accomplishment that did occur – As my Dad would quip, must not have been that important or you wouldn’t have forgotten ha. As a quick self-pat on the back, January was the start of my 16th year blogging here at Intrigued. 15 years of observations, wildlife encounters, ramblings and whatnot. Been a blast so far and all the credit goes to you, my wonderful readers, and our staff that keep this little project going. Hippity Hip Hooray! Now staff, let’s get back to work.

Apparently my home state decided to welcome me back with a bit of a warm spell. Admittedly, it was a bit brutal the first week, but mid 40’s for most of this week (possibly in 50’s Sunday), in the Midwest, in early February…I’ll take it. Best of all I’ve been able to train outside and catch back up from the annual lazy January. A bit shocked I’m already up to 9 mile outings, but there’s a long runway to this year’s goals. Already signed up for a midyear 50K which already has the distinction of sending my sorry ass to the hospital (link here and here) and as you probably expected, another attempt at the 100K in the fall (link here). What can I say, I don’t deal very well with failure. There will probably be a few races scattered in here and there, but the training will be designed around these larger events. Today’s featured feathered friend is also fond of running albeit more of a sprinter specialist (you can view larger versions by hitting the image links).

Sanderling found at Port Aransas Beach Jetty in January 2022

Last post I brought you a ubiquitous resident of Texas (and many of the other southwestern states). A full bodied, dark feathered bird with quite a sassy mouth. Similar to the Great-Tailed Grackle, the Sanderling can be found in Texas. You will not find them at inland Walmarts as these cute birds all have Salt Life plastered on the back of their Jeeps. Tops off, Maui Jims on, cooler in the back, sandal to pedal with the wind whipping through their white/grey toned nonbreeding plumage.

Hit the jump to see a few shots I took of them driving their Jeeps on the beach.

Those Flockers!

Well, it is a bit bittersweet, but we are officially back in the broke state of Illinois. Part of us misses the warm(ish) sun, soothing waves and inviting beaches we enjoy while on our southern stay. On the other hand, there is something comforting about being home even when the outside temps are struggling to get into double digits (hell, even above zero for that matter). What can I say, I like my “stuff”, ability to stretch out and not hit the side of the RV and, best of all, I finally get to play with my new Christmas gifts. Also helpful to have my larger screens for managing my blog duties. Need to get caught up on the 2023 Average Year (link here), but other than the updated travel video, the 2022 results/recaps are all finalized (link here).

The month of January was one busy birding month. With all the southern Texas locations and the travel to and from, the unofficial 2023 count already stands at 192. That means only 108 more to go in the next 11 months to hit the previously missed 300 threshold (technically 106 as I already picked off two easy ones at my feeders). Of course we all know it gets significantly harder as each one is ticked off. There is one particular bird I am glad is already checked for this year – one that my ears are very relieved are likely to be absent for some months until we head back into the Southwest.

Great-Tailed Grackle found at Goose Island State Park, Rockport, TX in January 2022

Those that live in that region ALREADY know what our feature bird of the day is. That purplish shimmer, dagger of a bill and equally piercing yellow eyes conjure up images of psychological noise torture used throughout warfare history. There is a theory that the Israelites really used Great Tailed Grackles to bring down the walls of Jericho and not trumpets – UPDATE: our gaggle of curmudgeon lawyers that make life miserable for those of us here at Intrigued demand that I caveat my previous statement with “there are no facts to date supporting said theory”. Truth is they were trained to steer D11’s at the time and the reason many construction companies choose yellow as their base color – in tribute to the eyes of these early skilled soldiers/laborers.

While I sort things out with the lawyers, hit the jump to read more about these squawkers.

The Eyes Have It

Good news, our latest base camp location finally has some decent connectivity. Unfortunately, we also happen to be in the path of a pretty nasty storm that is barreling down on us rather fast. Tornado warnings from Galveston Island (where we are currently camped) to Houston with expected steady high winds, rain and now Linda tells me there is an opportunity for hail. Quite the quandary, hunker down, raise anchor and head for less exposed land or…make a quick walk out to the beach and take in nature’s power. Okay, so there really wasn’t that much of a quandary.

Approaching Storm from Galveston Island, January 2023

Still an hour or so away from the bad stuff, but the sea gods are starting to get restless. Assuming the storm doesn’t grow out of hand, hoping to go back out when the eye passes over and see what the bird situation looks like or if there are any quality shells the Gulf puked up. Fingers crossed for some fallout activity or high seas blow-ins like a Frigate or Jaeger. Until then, need to take advantage of the connectivity and talk about another “eye” of sorts.

Common Goldeneye found at Goose Island State Park in Rockport, TX, January 2022

Hit the jump to read more about today’s featured feathered friend.

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