Can be Bite-y…by Brad Marks

Howdy all! It has been a hectic time as of late, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel – granted, Linda frequently tells me to stay away from the bright light in the sky. Fortunately, this one comes from the lightening of the schedule. One more major dog show next week (Canine Performance Dog Nationals) in my hometown of Springfield. After that, home for a good spell so I can go into beast mode training for the daunting 50K in early July. In the bustle we did manage to hold an Intrigued bird outing last week that was quite productive…at the cost of HR berating me about an office full of “Warbler Necks”. More to come on that front. For now I am going to focus on getting packed while Brad takes you to the water’s edge. Quick note, one of the locations mentioned happens to be where a similar encounter left me prematurely grey!

Take it away Brad…

We learned a very valuable birding rule of thumb:  Be very aware of your surroundings.  There can be rocks, uneven ground, water, mud, camera equipment, snakes, holes, birds nesting on the ground, etc.  All of the above can be an inconvenience if encountered, or perhaps even painful.  But none of those can really ruin your day like today’s topic.  Since we encountered this subject all over South Carolina, I’m going to take you to many locations for today’s story.

One of our first stops was Jarvis Creek Park.  It is a very nice park with many hiking paths including a 1-mile paved walking path around the central pond.  The park was full of families picnicking and having fun.  Dogs were pulling their people all around the path.

After about halfway around the pond, Jan came across something that had its eye on the tourists and small critters on leashes.  I was up on the footpath talking with someone walking their dog, a boxer named Oscar if I remember correctly.  Jan walked down the bank by the water to get this photo.

Want to see more spiky creatures (you know you do), hit the jump!

Fast Dogs and Weird Geese

Welcome to May everyone! Trying my best to get caught up since getting back from the Purina Farms Poodle Specialty Agility Nationals and FastCAT runs in Missouri. I am beginning to think the term “caught up” is just a polite way of saying getting some semblance of order before receiving another dose of chaos as we head out the door on another adventure – retirement is wonderful, but I definitely didn’t expect to be this busy! The good news is, while Brad was looking after the Intrigued complex, I was able to get caught up on this year’s Average Year stats (link here) – note, as of today, it is technically 4 birds behind (I can’t win ha). My count officially sits at 285. Not a bad number this early in the season, but it has been a struggle of sorts as we changed up our travel destinations a bit. Warblers did just start arrived today, fingers crossed I’ll be able to get several of those in the tin before they move on.

Linda received her FastCAT picture downloads today and thought I’d throw in some brag shots of our speed demon!

Hit the jump for another shot from the competition and I promise we’ll get you to a feathered friend as well!

Tuxedo Bird…by Brad Marks

This was one busy week for us down at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, MO (got the state right this time David!). It started with Ruger and Raven running in the agility ring at the Poodle Nationals and ended the week with Ruger’s FastCAT runs yesterday and today (two flat out 100 yard sprints each day). In between those competition bookends, I spent most of the free (non-raining) time during the day over at Shaw Preserve. That place is incredible and I will definitely have more to say about it in upcoming posts. Managed to go at least +10 there in new birds for the year and even got a hard 11 mile run in on their rather hilly trails. My visits in the previous years merely scratched the surface of that place. Even squeezed a trip to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens – another surprisingly large place. The nights were spent working on content for the mothership – a three post series on a new prop for the 2023 Haunted Trail – feel free to check those out if you are interested in another behind the scenes walk-through on what it takes to put that event on every year (link here) – caution, those posts go deep into detail, so lots of words…and pretty pictures ha. That packed week has left me pretty exhausted, although nothing compared to the boys who are all currently passed out in their beds with little do not disturb signs hanging off their paws). Brad has been keeping things under control at Intrigued HQ while we were away and we’ll let him take us into May with another of his UNBNP encounters.

Take it away Brad…

During the end of our visit to the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve (UNBNP), Jan was trying to find me this time.  I wandered past the parking lot to an area below the visitor center along the water.  As is usually the case, there was something dark and feathered flitting about among the low branches of a very small tree near the water.  Without my bird whisperer nearby, Jan, I had to keep looking until I spotted this little beauty.

My subject was sitting in a little tree about 30 feet from the path to my left.  The late morning sun, obscured by haze and thin clouds, was mostly to my right.  My quarry took pity on me and rested for a few seconds, quite literally.  At first, in my newbie perspective, I thought it was a flycatcher from California, since many of the critters here had California in their names and it looked like it was catching flies.  I was close. 

This bird wasn’t making any noise, at least nothing Merlin could identify, so no help with name.  This is sometimes the exciting part of being a new birder.  I recognize I haven’t seen this bird before, but really have no clue what it’s called.  Sort of like opening a box of Cracker Jack; you don’t really know what the prize in the box will be. 

Learn more about this well dressed birdie after the jump!

Need a Tow?…by Brad Marks

Linda and I have just arrived at the Purina Farms Event Arena in Gray Summit, MO, which means we are officially surrounded by Poodles. Small ones, medium ones, and even ones that stand three times the height of ours. Pick a standard breed color and it will not take long before a matching Prima-Donna will prance by, nose in air and sparkles on the collar. Yep, we are at the AKC Poodle Nationals or Poodle Specialty for short. The boys will be competing tomorrow in the agility ring and then give way to the confirmation events scheduled for later in the week. That would be rows and rows of grooming tables covering an entire exhibit hall – imagine a Build-A-Bear factory had exploded. Once that is done, Ruger will toe the line for FastCAT, which is the canine equivalent of the 100 yard dash (hoping to improve on his 19.5mph PR). Time for the pups to earn their keep ha. I also have a three part Halloween themed post to get through on the mothership that is about 7 months overdue (I swear I retired..where does the time go!!). While we get things taken care of here, Brad is going to take the Intrigued reins and bring you wings I’ve never seen!

Take it away Brad…

Ever run across a very unassuming bird, just sitting and minding its own business?  That’s what happened for me on this bird.

I was wandering along the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve (UNBNP) trying to find Jan.  She was photographing the California Thrasher (link here).  I thought I saw her on a parallel path so I tried to find my way over to her.

On the way, there was a smallish tree/bush with a brown lump in it.  The chances were very high that it was a bird I’d never seen or photographed before, so I snuck up on it.  I chuckled to myself (CTM).  I’m over 6 feet tall, carrying a very large piece of glass on a long stick.  I think it’s hard for me to sneak up on anything on pebbly gravel paths.

As I got closer, it seemed to be alerting someone.  John Wayne Airport was still pumping airplanes into the air at an astonishing rate drowning out the bird’s call.  I sure am glad my house isn’t within hearing distance of an airport.  The wildlife in the preserve must be accustomed to the noise to the point they can’t hear it any more.  Sort of “ear blind,” if you will.

Upon further inspection (on the big screen at home) I noticed the tiny orange eye ring.  I’m pretty sure there was no way I would have seen this at the time, and it is a great indicator if you can see it.

Hit the jump to reveal the identity.

Orange You Lucky

Howdy everyone, hope you are having a wonderful day. Had a couple of long grueling trail runs at the start of this week which gave me ample time to ponder what’s next on the post docket. Trust me, you are looking for anything to distract you when you are in the midst of a 2500ft and a 4000ft elevation gain training beat down. It’s during that second run that the topic appeared before my eyes – literally! On a fairly “roots of all evil” stretch my eyes were busy processing the path of least resistance in the immediate 8′ to 10′ out when something triggered the spidey senses. Lesson learned from shattered elbow, slowed down before looking for the source (I am teachable ha). Slightly beyond my root scrutiny was an absolutely monster of a Woodchuck/Groundhog/Land Beaver (pick your regional moniker) staring right at me (link here). Based on the eye dilation guessing we were equally surprised. Each stood motionless sizing each other up, processing through safety protocols, judging outcomes, assessing enemy capabilities and calculating threat models. Instinctively went with my “Hi puppy?” verbal response with my hands down and palms out. Chucky, actually more like Charlotte raised up, sniffed the air some more and waddled off further down the trail – clearly offended by my “odor-de-sweat”. Suspect the larger than expected size and cumbersome movements were due to pups in the oven (for the record they can have up to 9!). She eventually vanished in some brush and I restarted root protocols. Had to come up with a new inner Bri conversation as the post topic had just been decided.

I’ll explain the connection at the end, but for now let me introduce today’s featured feathered friend.

Hit the jump to learn more about this somewhat tricky bird …. and how it is related to one of the three incredibly rude experiences I had while we were on our recent south Texas trip.

Twice in a Lifetime…by Brad Marks

Welcome back to the light so to speak! I mentioned previously that we were trying to get back home prior to the recent solar eclipse and how Brad and Jan were getting ready to head in the opposite direction (south) for the full experience. Just received Brad’s hot-off-the-press post on the extravaganza and I’m jumping the queues to get this out to you. For the record, in Intrigued time this event->post duration “eclipses” all our previous performance records. Ironically, his midterm review will definitely reflect showing up his management ha. Without further delay, take us back to darkness Brad…

Beep.  Beep.  Beep. 

5:00AM. 

My darn alarm is going off. 

Oh yeah.  Today is the day Jan and I are driving south to see the eclipse.  We live in central Illinois, but the total eclipse path is only covering the very southern tip of the state.  About a dozen other states will be in the path of this total eclipse known as the “Great North American Eclipse”.

In 2017, the eclipse path started at the northwest corner of the U.S., traversed the little town of Chester, IL, and then exited through the southeastern United States.  In 2024, after starting in Mexico (first landfall) the eclipse path travels from the southwest corner to the northeast corner of the U.S.  And guess what?!  It goes right through Chester, IL again.  Hence the title, “Twice in a Lifetime” for those few communities where the 2017 and 2024 paths crossed like a gigantic “X” on the country.  

I talked Jan into going with me.  Yes, it is a very long drive.  We left home at 6am* (see backstory at the end).  At Jan’s urging, I had loaded up the car two days prior to make sure we had everything, and because the day before we left, the weather was predicted to be rainy all day.  It was.  Once we left the house, I was expecting traffic to start earlier because this was the second “Once in a Lifetime” eclipse to visit the general area.  We arrived roughly on time, a couple of hours ahead of the eclipse start time.  Shout out to Popeye (created in Chester, IL) for keeping the heavy clouds away, must be all the spinach he eats.  We had a few wispy clouds that didn’t interfere with the viewing.  This photo shows how it all starts.

Hit the jump to read more about Brad and Jan’s journey into darkness and back!

I Spy Yellow Eyes on SPI

By the time you are reading this, I will hopefully be back home from our southern migration. I guess technically I should refer to it as completing our northern migration. This year has been a bit chaotic on the birding front. Our January trip to Arizona netted me over 23 new lifers, but at a cost. Not being in Texas put me over 100 bird species behind for the year – shows you just how good birding is in Texas! We made a quick decision to right the ship and head back to our favorite wintering destination. There are still a lot of misses on the checklist, but did manage to claw back a lot of that deficit bringing me to the exact same point as last year with 272 species for the young 2024 Even managed to pull out three new lifers with one being a first time ever recorded in the US – going to make you wait until those get posted to reveal those gems. To be honest, our timing was not ideal. Probably a week or so early on the birds reaching South Padre Island. High Island was completely dead beyond the rookery residents (guessing 10-14 days early on that location as well). No complaints as there is now plenty of fodder to carry us well into next year (who am I kidding, with my backlog, probably inching into 2026 ha).

One thing that continues to bring a smile is how awesome the Texas birders are (including our fellow winter Texans). Always willing to help get you on a bird, give advice on other hotspots or answer any questions. Proud to say we reacquainted with existing birding friends and made a lot of new ones on this trip. On the downside, I also had three of the most inconsiderate people encounters we have had in a long time (non-birders of course). I can’t tell if this is just isolated cases, the state of the media stoked polarized country or the after-effects of the pandemic, but wow. Intrigued was actually founded as a means to document my human observations and these will definitely get their day in ink – likely on the mothership where the non-wildlife entries are anchored. I may not have yellow eyes like today’s featured feathered friend, but I can assure you my eyes are on constant scan.

Hit the jump to read more about this equally observant bird of prey.

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.

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.

Mystery solVed, hit the jump for the reVeal!

Hummer vs Hangry

It has been about two and half weeks since we embarked on our southern migration and I have to admit, my batteries are starting to drain. Each day has pretty much been hardcore birding from sunup to sundown. On those few days when the birds are in short supply, I’ve been able to squeeze in some long runs just to keep the legs and lungs from getting soft. For supposed retirement, this sure seems a lot like work ha. The good news is I’m now up over 250 unique species for the year including around 6 lifers on this Texas trip. Today’s featured feathered friend was a new lifer back in January of 2023 and with a bit of luck managed to tin it at the same place this year.

Hit the jump to read more about this rufous speed demon.

California Thrasher…by Brad Marks

Good news, Brad is back from his field assignment and from what I’ve heard, the Intrigued HQ is still standing. Yes Virginia I now believe in miracles. We’ve been on South Padre Island for a few days now and making the most of it. The migrants are now arriving and starting to get those crucial Warblers ticked off this year’s list. Also met a lot of great birders this trip that have been incredibly helpful in pushing this year’s Average Year number to 242 (link here). Still behind last year’s pace, but definitely chipped into the deficit. A lot of that is due to a healthy dose of lifers we’ve been able to hunt down. Now the busy work of making sure all the images are copied off to multiple drives, the eBird reports are filled out and the birding tracking sheets are updated…I need a nap. Brad is going to take the lead and bring us one of his own lifers from California.

Take it away Brad…

Normally when I write these brief stories, I’ve taken most of the photos because I’m carrying the larger lens and can capture the little feathered guys at a further distance.  Not this time.  Jan was able to hold one bird captive with her bird whisperer powers.  Today’s subject was also nice enough to stay only a few yards off the path.  All of the photos in this story are from her.

Jan and I had just left a major theme park in SoCal on our way back to Las Vegas to meet the kids.  We stopped at the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve (UNBNP) just outside Newport Beach to see what we could see (isn’t that why the bear went over the mountain?).  I parked the car about 8:30am and started assembling the cameras.  We didn’t know before we got there, but John Wayne Airport (originally called Orange County Airport) is only a couple of miles away.  Unfortunately, the planes depart right over the nature preserve.  While I seemed to duck every time one of the monsters flew overhead, the local bird life didn’t seem to care at all.

Being the gentleman I am, I assembled Jan’s camera first, and then started to put mine together.  By the time I had my camera ready, shut the hatch, and locked the doors, Jan was already a couple hundred yards down the trail.  The shrubbery near the cars was tall enough I couldn’t see which trail she had taken.  But listening for a few seconds, in between airplane flights, the high-speed shutter clicking told me which way to go.

Hit the jump to learn more about the reason for all those clicks!