Life Intrigued

Congrats, Stats and Warbling

The month is young and already incredibly busy. I thought things would calm down a bit with the Halloween event passed and the ultra-race completed, but definitely not the case. Most of the time consumption has been tedious busy work, putting the Halloween props back into storage, getting the Christmas decorations out of storage (need to decorate before Linda’s upcoming knee surgery), picture processing and stat updating – we will get to those latter ones in a bit, but first I want to congratulate Team Raven.

Raven retirement from agility competition November 2026

This was a big weekend for the two of them as Linda and Raven earned their 5th CPE Agility Championship Title (CT-ATCH 5). Nothing better for the little guy than winning an award (bar/ribbon) that is 5 times your size. We had to take it away from him afterwards as he was continually going around taunting his brother Ruger saying “Who’s got for paws and a prestigious title” and then whacking him with the bar – There is a lot of attitude that comes with a 4.75 pound Poodle. More importantly, Raven is going out on top as he is retiring from competition. He has been competing for 11 years and he has earned the opportunity to kick back and give his brother some of the limelight. Way to go Ravi-man (and Linda of course).

Next up, a few stats. Now that the “Tetris packfest” is mostly over I had a chance to get back to processing some of my picture backlog. As of yesterday, I now have our March (looks sheepishly down..) 2025 Arizona trip completely processed. 532Gs worth now trimmed down to 187G. The January 2025 trip to Texas was 727G pared down to 243G. That probably seems like a lot, but keep in mind, that is 6 or so weeks shooting from sunup to sundown (and past for the nocturnal birds) every single day. Trust me, there is a reason for the ridiculous backlog ha. With that work, I updated my life list counts. 530 species lifetime and 521 recorded in eBird since January 1st, 2022 from 882 checklists and 2,264 ticks across 26 US states (unique species by state). Current annual count for 2026 is 450! To put things in perspective, I have only blogged on 332 of those lifetime species ticks – let’s just say I still have plenty of fodder for upcoming posts ha! Oh, and since we are talking numbers, the 11th Blue Chew commercial just came on in the YouTube screen that is running on my second monitor at the moment. Please god make it stop!

Guessing you are thinking that same thing about my ramblings, so let’s get to today’s Featured Feathered Friend.

Warbling Vireo found at Pantagonia State Park, Patagonia, AZ in March 2025

To be honest, my birding life list count rose at least two notches while I was just sitting in my den. The bird you are looking at is the catalyst for one of the increases – hit the jump to read more about this specimen that gave me quite a struggle.

A One-y and a Tūī…by Brad Marks

First off, by the time this posts it will either be or close enough to the witching hour to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! This is the day I think about 364 days a year and then bask in all the orange and black the haunter’s day can hold. The day may keep the witches at bay, but it’s the night when the frights come out to play. While I finish carving the pumpkin for our annual burning, Brad is going to squeeze in one more bonus offering for our “Lifer” themed month. Enjoy everyone and I’ll see you again next month…assuming I survive whatever the local demons have in store for us.

Take it away Brad…

Apologies to Lawrence Welk right off the bat.

While on a bathroom break on our trek across New Zealand, we stopped at Huka Falls, the most visited natural attraction in New Zealand, at least according to their website. We had just beaten the “enemy” (other tour buses) to the rest area so we had solo access to the restrooms and scenic overlooks. As we were staring at the torrent of water rocketing through a narrow channel, I asked our guide, Graeme, if anyone has ever tried to run a kayak through there. He told us that a few try it every year, and most of them survive. Roughly 220,000 liters (58,000 gallons) of water per second falls 11 meters (33 feet) over the falls highly aerating the water. That’s enough water to fill an Olympic sized pool in about 10 seconds. The water seemed well past Class 5 for rapids and boiling, in my humble non-kayaking opinion. The rapid water flow is caused when the 100-meter-wide river is forced through a 15-meter-wide channel in the rock on its way south to Lake Taupo. There is so much air in the water under the falls that nothing really floats until a bit further downstream.

The rushing water was the second loudest thing we heard at the falls overlook. The first was the bird in the tree behind us. At first, it sounded like two birds singing two completely different songs.

Tui found in New Zealand by Brad and Jan Marks

Now this is taking ‘Down Under” quite literally – hit the jump to learn more about this Kiwi.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

We are in the final week of our favorite month and getting closer to our signature holiday – yep, Halloween is a mere 4 days away. Truth be told, we do celebrate this season a bit early with our Haunted Trail event typically being the last weekend in September. That is traditionally the best weekend weatherwise as it tends to nestle nicely between the late summer and the harvest rain periods. There is also a lot of things going on for our guests during the October weekends (football, marching band, trail races and other Halloween parties), so pulling the trail forward helps insure as many people as possible can attend. It does mean we are bit worn out by the time All Hallows’ Eve is upon us. I actually just finished getting all the props back into the storage shelves which is basically a colossal game of Tetris. Major concern as we packed as densely as possible and now appear to be out of space – will have to keep this in mind when considering new additions for next year’s haunt – my idea of using the guest bedroom was nixed by Linda before thought were fully out of my mouth!

While I sit on the phone waiting for the Canadian consulate to explain what kind of plague they infected our staff with, thought I would get out my last entry in this month’s “lifer” themed series.

Williamson's Sapsucker found at Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

Warning, these are not my best work in the field. In fact, this entire series was almost thrown out when going back through the day’s spoils. An Intrigued golden rule and late read of an eBird report saved them. We will see if you make the same mistake as I did when first seeing this specimen – after the jump.

José Maria

Welcome to another edition of “Hey, that’s a new bird!” If you haven’t noticed, the theme for this month is “lifers” and hoping you have been enjoying our new finds in the field – here and abroad! Before we get into today’s featured feathered friend, some quick housekeeping. It has been quite the busy month with the race and trying to get all the props back in storage from the big Halloween event. Unboxing the props is fun and exciting, trying to stuff them back into that box and getting them packed away on the shelving in the most dense manner possible – nuns running their nails down a chalkboard (the trauma runs deep people ha). In the midst of that torture, I did manage to get my recap of the race posted up on the mothership – link here, but words of caution, these recaps are not glamour shots, rather info I can look back on and prepare myself better for the next race – might avoid if you are thinking about getting into the sport, but if you want to confirm your choice to avoid…have at it!

How about we turn our attention to this month’s Halloween mascot..Mr. (or Ms.) Orange-Bill.

Greater Pewee found at Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

I’d say this lifer is a “Great” choice for today’s featured feathered friend. Hit the jump to read more about this southern Arizona specialty.

50 for 250 for 250

On October 12th 2024 at 5am, I set out on what would become one of the longest 2 years of my life. The recap from that race can be found here (link here), but I went back and read it and was quite shocked as it left one major piece of information out. Well, to be honest, I still didn’t know how bad my ankle injury was at the time of that writing. For several months I fought the pain in my ankle wanting to believe it was just a sprain and I could do what I always do when that happens … run it out. I finally threw in the towel and told Linda I needed to get it looked out (that was a very hard decision for me to make). Went to the local orthopedic walk-in clinic and had it xrayed. Doctor looked at it and informed me it was just a high ankle sprain. Somewhat shocked, I slinked out of the room embarrassed having wasted Linda’s time for something I should have been able to deal with. Rested it again, and then started trying to run again…more intense pain on every step. Saw my chiro several times and he would pull on it trying to unlock it – more intense pain. Finally suggested I see another foot surgeon. I’ll simply summarize the next year:
– New surgeon found that my tibia had two fractures in it
– Spent January and part of February in a boot
– Go back to that surgeon, he takes the boot off and declares me healed
– Start trying to run again – intense pain comes back
– Eventually throw in the towel and go back to see the actual ankle surgeon at the first orthopedic office
– Ankle surgeon looks at it and immediately declares something is wrong and orders MRI
– MRI comes back and confirms major issues including cartilage tears and tendon rupture off the bone
– 6 procedure surgery with Dr. telling Linda when it got in there it was worse than he originally thought.

Farmdale Trail Runs 50 Mile Ultra October 2026

That leaves me with 6 weeks of no weight bearing, 4 weeks of boot (again) and then 6 weeks of brace with weeks of water therapy and physical therapy dripped in the middle. By October of 2025 I was just getting out of the brace and broke my 5 year continuous streak of competing at the Farmdale ultras – not to mention marking my first full year of not participating in any race since I started my running addiction.

Jump to last weekend, Oct 9th, 2026 when I made my return to the ultra-circuit, lining up once again for the Farmdale 50 mile race.

Hit the jump for the race recap!

Beach Thick-Knee…by Brad Marks

Both the Haunted Trail and the triumphant return to the ultra-racing circuit events are past, all that is left is to pick up the pieces so to speak. All those things I delayed until after the race in order to be as healthy as possible before the race have been patiently waiting to get done. Currently knee deep in Halloween props trying to get them back into storage – this will take a week or more to debattery, break down and then pack as densely as possible back into the storage shelves. While I put my grade school spatial relationship skills to the test, Brad is going to take you back Down Under for another great find (by Jan) on the Green Island. Note, this keeps our string of “new” birds for October!

Take it away Brad… (note, Brad is a bit under the weather from recent travels so comment responses may be delayed until he is back above his “knees”.

Jan did it again. She was taking photos of birds when I was nowhere to be seen. In full disclosure, she braved a boat ride on a rough Coral Sea to see the Great Barrier Reef. I wasn’t even present when any of these photos were taken this time. Let me explain.

As you may recall from another story (“Not a Little Blue” link here), Jan and I had gone different directions while on assignment in Cairns, (pronounced “cans”) Australia. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was one of my life goals. However, the marine forecast called for 2-meter (6 foot) waves and I don’t do waves in small boats. I stayed in Cairns while Jan went to see the Great Barrier Reef. You probably know by now, Jan has no fear of anything. And we have the X-rays to prove it.

When she was back on solid ground on Green Island, Jan followed a photo strategy that has worked for us for a very long time: avoid the crowds. Instead of heading for the tourist shopping destinations, or the beach changing rooms, she took her camera for a walk around the island.

As usual, I’m making up most of this story since I wasn’t even there for any of it. I’m recounting what Jan told me she did and what she saw on Green Island.

Beach Thick-Knee found by Jan Marks in Cairns

Hmmm, a little early for birds to be in their Halloween costumes, hit the jump to learn more about this masked beachcomber.

Hamming it Up

I have to say, it has been a quite a weekend of activity here at Intrigued starting last Friday when we made our way to the race course. Although only 45 minutes away, staying overnight at the trail site takes a lot of stress off the race prep, not to mention the fact the launch was at 5am…or as Linda puts it 5 “Hell NO”am. I still need to get the race recap up on the mothership, but I can let the cat out of bag – I successfully added my 5th buckle from this 50 mile race to my collection. That means another 50 to make 250 for America’s 250. A few things went right, a lot of things didn’t during each of the 5 ten mile loops. Ultra racing is problem solving at the core and I had plenty of chances to demonstrate that over the full day (and night) effort. Prime directive was to get through without re-injuring the ankle or elbow and no new “major” damage to anything else. Glad to report that was accomplished although there is some rib damage that is taking longer than expected to get past. Again, more details once the recap is officially posted. The next day Linda guilte…err, encouraged me to go on a local craft/antique tour (Spoon River Drive) which helped get a lot of the built up acid drained and then made a trip down to St. Louis to get some work done on our RV. Time now to sit back, rest a little and then dig into all the Haunted trail props that need to be packed away. Oh, almost forgot some great news, our Haunted Trail recap video I added to my last post was picked up by the YouTube algorithm – getting thousands of views a day and growing steadily yay! (link here). Enough about me…let’s get to today’s Featured Feathered Friend shall we…

Hammond's Flycatcher found in Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

Now if you are like me when I saw this Flycatcher in the queue you probably groaned..well, if you are birder as you know that likely means potential hours nose deep in the reference books. Normally, I would ask you to take a guess as to the species…but that would be impossible from this first shot. Hit the jump and I’ll show you how to properly ID this Empidonax.

Ah Kah a Qual

The time has come to once again test my training, fortitude and based on my wife’s assessment – my sanity. Two years ago nearly to the day a rock lurking under some devious leaves caused 16 hours of rather excruciating pain giving way to 2 solid years filled with various medical procedures, recovery, therapy and training to get back to this spot, my return to the ultra racing circuit. Not sure what to expect really beyond the overwhelming feeling this is where I belong success or failure. My planned pacer bailed on me yesterday, so I will have plenty time in my head to figure myself out. The good news is Linda will be with me at the loop starts to keep me in the best condition possible. I have been working her day and night on the key verbal communications “Linda, now repeat after me if I whine about being tired or sore you reply: ‘You lily-livered POS, get your damn ass back out on the course, get it done and stop acting like a baby‘”. She still needs some work getting the right tone, but she should be good to go by race time! If you don’t hear for me in a while, assume the worst ha. As a way to calm the nerves, thought I’d work on a post, one about outing that felt as equally tough as this upcoming race. Please give it up for the latest featured feathered friend making its debut here at Intrigued. (including a special haunting surprise at the end!)

Black-Throated Gray found at Florida Canyon, Arizona in March 2025

Any guesses? Probably beyond obvious, but as a hint it is a member of the Warbler family. Hit the jump to learn more about this rather monochrome looking specimen.

Number 30

I am currently in the sweet spot so to speak. The mental and physical stress of the annual Haunted Trail event has passed for the most part along with yesterday’s final taper run before the ultra race, means a good rest is at hand. The full fretting on the upcoming race hasn’t set in yet giving me a rare moment of calm my body badly needs. Taking it really easy for the next few days in hopes of getting some of the tweaks, twinges and dings to subside to put me in the best condition to battle the trail – the trail adage holds, you just need to get to a point where the entire body hurts as much as the individual angry parts and then you can transition to the mental part of the task. I’ve never forgotten the wisdom a good friend passed on to me many a year ago – “Equilibrium is the secret to success – if you injure your hand, just smack the other with a hammer and carry on”. That may say more about me and the friends I keep than their “wisdom” ha. The good news is there is time to get a post (and maybe more than one) out during this rare moment of relative stillness. To kick that off, here is today’s featured feathered friend.

Ash-Throated Flycatcher found at Patagonia State Park, Patagonia,AZ in March 2025

Any guesses on an ID before you hit the jump – hint, this is the first time this species has been featured here at Intrigued.

Feels Like a Thrashing

I have to admit, this month (and longer) has been an absolute grind. The lead up to our annual Haunted Trail of Fears event was a pressure cooker as the weather was not cooperating AT ALL. My brother Ron was down just about every weekend to help get everything prepared (broken props fixed, new props finished, props/scenes built and the mind numbing process of putting batteries in everything. We started setting up on Friday, one week before the event kickoff. For practically that entire week it rained various amounts to a point the pathways down into the valley were worthy of a Woodstock Festival. Thanks to incredibly gracious help, the trail was completed (big thanks again to Ron, Brad and Jan and the others in the Scream Squad). Unbelievably lucky, the rain relinquished for the two nights of the event for one of our best haunts ever, only to give way to the burden of pulling it out back of the valley before the rains start again late this evening. Add in the final stages of training for the ultra in two weeks and you have yourself a recipe for a well tenderized body. With the double session 20 miler yesterday for my last endurance training cycle, I can finally start the final two week taper to race day. More importantly, time to get some of the weight loss back (as a toll indicator, managed to lose ~14 pounds), get some of the swelling out of the ankle and basically REST….but before I do that, there is one more task to check before the end of the month.

Sage Thrasher found at Tucumcari Wildife Management Area, Tucumcari, NM in March 2025

Yep, it is the end of the month and we are one post down from our self-imposed quota – Intrigued’s quality control department has been leaving nasty messages on my phone threatening me with disciplinary action, public shaming and removal from the company bowling team if I miss the performance targets. NOBODY wants that to happen, so hit the jump for today’s Featured Feathered Friend.

	tanjabrittonwriter on 50 for 250 for 250
	doerfpub on 50 for 250 for 250
	tanjabrittonwriter on 50 for 250 for 250
	José Maria – W… on 50 for 250 for 250
	José Maria – L… on 50 for 250 for 250