Welcome to September everyone! This is the critical month around here with the big Halloween Haunted Trail event looming at the end. The Nightmare Lab has been in full production from sunup to well past sundown trying to get this year’s batch of new scares finished. Sooooo glad I no longer have to worry about getting the IT architecture work deliverables done in the midst of the fabrication and assembly – not exactly sure how I managed to hold this event prior to retirement. The main thing getting in the way now is the ultra-training. Unfortunately, the 100K torture, I mean race, is the week immediately after the party so I do not have a lot of room to spare on that front either. Wake up, do my Wordle, head to the lab, emerge in early afternoon to go for a veeeeerrrryyy long run, shower and head back into the lab until my eyes are bloodshot, crawl up the stairs to bed (did I mention the long run ha) and reset the for-loop counter. A huge thanks to Linda who manages to keep me nourished in the midst of this hectic routine. Not a lot of time for posts, but luckily I have a few sets of images ready to go already – just need to add text and press the submit button. Usually use these contingency features to get me out of trouble when I’m short at the end of the month – not when I need to cover an entire month – sigh! Great news though, if everyone promises to “behave”, we might have a special topic to send your way – “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat!”
Time’s a ticking, let’s get to today’s contingency feature. In honor of my nightly bloodshot peepers, thought our fancy footed friend would be an excellent choice for today’s focus.
Hit the jump to read more about this bionic shorebird.
Usually, I like to take a more holistic approach to the featured bird – shape, coloring, different perspectives etc. I would do that here, but the Black-Crowned Night-Heron has been a favorite target of mine for many years. I’ve brought you a sleepy one from South Padre Island (link here), a rather ragged looking one from Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia (link here), and my very first encounter at the Denver Botanical Gardens way back in 2015 (link here). For the cherry on top I have even featured its sister the Yellow-Crowned variety (link here).
Today’s specimen comes to you from a completely new location – Reno, Nevada. I’ve mentioned before we took a trip out to Lake Tahoe for my nephew’s wedding. For ease, we decided to fly into Reno, check out the casino scene there and then drive the rest of the way to the wedding location. Vegas is one of our favorite destinations and had high hopes for our time in Reno. Since it is off topic, I’ll just sum up our impression with the fact we have absolutely zero interest in going back there for the gambling/nightlife. The crazy homeless lady standing in the middle of the road screaming at the passing cars was the cherry pit in the empty glass so to speak. One bright spot was a small lake/park in an urban setting called Virginia Lake Park.
At the time it was a very nice lake nestled in a nice urban park complete with walking paths, benches etc. Note, I just looked it up again (to verify the name) and found out the recreations directory for Reno is recommending everyone stay away from the lake due to a toxic algae bloom that is occurring due to low water levels. If that wasn’t concerning enough, this line in the article had me reaching for the disinfectant: “The Virginal Lake algae bloom is unrelated to the recent area botulism outbreaks that have been suspected by the Nevada Department of Wildlife”. As if I needed ANOTHER reason to avoid that city.
Sorry, rambled on so long about cRapENO I ran out of images. Be sure and check out the other posts for more technical info about the Night-Crowned Heron. This specimen has the long white breeding plume on its head (image taken in May), the distinctive black crown and yes, the “I’ve spent too long soldering in the lab” blood-red eyes. Those are all interesting features on their own, but it is the feet that held my attention on this series. Just look at those grippy galoshes – like giant water chickens. This specimen was so focused on hunting for food at the water’s edge it didn’t even notice me sitting there 20 feet ahead watching every step through The Beast. It was definitely unsure about the footing on the rocks and was cautiously making each step. I followed it all the way up in practically slo-motion until it was less than a yard away. The whole time I was mimicking the 6 Million Dollar Man bionic running sound effect under my breath (for nostalgia link here – I may have just dated myself with that reference).
Maybe it was the complete downer of the city or I’m a “Simple Man”, but watching that Heron make its way across the rocks was thoroughly entertaining.
“Boy, don’t you worry, you’ll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied”
Take care folks and remember.. behave out there ha!
Life Intrigued 