Now this is cutting it a little close. Welcome to the last day of June or what we call at Intrigued HQ – “PPPD” or Potential Post Panic Day. That day comes on the last day of every month since the beginning of this blog over 18 years ago. A tip to the hat to all or blog friends out there with amazing output production (some of you crazies are daily ha). An early goal of getting into this format was to produce at least 6 posts/articles per month. Over that many months there has been some close ones when the “panic” sets in and our official (overpaid) post counting staff calls us up on that last day and says “Hey {snip}. we are short of our goal” – I censored the content of that call to protect all the kiddie ears out there. Brad has been a big help these recent years keeping those calls down, but things got away from me this June with all the doctor appointments etc. Fortunately, you can still bet on the “sure thing” we’ll get it done if we can – ultra runners are all about the grind.
While parsing through the photo queue, I noticed this series sitting in there and thought this was a fitting feathered friend to feature as it was also a “sure thing”…well, almost.
Hit the jump to read about another member of the Towhee family.
I must say, I am coming off a really enjoyable weekend. Linda and I went up to one of our favorite Illinois parks to the north – Chain O’ Lakes State Park in Spring Grove. The boys had an agility competition and I was looking forward to a final outdoor fling before the shut-down. The boys did well, although they definitely felt the heat on that second day as the Midwest ovens were turned on full. Ron met me there and we got some good birding in despite the heat, adding 4 more birds to my annual count which now sits at 386+3. Just 11 more to go to reach that once thought unattainable 400 unique species plateau. Capping off the weekend, Linda and I added multiple biking excursions and a fantastic day of kayaking all while enjoying camping in the woods. All those outdoor activities also erased any doubts I might have about going through with the ankle surgery as it is pretty swollen at the moment. I want to continue enjoying those outings with Linda and add back in the long runs into the mix – the ankle fix is the path to get me there (I really appreciate all the well wishes everyone has been sending my way). While I get ready for that change, Brad is going to bring you an encounter with a species that went through its own change, albeit less invasive. In 2024, the last hyphen was officially removed from his featured feathered friend.
Take it away Brad…
It’s February at home in Illinois, which means it’s cold. Jan and I have made an annual escape, three years running now, to someplace warmer than Illinois in February. This year, and probably the next few, we skedaddled to Hilton Head Island. On one of our last full days, we decided to try someplace recommended by Ted (see his site here). After driving for about 90 minutes, only getting lost once, I finally found one of the two parking spaces near the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands. The wetlands seem to be right in the middle of the town of Port Royal, hence the name of the wetlands. I’m sure there are more spaces available someplace nearby, but I couldn’t easily find them. Ted probably knows the secret parking locations.
The cypress wetlands remind me of Hall’s Pond in Brookline, MA (here); a nice respite in the middle of humanity’s hustle and bustle. In actuality, I’m not sure Port Royal qualifies for “hustling and bustling” as much as Brookline, MA does.
The pond, or wetland, is only a couple of acres of water surface area. Once the car was parked, cameras made ready, and the car was locked, I walked to the end of the elevated deck above the edge of the water near the parking area. There were so many birds and turtles on an island in the middle of the water, with a couple of alligators slowly circling, that I completely missed all of the birds napping in the trees right next to me. Once the first was spotted, then they all started popping out of the branches.
Hit the jump to read more about this Tree Penguin and all of its friends.
Well, I thought I was prepared for the outcome of my MRI results. Truth is… I wasn’t. It wasn’t the revelation that my ankle was “not right”. That I was quite aware of based on what I’ve been dealing with since about 5:28am on October 12th last year (link here). Since then I’ve gone through a litany of issues – a major struggle being able to convince the medical community there were issues beyond their rosier assessments. I’ve covered that in the past, no need to rehash that. I finally got an orthopedic surgeon that understood my plight which has lifted my spirits tremendously, then he interpreted the findings in the MRI and my heart sank. The situation is bad, very bad. The tibia breaks have healed, but there is “missing” cartilage, tendon and ligament tears and spurs on the fibula from the trauma. That news was not the only proverbial kick in the groin. The treatment schedule was even more devastating. Surgery mid July, followed by 6 weeks NO WEIGHT, then 4 weeks of boot followed by 4 week of brace with heavy therapy involved in that last 2 months. Running done for the foreseeable future, 2025 racing season lost, impact on 2026 ultra levels concerning. My head was a mess playing those schedules out and I remember looking at Linda as we both came to the realization that our annual haunted trail party was in serious jeopardy. Three of my four passions were just pulled out from under me with one mighty pull. Linda and I are still running the timelines and getting prepared the best we can. The sickening thing is I could have been past all this had we started back in December.
I was scrolling through my queue for something to feature today and then the obvious choice came up.
Hit the jump to see more pictures of my early running icon.
It has been a busy week here at Intrigued HQ. Progressing nicely through the backlog of fixes to props that experienced a malfunction on the trail last year – that amount has been steadily decreasing each year as we continue to “harden” our designs and implementations. The main issue tends to be the trek down and then back up from the valley each year as all the jostling tends to awaken the “spirits in the machine” so to speak. Was able to add a new section of shelving in the outbuilding yesterday to accommodate our every-increasing sized props. Linda declared the prop development has to end when that fills up. I simply pointed at all the leftover 2x4s. I can hear the voice from the cornfield “Build more shelves and the props will come” hehehe. Also getting ahead of all the homestead upkeep. A lot of this push is due to successfully getting my ankle surgeon appointment moved up to tomorrow and bracing for the likely bad news. Trying to keep as much work off of Linda as possible if I’m put out of service for a while. I know I’ll need to rely heavily on Brad to keep you entertained during that recovery, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Sit back and enjoy a few NABs found on our trips out West.
Greetings all. I am a bit behind on a rather length (ever expanding) to-do list. I did have my MRI this week, but I am unable to get into the surgeon until the 17th to get the official readout. Should I be concerned that immediately after the procedure the MRI technician recommended I check with the reception to see if they can get me in before then!?! That was actually already in the plan so I’ll be calling from time to time to see if there are any cancellations I can jump on. Meanwhile I am “trying” to get the homestead ready in case I have a lengthy downtime. Less work for Linda! Also working on the latest haunt tutorial video which is taking way longer than expected – all these newfangled tools feels like drinking from a fire hose. . While I “try” to get caught up on everything, Brad is going to take you back to South Carolina for another type of “tri”.
Take it away Brad…
On our last full day in Hilton Head this year, Jan and I decided to drive a short distance (90 minutes or so from our hotel with stops along the way) to a new location suggested by Ted Jennings (see his site here). We visited the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands which appears to be right in the middle of the town of Port Royal, SC. It is a small body of water with limited parking, but we were able to find a parking space near the boardwalk overlook. The whole surface area of the water is only a couple of acres based on my estimate. Having said that, it took Jan and I a couple of hours to walk all the way around the half-mile boardwalk and trails. No, it’s not really larger on the inside. There were so many birds, and alligators, we really didn’t know where to start to point the cameras.
In the past, Jan and I have found the occasional Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), or Great Egret, or Great Blue Heron in the marsh areas we visit. Normally we only see one, or maybe two Tricolors at a particular location. This time, there had to be a dozen Tricolors just hanging around in the trees on a small island in the middle of the wetlands.
The featured Tricolors today were all on the island, except for one recluse hanging out with the Yellow-bellied Slider turtles along the edge of the water. Even though they nest in trees, I’m always surprised to see a wading bird sitting on a tree branch. And seeing the amount of alligators cruising in the water around the island, this is a prudent strategy.
Hit the jump to learn more about these Port Royal Tris.
Welcome to the month that usually makes me take a hard swallow after flipping the page. June is ramp up month for the ultra season and the calendar is full of two-a-days each consisting of 10+ mile runs intermixed with 25+ mile endurance runs all to round off the preparation for the 30 mile Cry Me a River that has officially dropped me twice now, most recently last year (link here). My hopes of a quick redemption have been curtailed and the calendar has been wiped clean to be replaced with medical appointments starting with the ankle MRI this week. I did get a good 8 mile run in this morning to put a likely cap on the season. In light of the fast approaching downtime, I’ve also been trying to hit the birding hard. This last weekend was quite awesome on the feather front. My brother Ron came down on Friday and we got a good start on some local field birding before another Intrigued birding event on Saturday. Ron, Brad, Jan, myself and the rest of the Intrigued staff got a chance to spend a great day in the field – except the Legal Department who are still on probation from their last little stunt. Suspect there will be a write-up coming on that outing in the future. Bookended the weekend with another outing with Ron down at Emiquon NWR. My Average Year count now sits at a shocking 382+3 (previous record was 340) and Ron managed to add ~35 birds to his tally. Brad/Jan and Ron are also now up in the top 40 county birders and neither of them live in this county ha.
To make up for the loss of the double run schedule in June, let’s go with a twofer for today’s featured feathered friend(s) post.
Hit the jump to read more about this species of waterfowl and a very similar looking family member.
Life Intrigued 