Last day of the month and we are officially in the “bonus” round. Thanks to the additional time being sequestered in the den, this has been a highly productive blogging month. Believe this is the 8th post of the month which includes the two browser cache burning recollections from last year’s 2024 Haunted Trail Event (link here). I am incredibly shocked we are only a month and half away from the 2025 extravaganza. Note, we had to push it three weeks this year due to the ankle mishap. Might as well update you on that front as well. Thursday I was officially released from the 6 week no-weight sentencing. According to the doctor, everything is progressing as prescribed which is really good news. Apparently the massive swelling that occurs in the foot soon after releasing it from the air-cast is normal (quite the surprise). The original expectations of being released for “walking” fell a bit short though as he wants me to continue to use both crutches to assist the walking effort for a week or so then take away one of the crutches for a period of time before unassisted walking. Honestly, that seemed like a good plan based on the “owwww” that escaped my lips the first time I put the unprotected foot down on the floor. Physical therapy also started that day which brought some additional mutterings, but those came with a smile – that I can handle, suffering is kind of my game and honestly, what got me into this mess ha. I am looking forward to the pool work that starts soon. Only 4 more weeks and I am graduated to a brace and minutes after getting into that I’ll be out on the trail getting it ready to entertain our guests.
Probably not a secret, but my life is driven by goals. As much as I hated putting them together while in the grind, they are a cornerstone on the personal side. Life with purpose as they say. Before you ask, this commitment continues in the retirement years. One big goal to complete while laid up was to tackle the massive backlog of photos. Managed to get through the Texas March 2024 tins (560G) and over half of my Colorado September snaps. That trip just needs a few more hours of work and I will be current to 2025 (assuredly my long-term readers will be flabbergasted). Just to give you a taste of the newly processed Texas folder, thought I’d go with a fitting featured feathered friend immortalizing that rarely uttered word “Owwww”l.
Well, we will get to the Owl part in just a sec – right now you are basically staring at a hole in a telephone pole at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Linda, myself and about 30 other hardcore birders spent a good hour plus staring at that hole in hopes of getting a glimpse of what was to be a +1 lifer for me. Hit the jump to find out if we managed to get something in the tin!
…but before we get too far into this, a bit of a disclaimer. As mentioned, we are in the bonus period for posts. With every post every member of Intrigued family tries to bring you the best quality images we can in appreciation for your valuable time you so graciously invest in us. When we get beyond our self-imposed 6 post per month quota, we loosen the quality reins a bit in favor of a good story or a new lifer that didn’t get our best behind the glass. We affectionately refer to these as “craptastic”. Don’t get the wrong impression, we take many craptastic pictures…we just rarely show them to you hehehe.
Okay, disclaimers out of the way – these following shots suck. Thankfully we shoot in raw which was a lifesaver on this series as they were all taken basically in the last minutes of any light (warning, heavy digital darkroom manipulation ahead).
“Enough ‘yapping’ where the hell is the bird Bri!”
If you squint hard enough you will notice that hole in the telephone pole has been filled with the body of well, “something”. That something created quite a stir in the small crowd of people whose necks are now screaming out for Advil. We arrived there about 7:30pm based on some advice from fellow birding friends we ran into down the road at Estero Llano Grande State Park earlier in the day. Clearly the word was out as others had gathered at the wall located just before the main gate of the park – down the road from the visitor center and just before you make it to their first bird feeding station. There we sat/stood staring at the telephone pole that sits directly opposite that gate.
Our friends advised us to listen for the male to call from the nearby trees and then soon after the female nesting in the pole will emerge before taking flight with the male. I can’t say I actually heard the male call as I was not overly familiar with the sounds an Elf Owl makes. Normally, I do a good amount of research before embarking on a lifer hunt – for the rest of the Intrigued staff, don’t let my actions sway you from what the corporate training tells you to do hahaha.
Thankfully, there were others there that were familiar with the call and when detected, the murmurs started and they all came to attention. Maybe 5 minutes later, there was a shape in the hole and those with shutters got to work.
This is one of those times where the real reveal comes in the digital darkroom as the naked eye was struggling mightily to pick out the features. Snap, chimp, crank ISO, snap, chimp, lower shutter, snap, chimp, curse and start the cycle again. I wish I had Linda’s D850 which is fabulous in lowlight, but honestly, the D7500 with their new sensors did a pretty good job at the dizzying levels of ISO required for these shots – you can drive a car through that grain!
Much like the Bat Falcon hunt (link here), my heart was pumping. There are not a lot of Owls checked off my life list. The Barred Owls that take up residence in our woods, the Great Horned we see more frequently on our trips south (although one shows up from time to time in our woods much to our Eagles’ displeasure), the Burrowing Owl that has become a regular on our trips to Vegas and the Rio Grande Valley, the Short-Eared Owl we only see at Jocelyn Nungaray (Anahuac NWR), the resident Eastern Screech Owls at Estero and the National Butterfly Center in Mission (just down the road from Bentsen) and the incredible Snowy Owl that graces us with its majestic presence late December. I am proud to now add the Elf Owl to the list! Just need to work on getting you better shots which isn’t going to be easy for a nocturnal bird of prey.
Not many shots to present today …well, there were LOTS of shots – if you think these were bad eeesh. Let’s get you some interesting tidbits on this species before we get you on your way. This Owl was given an appropriate name coming in at between 4.7 and 5.5 inches with only a 13 inch wingspan per Cornell. They are the smallest Raptor in the world – Cornell gave a reference size of a juice box. Curious, I checked on the dimensions of the Pygmy Owl and they tower over the Elf, checking in at 6.3 to 7.1 inches. There appears to be two morphs with the south Texas variety having less rufous in their feathering. They are nocturnal hunters as mentioned earlier and defend their territory as a group, mobbing any unwanteds – clearly making up for their small stature with numbers. They are small, but those two razor tipped weapons they have under their butt are strong and deadly. The Elf is primarily a Central American species, but push up into the Rio Grande Valley, a patch in southeastern Texas and then heavily into southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona for the smoochie season. On the really intriguing front, Cornell mentions they will catch “Threadsnakes” and bring them back alive to the nest box. Talk about an odd relationship. Those snakes are said to munch on parasites which are deadly to their Owlets – “enemy of my enemy…” which probably goes without saying, a mantra that gets NO credence from Linda when it comes to slithery beasts.
Will put a bow on it there as I need to start another session of therapy exercises. Hope you enjoyed a (very poor) look at a new Owl on my life list. Take care everyone, see you again in September.
Life Intrigued 