Hooks and Flags

The temps are dropping and the leaves are falling – we be in November and “winter is coming” for all you GOT fans out there. It also means we are making our plans for our winter migration. There is a new wrinkle to deal with as there is a Screwworm outbreak in the western part of the Rio Grande Valley – most concerning is the infections in the Falcon State Park and Salineño areas, which are some of the areas I like to bird when we are down there. Not going to take our furry boys into that area with their quarantining process that has just been implemented there. Will it stay contained there, move east, where are the quarantine checks occurring (in that area or at the BP points that sit many miles from there) etc – all things we need to figure out before making our usual trek down there. In the meantime, I am trying to get caught up on all the busy work that needs to get done and (fingers crossed) push through some of the image backlog. With the Arizona 2025 trip now done, my backlog has shrunk to ONLY 1.5 years – trust me, that is quite the accomplishment for me ha. Also happy to report I am fully recovered from the October race and now in maintain mode with my running which is in the 8 to 10 miles ~3 times a week (a mere pittance). I will be back at my annual target of 1,000+ miles by the time you are reading this and my logged weekly outside activity streak currently sits at 54 consecutive weeks – take that you petulant ankle.

Enough preamble, the sign above the desk reminds me why you are here “It’s All About the Wildlife” so let’s continue our “lifer” series for at least one more post. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to our latest(ish) addition to our checklist.

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet found at Madera Canyon, AZ in March 2025

Admittedly, not the most colorful bird in North America, but it definitely has a high level of cuteness. Hit the jump to learn more about our featured feathered friend.

Continue reading Hooks and Flags

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 four 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.

Continue reading Congrats, Stats and Warbling