Apparently my state forgot to pay its heat bill this weekend as we are experiencing well below cold temps since late Friday night. This even came with some of the white fluffy stuff we here about so often when we return from our winter retreat. Nothing stuck which is unfortunate as one of our wells is incredibly stressed and we could have used that to help re-saturate the ground. Last week decided to haul water and top it off just to insure we stay off the new well as much as possible. Beyond that, things are definitely looking up. They are ramping me up in physical therapy and the ankle (and the rest of the body) is taking well to the work. Surgeon even released me to go without the brace for routine outings – a break the chains moment for me as I’ve been in either a boot, surgery bandages or a brace every day since January. Now I start shifting my sights from recovery to training and that is where my mindset needs to be to keep the crazies at bay. Beyond that, the only other thing to mention is the 2025 Halloween season is officially over. Today I got the last of the props back in storage and the RV back in the out building – luck would have it I had to finish it off in the freezing temps. Definitely looking forward to shifting our event back to its usual time at the end of September as my hands were constantly reminded me I wasn’t a Polar Bear. Probably should get to what brought you here today, another featured feathered friend to enjoy!
Hit the jump, but warning, wildlife was harmed in the lead up to this post.
Well, I honestly thought things would slow down after the Halloween weekend – you’d think I would learn. Still working hard each day to de-battery all the props, break them down and get them stowed back away in the tubs/boxes. Fortunately, I did really well on those grade school spacial relationship tests. School counselor, “Have you considered a career at Mayflower?“. Some of my time is being siphoned off thanks to having to build new shelving in the outbuilding – apparently I went a bit overboard (Linda says “a bit” is a gross understatement) acquiring new props while I was sequestered in the guest bedroom due to the ankle surgery – Ted over at TJPhoto (link here) even warned me about that. Add in trying to get Ruger qualified for the CPE agility nationals, therapy and all the homestead chores I delayed due to the haunted trail event and …well, a perfect time to feature another of Brad’s adventures. Take care everyone, I should be caught up…umm, relatively caught…up…ehhh, somewhat caught up..ah hell, I think I need to go back to work so I can get all that free time back I used to have ha!
Take it away Brad!….
Jan and I were on a trip to see a few of the National Parks near the West Coast. If you haven’t been to see the flora and fauna of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, you really need to. My mind is still reeling over the scale, on both ends, of what we saw. Tiny brightly colored birds flitting amongst ginormous Sequoias over 250 feet tall. I think Warbler Neck could just as easily be renamed Sequoia Neck.
While we were there, it would have been a shame not to see the Pacific Ocean since it was only a few miles from where we were staying near Anaheim. I mean after all, it’s the Pacific Ocean! It covers nearly 1/3 (over 30%) of the surface of the entire Earth. An actual and verifiable fact.
On our last day in California, Jan and I took a side trip to Newport Beach to see the ocean. As we got closer and closer to the beach, I noticed the price for parking kept rising and rising. Finally, a spot opened up that only cost a pittance by West Coast standards (the equivalent of two café lattes and a bran muffin) to park before 10am. Our thought was to leave the big cameras in the car and simply walk along the beach for a few minutes, just to enjoy the sand and the ocean.
After crossing 50 yards of flat sand, Jan and I came to the ocean’s edge. I felt bad for the few people sitting on their surfboards just a few yards offshore waiting for a wave; the ocean was flat calm. I’ve seen larger waves in mill ponds. Jan and I had not expected to take any photos of shore birds on our five-minute beach stop, so we left the big cameras in the car.
We are inching closer and closer to the official date of my favorite holiday of the year. Although our huge 2-day celebration of the black and orange comes earlier (typically a month earlier), we still enjoy the national day of spook. Being rural we do not get any trick-or-treaters as the effort to go door to door far outweighs the reward. The traditional candy stalkers have gotten soft choosing to drop into the nice neighborhoods with full bar handouts or the drive through trick-or-trunk options at the local malls. Halloween is the night we jump into the car and seek out all the local displays to assess and get ideas for next year’s haunted trail. Fills our hearts to see so many houses still resisting the encroachment of corporate Christmas and keeping the scare tradition alive and well. In honor of October’s special day, thought I would feature a feathered friend that sports a touch of those traditional Halloween colors.
Hit the jump to see a few more images of this flamboyantly tailed Flycatcher.
I have to say, getting a couple of really good night’s of sleep in these last few days has felt really good. Two days of 8+ hours of sleep each when you have been living on 4 to 5 for close to a month feels like a vacation in paradise ha. Best of all, the ankle swelling is definitely subsiding which will please my therapist. Still some work to do to get all the haunt items put away and autumn always brings with it an annual list of homestead work (living in the woods is wonderful until the trees start shedding leaves and nuts), but there is some time while the props finish drying and no sense getting started too early on the leaves when there are plenty more to fall. That means I have some time to get some posts out before November comes calling. Continuing from the last post, we are back in southern Texas with a perennial favorite.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of rather colorful Oriole
Probably one of the hardest elements of putting on our annual haunted trail is the aftermath. During the prep and build out I am full of energy and excitement. A whirlwind of ideas, tasks and problem solving all rolled up into a giant orange and black ball. Then the party is just pure fun..well, after dealing with all the late hour gremlins that always find a way to test my wits. On the second night, the last of the guests leave, we power down the haunt and at some point my tired body is reacquainted with the bed. A day of rest usually follows thanks to a mysterious magnetic pull embedded in the very fibers of the pillow – someone should really figure out how to harness that power! Then the post party hangover kicks in. Gone is the pre-event excitement – it is grind time as everything has to be hauled back up into the out-building for drying and then the masterclass sessions of packing and organizing. Fortunately, “grinding” is my superpower which has served me well over the years, work, ultras and the draining work of unplugging everything, disassembling the props and hauling them out of the valley. That part of the work is done now and just waiting out the drying phase (you do NOT want moisture in your storage bins). While that is happening, jumping back into the blog work with today’s featured feathered friend.
Hit the jump to learn more about this interesting Falcon sporting the orange and black colors of the season.
We did it! I am proud to say the Haunted Trail of Fears 2025 is officially in the books. All that is left is to haul it all back out of the woods, let it dry and then pack it away until next September. It is practically impossible to add up the number of effort hours this event requires as it extends well over 10 months when you add in all the project planning, prop building, assembly and tear down. Add in all the incredible help we get (including my brother Ron who spends weekend after weekend down here leading up to the event itself). Long hours starting early in the morning and rarely ending before well into the next day. This is what we live for here at Life Intrigued’s Haunt Department so through it all we are wearing big smiles (unless absolutely too tired to make those muscles move ha). Overall, I can proudly say it was a great success. Rain did move in on us the last night, but all but two guests made it through the nearly a mile haunt completely dry (even the two who didn’t make it out of the valley until the rain started had a great time as the drizzle coming through the tree canopy upped the eeriness in the dark woods). I’ll be posting some pics and likely videos from the event in future posts. For today, Brad is going to bring you one of his adventures from the northwest while I try to give the body a badly needed rest before starting tear-down tomorrow.
Take it away Brad…(note, Brad is still on his latest assignment)
Regular Wildlife Intrigued readers may remember a birding adventure Jan and I took out into the Atlantic Ocean in unstable seas (here). We were chasing a “must see” bird; one of those “life” birds that are usually only seen on nature shows. You know the ones, where the producer has a huge budget and dozens of cameras and weeks and weeks of time to sit and wait for the money shot.
A year ago, we were on a 65-foot boat out in the Atlantic that was bobbing like a cork on rough seas (4-6’ waves) for almost three hours. I had taken a double dose of Dramamine and wished I’d taken a third. Jan was getting bounced around and bruised from the fiberglass benches we were seated on. I couldn’t see anything because of the zero-visibility fog we were sailing through. The sky was various shades of dark grey. I vowed I’d never get on a boat that was less than 500 feet long ever ever ever again when it is out of sight of land.
And I haven’t, except for a quick tender trip in Hoonah, AK, but that was for only 100 yards on flat calm water. The last ship Jan and I were on was 1,083 feet long when we sailed from Alaska to Vancouver last August. That ship had some great nature programs on board given by The Ship Naturalist Robert Raincock (find him here or here). He was very popular helping to point out various birds, whales, and pinnipeds (seals) as the ship cruised the Inside Passage south from Alaska. BTW, what’s the difference between a boat and a ship you may ask? We were told, in no uncertain terms, that ships carry boats. Clear enough to me.
Our morning started with a slow and careful cruise into Glacier Bay National Park. We wanted to be sure to see glaciers while we still have them; we were not disappointed (may be a future story). Margerie Glacier is one of the few glaciers that is still advancing in North America, even though it detached from the Grand Pacific Glacier in the 1990’s. This 21-mile long glacier is about 1.25 miles wide at the waterline and 250 feet tall. In other words, it is roughly 7 times the length of our ship and nearly half again as tall above the water.
Hit the jump to learn about our new +1 enjoying the Alaskan waters.
Things are really heating up on our Haunted Trail event. You are already aware of this, so no need to go into further detail on that – of note though, my pillow recently filed a missing person’s report on me. These are the days I regret giving up caffeine so many years ago. Fortunately for me, Brad was able to stockpile some posts to keep you entertained while we try to deal with the nasty clown infestation in the woods. Today Brad is bringing you another adventure from one of their favorite locations – Hilton Head Island. Note, Brad and Jan are back on assignment and will have limited access to respond to comments, apologies in advance for that. Suspect the Intrigued HQ is in absolute chaos with both of us gone (I’m looking at YOU legal department!). Time for me to head back into the haunt lab.
Take it away Brad….
As many of our long-time readers know, Wildlife Intrigued photographers constantly travel these United States to bring you the latest on birding, and sometimes, human behaviors. Jan and I have had a very busy photo assignment calendar these past couple of years. To show the extent Wildlife Intrigued will go to bring you a story, a year ago while on assignments, we saw both oceans buffering the United States.
Jan and I spent a few chilly mornings on Hilton Head Island on the Atlantic Ocean last February. I thought South Carolina is supposed to be warmer than Illinois in February. The afternoons all ended up being quite lovely. However, one morning, there was ice on the fence near the ocean at sunrise. After a brief shiver and then a short ride in our warm rental car, Jan and I ended up at a favorite place from prior visits: Fish Haul Beach at low tide. Time for a small sidebar to share what I learned about the names of various tides.
Hit the jump to learn more about this upturn billed featured feathered friend!
This is the last day before we enter the “critical period”. This is the time when we start tracking against the haunted trail project plan – set tasks that have to be completed for each day or we run the risk of not being ready for the extravaganza. So many things to do, but if not done in the right order at the right time, we start to stumble over ourselves and we end up clipping a root and face-planting on the trail. Those familiar with Intrigued know all too well how that turns out ha. The good news is, we are finishing up all the new props for this year and for the most part all the scares that broke during the event last year have been fixed – all that early year work pays off. In the midst of the trail prep, I happened to notice we were a post down from our self-imposed monthly quota. Although busy, we definitely can’t let a decade plus streak go down without a fight, so jumped on the computer and figured I would end the month with some one-offs from our Arizona trip back in January of 2024. There will be limited commentary due to time constraints, so simply sit back and enjoy the shots.
Hit the jump to see some miscellaneous shots that didn’t have enough companion images to make their own post or not an interesting enough back story to keep you entertained.
I have to say, at this point in September, this is probably the least stressed I have been for many a year. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of fretting going on now, but NOTHING like the norm. Long time followers of Intrigued know we plan our year around our annual Haunted Trail event. This is a 363 day work effort as we get two days off to actually hold the event ha. The usual date for that event is THIS weekend and I am usually an absolute mess by this time – up for days, physically and mentally spent. Fortunately, it is something we absolutely enjoy putting together every year or there would be no way we would put ourselves through this. This year we had to push the event to mid October thanks to my punk-ass ankle. Sure, there is some lack of sleep and we are in the haunt labs from sun up through the witching hours, but the real worry days are still a week away. Those are the days when I wonder Wren I am going to get any sleep…
Hit the jump to see more shots of a featured feathered friend that shares my blood shot eyes.
Unfortunately, it has been a bit since we last talked. Not to steal any valor from the fine men in the Seals organization, but we are officially in our Hell Week[s]. Traditionally, our big haunted trail event (link here) would be scheduled for next weekend, however, due to the insubordinate ankle, we opted to push the date to mid October rather than cancel it outright. Good move as there is no way we would have been ready by this week. That delay doesn’t mean we can sit back and take it easy – for the last several weeks I have been getting very little sleep due to coordinating tasks, fixing broken props, building new scares and everything else related to the haunt. I just looked at the current project plan and there are 306 tasks at the macro level and that is growing daily ugh. Add in dealing with rehab visits, daily workouts and everything else life has been throwing at us (more like a barrage) and sleep has become a luxury. Fortunately we live for the haunt so that is wrapped in enjoyment (big thanks to my brother Ron who has been spending every weekend down here to help us out). Long story short, overly pressed for time, so I’ll probably be a bit scarce for some time going forward. I’ll try to keep you updated as we progress to the big event. Upmost apologies for delays in responding to comments and keeping up with all your fine blogs during this time. For now, Brad is going to take time away from preparing for his upcoming field assignment and step in to give me a breather with one of his adventures. While I take a brief few minutes to celebrate being released from crutches today, I’ll let Brad take it away…
Lately, Jan and I have been taking on more global photo assignments for Wildlife Intrigued. It’s not that we are running out of birds locally, far from it. We want to get to the far-flung parts of the map while we are young enough to handle the strenuous travel distances and locations. Sometimes, Jan and I use a travel agent to help with details in a part of the world we’ve not yet been to. Often times we have already been to a location and take pleasure in setting up travel on our own, even if the Intrigued corporate jet isn’t available. (Isn’t that worldwide pop tour over yet?)
For the same reason, these stories almost never appear in a linear fashion. It’s sort of a “timey-wimey” thing. Sometimes I have a story just waiting for me to take photographs to complete it. Or I have a bunch of photos, and no story. A TARDIS would be helpful in the story writing process sometimes. This story was actually started way before the one about an Eastern Kingbird (link here) that we found about 100 yards further around the lake a bit earlier in the same day. Circumstances, our travel assignments, and me almost deleting all of the bird photos lead to this one being delayed for over a year. (see end of story for details)
During one of our back-to-back-to-back photo assignments from Intrigued HQ, Jan and I were on the downhill side of an early summer trip to Colorado visiting our daughter Allyson. She is also the editor working in the Wildlife Intrigued Western (or Mountain) office. Both the Intrigued corporate jet and motorhome were otherwise occupied, so we completed the 14-hour journey in our Regional Office vehicle. Truthfully, I like travelling this way because we can take much more gear along than the airlines allow. As an added bonus, Jan and I get to stop at Runza for lunch on our way across Nebraska. Both directions.
Hit the jump to read more about today’s featured feathered friend.
Life Intrigued 
