Guest Feature – Page 2 – Life Intrigued

The Story That Almost Wasn’t…by Brad Marks

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.

Singin’ in the Sunshine…by Brad Marks

It is a big week for me. The first phase of my medical “bad boy” sentencing is up this Thursday! Fingers crossed everything looks good so I can transition into the next term consisting of a walking boot and physical therapy. I cannot wait to be at least semi-mobile again. Before the good advice comes pouring in, Linda already gave me the “treatment” yesterday at dinner. {With a stern look that would be truly forbidding to those less conditioned to it hehehe} “Now, you know what to do the next time you think you turned your ankle in a race RIGHT!?!” “Yes” I proudly responded without a moments hesitation “..not tell you about it!”. She may seem flabbergasted, exhausted, disappointed and claws out ready to pounce, but deep down inside she knows me better than that (and still agreed to marry me – crazy eh!). Honestly, I will try to be more careful – these last couple of years have been rough on the body. While I mentally prepare for what is going to be some brutal first therapy sessions, going to let Brad take you with him on another Colorado adventure. Oh, Brad’s suspicions were correct, I just finished processing almost all the tins of the 2024 birding season (over a terabyte). Just have a quick trip to Colorado to get through from last September and then I’ll be current to this year!!

Take it away Brad…

At Wildlife Intrigued, most of the photography team (OK, Brian and I) have a backlog of photos as you might expect. Brian’s backlog is an order of magnitude greater than my backlog, though I suspect with his upcoming ankle “upgrade” he’s going to have lots of time to sort through photos. Writing a story isn’t necessarily a linear event. Oh sure, I could go back to the oldest photos and start from there. However, sometimes a story just sings to me and keeps working its way through my brain until my fingers hit the keyboard. Voila! A story is born. Stories are usually not published, or written, in sequential order either, meaning that back-to-back stories published on Wildlife Intrigued come from different assignments on different years. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

As Jan and I neared the exit of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve (RMANWP) Wildlife Drive we began to notice the large bison fences. In reality, I’m not sure these wire fences would stop a determined bison from going where it darn well wanted to go. Growing up, there was a farm near us that had exotic animals on it, including a camel (one hump), an ostrich, and a very small herd of bison. Did you know that bison are extremely agile despite their large size? One evening, at my parent’s dining room window we heard a loud snort. Glancing up, there was a large bison looking straight into the first story window. The large furry face stared at us for a few seconds before something off to the side caught its attention. The bison was off like a shot because two people on horseback were chasing after it. We were later told the chase lasted several minutes until the bison decided it was tired and hungry. Once the bison neared the 5-foot-tall fence marking its home, it simply leaped over the fence, in stride, back to its normal corral and began quietly munching on a big bowl of bison chow. Problem sorted. That’s when I learned how agile and strong these animals are. Important safety tip from the National Park Service: Don’t pet the fluffy cows.

Back to the previously scheduled story.

Today’s feathered friend is not new to Intrigued. You may have seen today’s featured guest before here. The prior story is from nearly the same location, just a few miles closer to the mountains of Colorado than I am today.

Sitting on the top wire of the bison fence was this guy, or girl, I’m not really sure. Unless a pair is sitting side by side, the subtle color differences are not as obvious. Males can have slightly brighter, or more vibrant, yellow coloring, some might say “lemon” colored. The black “necklace” may also be darker or more sharply defined. Not seeing another one nearby for comparison, I’m sticking with my original assessment.

Hit the jump to read more about this winged lemon with a dagger of a bill.

Is that Bird Wearing a T-Shirt?…by Brad Marks

It is ironic that most of the time here I am complaining about how fast the year is progressing, but now that I wouldn’t mind the minutes rolling by more rapidly…it seems like everything has slowed to a crawl. Such is fate I guess. Actually this is a good week at Intrigued. Brad and Jan have wrapped up everything related to the annual St. Jude charity run and on their recovery phase, Home Depot FINALLY released this year’s Halloween offerings yesterday (at 5am) and tomorrow my stitches come out. Fingers crossed that leads to better night’s sleep! It also officially marks the halfway point for the 6 week no-weight segment. Looking back I have to applaud myself for being the “good” patient (got a lot of people ready to drop the hammer on me if I don’t) and looking forward, well, “holy hell, get me out of here”. Thankfully there are plenty of pictures to process, Halloween props to wire, haunt tutorials to make and posts to keep my eyes off the clock. Speaking of all things haunt, a curious reader brought to our attention that we missed the post quota last month (we have some demanding readers ha) – turns out they missed my 2024 tombstone review on the Mothership (Boy’s Got Some Stones link here). Feel free to take a look if you are curious how those turned out. While I mentally prepare for thread being pulled out of my ankle, please enjoy another adventure from Brad and Jan.

Take it away Brad…

Jan and I first saw this bird at the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Preserve (RFNWP) a couple of years ago. However, one of my rules for publishing photos is that the image must be usable if I have to resort to severe cropping. I am always saying, “I don’t want a 6-pixel image of a backlit dark object.” Well, with our new cameras, that may have increased to a minimum 60-pixel image. But still, who wants to look at dark fuzzy thing on the screen and try to guess what it is. With my years of experience photographing wildlife (all couple of years of it), I don’t even try for those photos any longer. Not taking them saves time sorting and editing later as well as saving clicks on my camera shutters. That 250k mark on the shutter assembly rolls around quickly enough as is.

On our semi-annual Wildlife Intrigued Rocky Mountain editorial staff visit with our daughter Allyson, Jan and I went to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (RMANWP). One of the perks of visiting is that we get to use her Honda CR-V to drive all over the place while she is working her primary job. RMANWP is a very large park at nearly 16,000 acres. The park is large enough to have an 11-mile, mainly square-shaped, Wildlife Drive embedded within it, plus a couple of miles of road on either end. Visitors enter the one-way Drive by crossing a set of bison guards embedded in the road and then driving anti-clockwise around the Drive. For those not familiar with a bison guard, or cattle guard, it is a series of horizontally mounted rails or pipes embedded over an empty space in the roads. The theory, and reality, being that hooved animals will not want to cross the guard; therefore, no actual gates are needed over the roadway. This means easy access for vehicles while keeping livestock inside, or outside depending on which way you are travelling. Fencing is obviously required up to the edge of the gates in the roads and beyond.

At the end of the 11-mile wildlife drive, just before the final set of bison guards in the road, a dark object flew through the sky and landed in a tree less than 50 feet from us. Since it was far larger than 60 pixels, Jan and I wanted to begin taking photos.

Swainson's Hawk found by Brad and Jan Marks at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Now what do we have here, hit the jump to learn more about this spiffy looking Hawk.

P-Dogs a-Plenty…by Brad Marks

Down three posts and coming to the end of July. You are likely going to get some rapid fire posts in large part thanks to Brad, as I am still working through the first phase of the ankle surgery recovery – I thought I would be keyboard warrioring it over the entire 5 week no-weight period, but so far, still getting adjusted to this boat anchor. Once simple tasks are turning out to be a test of my strength and/or will. I did absolutely laugh out loud the other day (something I needed). Last year I ran my last Bix7 road race putting a cap on 20 straight years of toeing that line (link here). Linda relayed a funny scene she witnessed when had made it to the top of the Brady Street hill (she opts for the walker option). A lady and her ~7yr old kid had just made it to the top near her when she noticed the kid was basically balling. The mother notices and responds “I am sorry, I didn’t prepare you mentally, physically or spiritually to make it up that hill”. I’ve been meaning to write a story on the mothership about this scene as it is shockingly antithetical to the manner in which Linda, my brothers and I were raised. That quote has been attached to my monitor ever since then. And there I was, leaning on my crutches looking down at the 6 inch ledge to our shower. That quote had a completely new and profound meaning hehehehe! Tasks are getting easier each day – dealing with this mentally for another 5 weeks is going to be tough. While I push through, Brad is going to “Let the Dogs Out (who?, who?, who?)”.

Take it away Brad…

For regular readers of Wildlife Intrigued, at first this story will seem like a departure from the norm, meaning no feathers. When you see what I have in store for you, forgiveness may be in order. Wildlife Intrigued does include all types of wildlife, feathers or not.

Jan and I were visiting the Wildlife Intrigued Rocky Mountain editorial staff (our daughter Allyson) when we found ourselves with a half day to spare. Shhh, don’t tell the bosses. A quick review of available birding locations revealed an obvious choice not very far from the hotel where we were staying. Nice save going birding in our free time, don’t you think? The other advantage of having a half-day free is that we could use our daughter Allyson’s Honda CR-V while she was working. It sure is nice to have the younger generation working to help support the older, newly retired, generation. Truthfully, other than camping or ski trips on weekends, her car does not get used very often and it seemed to enjoy being out on the road.

For those that aren’t familiar with the 2004-2006 model year Honda CR-Vs, they have built-in picnic tables as the floor of the cargo area. This is one of the best features EVER offered in a car for active people. Once you are at a camp site, picnic site, or ski mountain base parking lot, and have most of the cargo area unloaded, simply remove the cargo floor, extend the legs, and Voila! Instant picnic table. There is also a hole in the middle of the table if you have an umbrella (sold separately) for sunny locations. I’ve told the Honda people they are losing sales to younger buyers because they took this feature out in 2007. Honda, if you are reading this, put the picnic table back in the CR-V.

OK, back to the regularly scheduled story. After driving for about a dozen miles and only getting lost once or twice (not quite sure about map apps sometimes) we found our destination: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve (RMANWP). Yes, even the acronym is a mouthful. I know, the “arsenal” doesn’t conjure up images of cute furry or feathered things. However, that’s exactly what Jan and I found, at least the small furry kind. I’ll try not to overload our dear readers with cuteness. Fair warning: If you are susceptible to cute-furry overload, please only read between the photos.

Prairie Dogs found by Brad and Jan Marks

We are serious, if you are overly sensitive to cuddly wildlife images…do NOT hit the jump … something tells me you are going to do it anyway ha!

Pounce…by Brad Marks

As you can ascertain from this post, I survived the ankle surgery! Quite the ordeal, but Brad and I have two friends going through heart valve replacements up at Mayo right now, so comparatively minor in context. Just wanted to give a quick update as some of you had reached out. Unfortunately, once they got everything opened up, the doctor discovered the injury was worse than expected – not what you want to hear as you are clearing the fog of anesthesia. I’ll get more details during the followup. From Linda’s understanding, in addition to the multitude of expected repairs, the tendon was torn severely beyond initial assessment and strongly suggested those extra 48 miles in the race …..were not helpful (I’ll spare you Linda’s commentary, there might be delicate ears looking over your shoulder). Been some rough nights so far, but Linda is taking great care of me and Brad and Jan are keeping good tabs on me. Won’t keep you any longer as I know you would rather get to another adventure from Brad. Oh, apparently there were some comedians in the operating room as Linda found this when we got home…admittedly, I do laugh out loud every time I see it!!

Take it away Brad…

It’s not very often that Wildlife Intrigued photographers are at risk from their subject matter. Not often, but it does happen. Upon reflection, it does seem to be that Jan is the one that most often steps into harm’s way for these stories.

It was a lovely February day on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. By lovely, I mean clear skies and no rain. The temps, however, were hovering just above the freezing mark. Sea spray overnight had frozen on the fences and seagrass near our hotel on the ocean. Jan and I decided to wait until the temperatures were at least in the 40’s before venturing outside. Cold fingers and cold camera batteries do not make good photos.

After lunch at one of the cool breakfast/lunch restaurants on the island, we chose to drive to Jarvis Creek Park. You may remember Jarvis Creek Park from last year’s visit. The park includes a nice pond/lake (depending on your definition), nearly one mile of paved walking and fitness trails, clean restrooms, picnic areas, a fishing pier, and even a bike repair station. On the other hand, before you let the children run amok in nature, it also has alligators. We’ve only ever seen the gators close to the water in the lake, but nothing stops them from crawling up the bank to the walking path, except maybe the effort to get uphill. (see here for gators from Jarvis Creek Park)

But that’s not what this story is about. This is a story about a threat not from the water, but from the sky. Well, almost a threat in retrospect.

Jan and I had been wandering around the lake trying to photograph some spastic flying blue streaks (tree swallows) when we paused under the pine trees near the water. Jan was a bit further along, still trying to catch the tree swallows (future story) and I was watching a gator try to get down it’s first meal of the season. It was rather gruesome, so no photos here. We both paused for a second to give our memory cards a chance to catch up, when there was a minor kerfuffle from a tree near the water.

Red-Tailed Hawk by Brad and Jan Marks at Hilton Head

Hit the jump to fly to the rest of the story!

Sleepy Tree Penguins…by Brad Marks

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.

Black-Crowned Night Heron found by Brad and Jan at Port Royal Cypress Wetlands

Hit the jump to read more about this Tree Penguin and all of its friends.

Feather Tiara…by Brad Marks

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.

Tricolored Heron found at Port Royal Cypress Wetlands, SC by Brad and Jan Marks

Hit the jump to learn more about these Port Royal Tris.

Kung Fu Fighting…by Brad Marks

I’ve mentioned this in a few comment replies, but for those that missed it, I received some bittersweet news last week regarding a certain mal-performing joint I’ve been fighting with for over 7 months. If you recall during my last ultra-race..

A sudden motion made me s[l]ip, now we’re into a brand new ‘trip’

There is much debate on whether it would have been better had I actually fallen to the ground vs the ankle going 90 degrees under my leg while I stayed upright. For brevity, a misdiagnosis and then later discover of a double fracture in the tibia left me hobbled through April before getting the okay to resume training. That was met with a very angry joint that eventually led me in search of an explanation if not a remedy. A new ortho-surgeon and more x-rays found very bad things including likely breaks and/or ligament/tendon tear aways from the fibula and minimally severe inner joint ligament damage. MRI scheduled, but suspect a very sharp knife is in my future. Not looking forward to losing the rest of this year, however, incredibly relieved that there is finally a path forward. While I struggle to get this all sorted out, Brad is going to jump into the dojo…I mean spotlight and share another of his adventures from South Carolina.

Take it away Brad…

The word “vacation” means many things to many people. If you are reading this story, then your definition is probably closer to the one Jan and I use. Our definition may include beaches and exotic locations, but there are rarely, if ever, whole days sitting by the pool or on the beach with an umbrella drink and a half empty bottle of sunscreen nearby. Usually our definition of “vacation” includes the exotic location: checkmark. But that’s where the similarity stops. Instead of a pool, we are typically next to a marsh, wetland, crashing surf, mountain or volcano. In place of the umbrella drinks are usually large camera/glass combos hanging from our Black Rapid camera straps. OK, we do sometimes have the sunscreen nearby, but it is usually subtlety layered with bug screen. Oh, and wet wipes; can’t forget to keep the hands clean for holding our cameras. Bug spray on your hands then touching plastic camera parts leads to fingerprints in the hard plastic. Please do NOT try this at home.

This “vacation” was no different. Jan and I took a last-minute trip to Hilton Head Island to avoid some of the frigid weather at home in Illinois in February. We only avoided some of the cold, because for the first few days the cold followed us south.

We (meaning Jan and I and the cameras) spent the morning at Fish Haul Beach toward the eastern end of Hilton Head Island. However, after a very late lunch, (I can’t even remember where we ate that day) we decided we hadn’t taken quite enough photos for the day. Reviewing our options, and not wanting to drive for hours after lunch, we chose Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge which is smack dab in between Hilton Head Island and the mainland off of US-278. We visited this refuge last year and walked for hours. Since it was already nearing 4pm, we decided to only walk out a mile, see what we would see at Ibis Pond, and then head back to the car. We were not disappointed.

Common Gallinule found by Brad Marks on Hilton Head Island

(Oh-ho-ho-ho) Huh, ha
Keep on, keep on, keep on… reading by hitting the jump

Food Fight…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone! It was a busy weekend at the HQ with all the haunt production activities now in full swing and yesterday we held our 3rd Intrigued Corporate Warbler Watch and Walk in the Woods (IC4W). I won’t say much about the walk as I am pretty sure there will be a story or two coming in the future. It was definitely a great time to be out in the field with the staff and doing what we love to do – shooting feathers (with our cameras, of course) and getting caught up on life, family, injuries, hobbies, endurance sports and definitely some bird knowledge bantered about. Now, some have eluded to this really being their annual birding-acumen assessment as part of their annual performance reviews. Crazy talk, just a fun time with the boss…now let me just grab my clipboard and we’ll be on our way. Going to let Brad take the wheel for today’s post while I finish up all my notes on the assessment forms…sorry, I mean wrap up submitting all the eBird reports from our fun walk.

Take it away Brad…

We are coming up on the end of my third-year writing (almost 100 stories) and photographing for Wildlife Intrigued. I’ve learned it’s not all about just taking photos. Oh sure, Jan and I take tens of thousands of photos per year, and sometimes we take that many on a single assignment (22k in Hilton Head in total). It’s really about observing wildlife and learning to anticipate what might happen next and then telling the story. Often the whole story happens in just a few moments. Now, if I can just figure out when the fun stuff is going to happen and take fewer photos of “boring” stuff. If you’ve figured this out, let me know in the comments.

Jan and I have taken a few trips to South Carolina during cold Illinois winter months. Like most who travel to the ocean’s edge, we try to ignore the hordes of seagulls. Although, I learned two years ago that there is more than one type of “seagull”, and that gulls can be quite entertaining (here) if given a chance. They can also be quite competitive.

Gulls found by Brad and Jan in South Carolina

Warning, one or more fish were likely harmed in the making of this post, but that’s gonna happen when in proximity to today’s featured feathered friends. Hit the jump to see who wins the “prize”.

Salmon Buffet…by Brad Marks

Welcome to May everyone…or using our standard measurement for time .. a mere 5 months before the annual Haunted Trail event. Time is closing in on us in the haunt department. Fortunately, after this weekend’s agility dog show in Wisconsin we will be home for a good period of time that I can devote to all things that go bump in the night. In the midst of that, I also need to hit the ankle rehab hard(er) if I’m going to be ready to race a couple of weeks after that event. Going to be a busy summer. Having subjected you to a rather drab member of the birding world in my last post, I was searching for something to spice it up a bit. Took a scan through Brad’s queue and he had the perfect “NAB” to feature. Identify the person who is slowest in your group and let Brad take you on a northwestern adventure.

Take it away Brad…

Late last summer, Jan and I were on a great Alaskan Adventure. Our 17-day tour involved several days on land, and then several more days on a very large cruise ship (more stability = less queasiness for Brad). We booked every possible excursion available so we could see as much of the Alaskan wilderness as possible. I also felt pressure from Intrigued HQ to book some birding adventures. One of our trips was a guided Wildlife Tour at Icy Strait Point near Hoonah, Alaska. We did see birds, but they weren’t the highlight of this excursion.

After disembarking from the cruise ship and walking through the gift shops, we arrived where the tour would start. Thankfully, Jan and I were not there during peak season. It seemed the vast majority of the passengers from the two cruise ships docked there were headed to either the zip-lines, gift shops, or the bars (as if the cruise boats ran out). Our tour was designed for up to 18 people, but only 8 signed up for the trip. We’ve learned from the past that fewer people in tour groups usually means we can make more tour stops, or spend more time in the various places on the tour.

Once we were checked at the tour office, the group climbed into the mini-bus, and our guide, Amy, started the tour. Amy told the group that she grew up on the island, fifth generation in fact, and was a wealth of knowledge for being as young as she was. After making a stop to see eagles (link to Under Construction) she took us to a remote location on the Island.

After we all got out of the minibus at the next stop, Amy gave a stern safety briefing. She said that are usually bears in the area, but that human noises keep them away for the most part. Amy also requested we stay behind her because she didn’t want to have to deter a bear with tourists in the way. I didn’t fully comprehend what she was telling us until later in the tour.

We walked a few hundred yards along a two-track gravel road into the wilderness. Amy was pointing our various flora and fauna and telling us stories all along the way. Now, I wish I had recorded those stories to help write these stories. After about 15 minutes, we came to a small bridge across a creek.

Brown Bear found by Brad and Jan Marks in Alaska

As we say at Intrigued … “It’s a Furry NAB” (Not a Bird). Hit the jump to learn more about this Alaskan creature.

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