Category: Guest Feature

Because They Make Me Smile…by Brad Marks

Good news, had an appointment with my doctor today and the elbow is healing well. I was getting concerned as my range progress had stalled a bit and was worried the arm wasn’t going to achieve the mobility I wanted/needed. Doc is still confident on nearly full range once they get the rest of the swelling released and break apart the scar tissue. I predict some fun therapy sessions in the near future. The best news is they released me to start strength training in my sessions and ….wait for it … wait for it .. I can “start” running again. This brought an internal chuckle from me and a stern disapproving look from Linda. Thankfully she didn’t reveal I’ve been running for weeks hehehe. Going to let Brad take the helm today while I get ready for a celebratory, and now, guilt free training run. Just hoping I can get back to the running efficiency of his featured subjects!

Take it away Brad…

No one ever said bird photography would be easy.  The Intrigued corporate employee handbook doesn’t mention it either.  Yes, much of the time my subjects are sitting still, nicely perched on a branch or twig out in the open.  A few are sitting on the ground as pretty as you please.  Sometimes they are flying gracefully through the air on a predictable line so I can follow them easily.  But more often than not, they are behind twigs so the camera can’t get an easy focus lock.  Or flitting between branches.  Or hiding in tall grass.

Not this time.  This past February, Jan and I were taking a morning walk along Sunset Beach, adjacent to Bird Island, in North Carolina.  The sky was overcast and the wind was blowing at a constant 15-20MPH straight along the coast from the South.  With waves crashing ashore, and sand blowing in our faces (yes, I had a filter on the front of both camera lenses) we were lucky to find a rather spastic set of little birds.  They are constantly chasing the surf line, running up and down with the waves in what should be a predictable pattern.  In fact, “chasing the surf” is the precise behavior listed in the bird books to aid with identification.  If you’ve ever seen a certain Pixar animated movie short, you will understand . . . it rhymes with “hyper”.

Sanderlings at Sunset Beach, NC by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about these spastic little birds!

Continue reading Because They Make Me Smile…by Brad Marks

That Must Hurt…by Brad Marks

Normally about this time I would be cursing Father Time for secretly removing days out of the month leaving me scrambling to get posts out to hit our quota. A little different this month as I am quite ecstatic to turn the page on this rather painful month. Although, yesterday morning I was wearing a grin from ear to ear. Linda and I kept a long tradition going for what is now the 19th consecutive year. Will cover this more thoroughly on the Mothership in the coming weeks. In short, the Quad Cities Bix 7 was held in downtown Davenport, IA (link here). This beast of a hill course was the first race I ever entered and thus holds a special place in my heart. Linda walked the Quick Bix (2 miles) and I was ordered by …hmmm, how did Wally (link here) put it… oh yeah SWMBO (She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) to at MOST walk the 7 miles now being a mere 4 weeks out from surgery (truth be told, she was rather insistent I walk the 2 mile with her and glad she finally relented to accept the 7). With elbow brace in place, lined up with the other 10,000+ runners, cheered as the starter gun rang out and headed out to battle the hill demons. Crossed the finish line around 1:07. Now before Linda (and anyone else) does the math on that and figures out my “little secret” I am going to once again turn you over to Brad to close this month out properly. While scanning through his queue I noticed this title and it was an absolute prefect fit. Take care everyone, see you in August (assuming nobody snitches on me and gets me in trouble ha).

Take it away Brad…

It has been a few months since we visited South Carolina during a cold Illinois winter.  I’m still sorting through photos and remembering stories about the birds we saw.  We aren’t snowbirds like generations before us.  We just needed to do something outside, during February, without having to wear a parka.  Plus, South Carolina was a brand-new state for us to visit.

While passing dozens of signs for the next mini-golf experience (Myrtle Beach is mini-golf capital of the U.S.), we headed south from Myrtle Beach to find Huntington Beach State Park.

After paying our very reasonable entrance fee, we drove across the causeway and parked the car.  I assembled the cameras and mounted the big glass on my monopod.  We headed to the observation deck next to the causeway.  Today’s subject was flying above the tidal marsh, but ended up banking in our direction near the brackish water pond.

Great Egret by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to learn more about today’s featured guest!

Continue reading That Must Hurt…by Brad Marks

Bird Walk +1s…by Brad Marks

Before I get too far, I just wanted to thank Linda for now 32 years of wedded bliss – well, except for the infinitesimally small fraction of time she scolds me because of a “perceived” bad choice on the trail – then she relents, puts me back together again and hops back on the “happy path” hehehe. I did admit she should get an extra year of service for what she has had to put up with these last few weeks. Restricted runners are a notoriously hard lot to deal with. The good news is the stitches are out of the elbow and everything looks really good. A ways to go before it is back to where I need it to be, but optimistic now that a lot of the swelling has dissipated and therapy has started loosening everything up. Unfortunately, photography is out of the question. Decided to take The Beast in and have it refurbished so it is ready when I’m able to lift it gain. In the meantime, we can live vicariously through another of Brad’s Huntington Beach State Park adventures. Take care everyone and thanks for all the well wishing and healing thoughts!

Take it away Brad…

This may have been obvious to many of you long-time readers of Intrigued, but Jan and I just started seeking out and photographing birds while we visit state and national parks on vacations.  While we don’t necessarily chase them down, we will certainly take some time to look for what’s available wherever we are.

This is a sort of “greatest hits” post about many of the species we were able to see and photograph on a bird walk at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina, not far from Myrtle Beach.  Now, having said that, please don’t all flock there (pun intended) all at once. 

We were visiting the boardwalk overlook for the seaside habitats, when we bumped into a couple that had been birding for decades.  He was wearing a Boston Marathon jacket, and since Jan had run the Boston marathon a few times in the past, I went up to him and said, “Hi.”  We started talking and I could tell he was a bit anxious to be moving along.  He introduced himself as Jack and his wife Janet, and explained they were about to be late for the bird walk that morning.  During the off-season, there is one bird walk per week at 10am on Wednesdays.  It was 9:58am.  Off they went with Jan and I in pursuit.  When we arrived, the bird walk had already started.  The guide was introducing himself and telling us about the walk for the newbies (us included). 

Most people at the walk had binoculars, spotting scopes, checklists or all three.  Jan and I had our cameras with intermediate and long-reach zoom lenses.  As the guide is talking, there are a dozen types of birds moving about.  Some are flying, some are floating, others are wading, and one keeps smacking into the surface of the water, at high speed, hoping for a snack.

Huntington Beach State Park by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about Brad and Jan’s finds at Huntington Beach State Park

Continue reading Bird Walk +1s…by Brad Marks

Now That’s Yellow…by Brad Marks

After tearing the house apart to find my running shoes my devious wife hid on the advice of my trail running group, I am finally back on the road. Long time readers already know that is not where I “want” to be (I belong on the trails) and certainly not walking…but that is where I am. I’ve been brief on details before and the fact I am still having constant flashbacks tells me I best keep those to myself for your mental comfort. In general, have lost the use of my dominant arm and based on the visual and immense disappointment (I was waaaayyyy tooo optimistic) when they took the post surgery splint off yesterday, it is going to be a long “trail” to a full recovery. I am not good at “slow” or “measured” and will have to keep an open ear to my external voices of reason – noting Brad’s is a much more calming and suggestive tone versus the more “Nurse Rached’s” of my wife’s hehehe. Until I can stop pecking at letters to the right of ‘G’, Brad will be guiding the Intrigued industrial complex (for which I am extremely grateful). With that, we bring you another of his Huntington Beach adventures.

Take it away Brad…

The veteran birders and bird photographers among you will not be surprised at what I say next.  Can you guess?  You are probably right.  I am still going through photos from our Huntington Beach State Park birding adventure.  I may not have mentioned it before, but Jan and I took well north of 11,000 photos in the three days of birding.  I know that sounds like just getting warmed up for the more serious birders, or photographers, or bird photographers.  Remember, this was a vacation.  I would not have guessed that we would see 26 species at this one location (out of the 56 we spotted on the whole vacation).  Granted, a few of the 56 spotted were some of the same birds we have at home in Illinois.  Overall, we added a couple of dozen to our life list of birds.

As we arrived in the park at about 8 am at the beginning of another sunny February day in South Carolina, we headed to the first elevated boardwalk we could find.  We were about a mile from the highway and couldn’t hear any traffic noise.  And since we were still a few hundred yards from the ocean, we heard no surf sounds either.  Actually, the area would be very quiet if it weren’t for all of our feathered friends welcoming us.  One of the first things we saw flying was quite a distance from us.  I had my zoom all the way at 500mm to catch this tiny shot.  At least it’s more than six pixels on the sensor.

Greater Yellowlegs found by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to reveal the details on this South Carolina find.

Continue reading Now That’s Yellow…by Brad Marks

Gulls, Gulls, Gulls…by Brad Marks

Hello everyone and welcome to July or as I call it now “Ja’ Y’d You F Up Your Summer”. Just a quick update, I made it through surgery and everywhere I walk the 6 Million Dollar Man theme can now be heard. Big thanks to my wife for having to pick up the slack (although hiding my running shoes is a bit cruel!), Brad has been keeping my spirits up and truly appreciate all of your kind thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, I have a ways to go…not to mention now having to tear the house apart for my shoes…the race is this weekend!!!! Luckily, Brad has several posts in the hopper to fill the void. Take care everyone.

Take it away Brad…

Doesn’t that title remind you of a song from the hair bands of the 1980’s, MTV, and a specific lifeguard sitcom?   Just try to get that out of your head while you read the story.

In the past, we at Intrigued have talked about “LBJ’s” (little brown jobbers).  There should also be an acronym for the nearly endless variety of gulls.  The company Brian and I used to work for had thousands of acronyms.  There were so many . . . how many were there . . . there were so many acronyms that we had a spiral-bound notebook just to be able to keep track of them all.  Whenever I see a seagull flying around, even this far inland in central Illinois, I think it’s just another seagull, or just another gull (JAG).  The word “seagull” is a generic term for any gull-like bird near water.  Many of the “gulls” I see on a regular basis are nowhere near a major body of water.  I don’t normally take the time to tell the gulls apart.  I usually just call it a seagull, remind myself to tag it later in Lightroom as a “gull”, and then move onto the business of enjoying the rest of our vacation.

Gulls from Brad Marks

On our recent winter trip to South Carolina, I was doing the same thing.  Jan and I took photos of “gulls” we saw flying near the ocean.  It wasn’t really until we took a walk on Sunset Beach that I realized “Hey, these don’t all look the same.”  I thought, “Great, something else I need to identify when we get home.”  And before anyone asks, I don’t think any of these were named Jonathon Livingston.

Hit the jump to see more gulls, gulls, gulls!

Continue reading Gulls, Gulls, Gulls…by Brad Marks

Giant Flying Fishing Machines…by Brad Marks

Well, Mr. Murphy reigns supreme once again. First the good news. My 50K simulation run last Monday was a huge success. Made it through the planned 26 miles on that hellspawn of a course and ended upright. Big thanks to Linda running support for me, driving from each checkpoint to the next to keep me fueled and my spirits up. A great feeling to complete knowing I only had to grind out 8 or so more for the actual race in two weeks (as are most trail races, actual course is longer than stated). Taper officially started the next day with a quick run with friends at another park we train at regularly. A little more than .5 miles into it, an unexpected root and an unwavering tree resulted in an ambulance ride. Ortho-surgeon confirmed surgery for tomorrow. In short, I will be out for a while dealing with recovery and getting over the absolutely sickening reality all the training since December is now for naught. In the meantime, we will be heavily relying on Brad to keep you entertained… starting today! Take care everyone, Brad or I will try to keep you posted on the progress.

Take it away Brad…

Have I mentioned before what a gold mine Huntington Beach State Park is for birders?  Nearly two weeks after our February trip, I’m still sorting, selecting, editing, and writing about the birds Jan and I saw while we were there.  The more seasoned birders told us it was not a very good birding week to be there.  Not good?!  They assured us that later in the season we could expect to see 100 (or more) species in a single day.  As it was, we saw 26 species at Huntington alone.  That’s 26 of the 56 we saw on the entire trip from just this one location.

Just past noon the tide was about halfway through outbound cycle.  Jan had walked to the end of the existing portion of the observation deck near the nature center.  I had not seen brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) that close before, and the long zoom lens really helped bring them up close and personal.  So close, in fact, that I had to back off the zoom a bit to fit them in the field of view.

Brown Pelican by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to learn more about these unique fisherbirds!

Continue reading Giant Flying Fishing Machines…by Brad Marks

Building Team Intrigued…by Brad Marks

Howdy everyone! Just got back from attending the Midwest Region Haunt Convention up in Chicago with Ron and “partner in haunt” Brad S. (yes, I have lots of friends that happened to be named Brad ha). This was our first time attending this Halloween themed gathering and it was a BLAST. Got to see some of my heroes in the industry, try out new props/gadgets/mechanisms, take in all the attendees in costumes (a shocking amount of them) and most of all, came back with a ton of new ideas to add to our own haunt this year! Pretty exhausted from hours of walking around the exhibits and the long car ride up and back. Was getting ready to write up a post and realized Brad had sent me on our latest corporate outing. Let’s go with that while I test a quick rest from the trip.

…take it away Brad.

In the middle of May, Brian suggested we have an Intrigued team building event.  The entire staff of photographers and writers was invited.  No, there weren’t any rope courses, trust-falls, tug-o-war events, or overpaid motivational speakers.  We did talk extensively about the Legal department and how much copier paper they had been using lately.  It was Brian’s day off from intensive training for an upcoming ultra-event.  I think the next event is “only” a 50k trail run.  I’m working up to 10-15 miles on my bike and mowing my 1-acre lawn, only using the self-propelled feature for mowing up the hills.  I did my best to keep up with Brian on the trails in the deep woods at Jubilee College State Park.  We are both, after all, retired.

We met early in the morning at Intrigued HQ and drove the corporate Jeep (the corporate motorhome was out for cleaning and it wasn’t far enough away to use the corporate jet) to the north entrance of Jubilee State Park.  This entrance is mostly used by people camping and riding their horses over miles of trails.  The sky was clear and blue, not a cloud to be seen.  The trees were sporting their full leafage (is that a word?) and blocking our view of most of the birds. 

Brian parked the Jeep (skipping the valet service) and we began assembling our cameras.  It was an honor to be in the presence of The Beast, Brian’s Nikon 200-400mm lens.  Normally, I use a monopod to hold up my nearly 9 lb. (8 lb. 12 oz.) camera/lens combination (D300 with battery grip and Nikon 200-500mm lens).  I believe that I end up with better results taking gravity out of the equation.  But for the team building event, I decided to hand-carry the camera by the lens foot.  Of course, I had the camera strap wrapped around my wrist as a failsafe.  Brian hand-carries the much heavier combo of The Beast and his camera (8 lb. 15 oz.) all the time.  In other words, we both carried a full gallon of milk (or your favorite almond/soy substitute) plus a glass or two, all day.  (By the way, employees of Wildlife Intrigued all use Nikon cameras and lenses.  If anyone from Nikon wants to talk sponsorship for the shameless plugs above, please contact our Legal Department.  You may have to leave a message because they are probably out buying more copy paper.)

Just as I was putting the lens cap in my pocket, Brian pointed and said “Look over there.”

Hit the jump to learn what caught Brian’s eye and to read more about our corporate outing!

Continue reading Building Team Intrigued…by Brad Marks

Blue Imposter…by Brad Marks

Welcome to June everyone! Admittedly I am a bit behind – things are… hmmm… let’s go with “normal” for Intrigued… translated… running around like headless chickens trying to get everything that needs to be done between the runs. I naively thought there would be an abundance of time after I retired, nope! This month is especially demanding as it is the last month of hard training before the first ultra of the season scheduled for the first week of July (link here). Heat conditioning, hydration/nutrition validation and worst of all, 20+ mile brutal hill runs … my body can’t wait until taper. While I ice to keep the black and blue bruising out of my legs, will turn the post duties over to Brad to tell us about a different kind of blue.

…take it away Brad!

It’s not really an imposter, but the name for this nearly white bird doesn’t seem to fit very well.  A little while ago I wrote about the great blue heron (link here).  This one is about a smaller heron cousin:  the little blue heron (Egretta caerulea), another +1.  This is a juvenile version of the little blue heron.  No, not a middle-school type of juvenile making fart jokes.  I’m talking about the juvenile variety that doesn’t have its adult plumage yet.  Contrary to what the name implies, the only thing blue on this little heron at this point is the end of its bill.  For now.  Its feathers will turn darker blue in its second year and look similar to a smaller version of the great blue heron.  The only coloring kept from childhood into adulthood is the bill and greenish legs.  The white feathers are replaced by a purple-maroon colored neck and a dark slate-blue-colored body.  Until their darker adult plumage grows in, they are very easy to spot in their surroundings.

Little Blue Heron by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about this incognito wader.

Continue reading Blue Imposter…by Brad Marks

Technicolor Heron…by Brad Marks

It’s agility dog show weekend which means we are packing up the steel mule and heading out to…well, somewhere other than here. I am generally told the destination at some point between getting on and getting off the mule. If I am lucky I packed enough underwear for whatever length of stay it turns out to be (yep, I cheat and get an idea of how many days and climate zones are being crossed by seeing what Linda ends up packing). She also indicated I don’t need to bring running clothes, so this one sounds fairly shot. While out, Brad will once again be at the helm of the Intrigued armada. Fingers crossed he keeps the flowers watered and more importantly, prevents our lawyers from throwing a kegger – last time I left they papered all the inside walls with photocopies of their butts. We had to disinfect the copier before the rest of our departments would even come near it. Good luck Brad ha!

Take it away Captain…

I often wonder where the names come from for some of the birds I see and photograph.  Many are very obvious:  red-winged blackbird for example.  (Even though it should really be the “red with a splotch of yellow”-winged blackbird.)  Or the red-headed woodpecker.  Nailed that one.  Not so obvious is the red-bellied woodpecker (have to look very close to see the red, and if you are close enough to see it you are probably too close). 

Today’s subject is no different.  While technically not “technicolor”, it is tricolored.  No, not the RGB (red/green/blue) colors so many former IT people know about.  But there are certainly more than the three main colors as the name implies.  At first glance, tricolored herons (Egretta tricolor) look like a miniature version of the great blue heron in stature and color.  However, when this one turned towards us there is a bright white patch on its throat and breast. 

Tricolored Heron by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about this Great Blue Heron mini-me!

Continue reading Technicolor Heron…by Brad Marks

Bigger Than Your Head…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone, we are back with another adventure from Brad’s queue. Today’s feature is a perfect reflection of today – too big of a bite as it were. Ever had one of those days when you feel a 1,000 percent and decide to step up your game in celebration? My friend had to bail on our trail run today, so thought “Hey Bri, let’s put on the big boy pants and go hit the second hardest trail course in the area”. Mind you, Inner Bri has NEVER turned down a challenge and now several hours later sitting here wondering at what point an alien is going to pop out of my lungs. 2 months to go before I have a 50K on the big daddy course – Inner Bri is evil ha. I’ll let Brad take you through what kind of bite his subject took.

…take it away Brad! (note, you can use the image links to view the full sized images)

Like most of you, winter gets old pretty fast for us. Jan was looking at fun, quick, and warm trips for a February getaway from central Illinois. Not that the weather can’t be lovely in central Illinois in February, but it’s usually not. She found an inexpensive hotel suite in Myrtle Beach. I asked what’s there to do in Myrtle Beach (not knowing since we’d never been to South Carolina before). She said there are more than a few nature and wildlife reserves in the immediate area. By the way, did you know that Myrtle Beach is the mini-golf capital of the world? There are over fifty, fifty as in “five-zero”, mini-golf establishments located in Myrtle Beach. Jan and I saw two or three new ones being built.

One of the best winter locations for birding (IMHO) is Huntington Beach State Park, south of Myrtle Beach.  The park has multiple environments to attract all sorts of birds: seashore habitats, tidal marsh habitats, brackish and somewhat tidal habitats, freshwater habitats, forest habitats, and open grassy area habitats.  Need I say more?  It’s a fantastic place to see a plethora of birds in a variety of habitats without traveling to multiple states over multiple days.

Great Blue Heron Hunting by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read about Brads hungry GBH(ippo)

Continue reading Bigger Than Your Head…by Brad Marks