Category: Observation

You Gonna Eat That?…by Brad Marks

Good news, Brad is back from his field office visit (in actuality he made it back just before I released my last post, but I didn’t see his expense report come in before hitting publish). I can definitely use the break as tomorrow morning is my “simulation” run for the fast approaching ultra trail race. Plan is to cover ~75% of the course, but 100% of the terrain (there is an 8 mile repeated section). The 24 or so miles shouldn’t be an issue, but the heat is the big unknown as temps have been climbing steadily since last week. It could be a “devil” of a time which makes Brad’s post on point. Enjoy this “spear-ited” adventure while I go talk through the battle plan with the crew.

Take it away Brad…

Sometimes with wildlife photography, I’m not really sure what I’m seeing, but I keep the shutter going just in case.  I’ve been lucky enough to get the precise moment a Bald Eagle snatches dinner from a river.  We’ve also caught the precise moment dinner exits a bird (not pretty, so no more details here) on more than one occasion.  This time, both Jan and I were very unsure what we were seeing.  Luckily, we took a combined few hundred photos over the course of a minute or two.  As the subject moved along and came into focus (pun intended) we were able to tell what it was, but really couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

Jan and I were sitting on a berm at the end of Woody Pond at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.  Even though there was no one at the gate to check our National Park Pass, we felt better that we had one with us.  What?!  No National Parks Pass yet?  Go get one right now, it’s well worth the time.  Of course, if you are reading this blog, you probably already have one.

Let me paint a picture for you.  The berm at the end of Woody Pond acts more like a dam for the shallow-ish pond-like sort of area.  It seemed to be more of a deep marsh because the thick parts of the tree trunks (you know, where they normally come out of the ground) weren’t sticking that far out of the water.  To our right, a few dozen yards away, was a very large alligator sitting right in the middle of the path. (link here)  To the left was a Great Blue Heron (GBH) trying to fish.  Right behind the GBH were three more alligators: one very large and two bite-sized versions. 

I was standing on the berm about halfway between the two groups of gators.  Jan was to my left and a bit closer to the set of three alligators, but also very near the car.  She was also somewhat protected from them by being across a small arm of water, just in case.  There was a tree stump sitting in the water 15-20 feet from the bank.  A minute before, a bird had been perching on it, but now it was empty.  Butterbutts (Yellow-rumped Warblers) were flitting about like mosquitoes.  Luckily, even in this marsh area, there were no mosquitoes in February.

We were watching the GBH on its morning snack hunt when Jan pointed and said, “What’s that?”

Anhinga at Harris Neck NWR found by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to find out what kind of “snake” this really is.

Continue reading You Gonna Eat That?…by Brad Marks

Hiding in Plain Sight

Brad (and Jan) are still out wining and dining our editor staff at the Denver facility – tells you how important they are to us I.T. professionals. I can hold my own in the coding world, but my knuckles still have not recovered from the damaged inflicted during my first class in deconstructing a sentence under the iron rule of nuns wielding heavy wooden rulers (WHACK). They eventually wore me down and got the basics past my defenses and honestly, these past 17+ year here at Intrigued has helped, but I still prefer talking bits and bytes. In Brad’s absence, you are stuck with me again for today’s featured feathered friend.

American Pipit found at Walter E. Long Lake in Austin, TX in January 2023

I know, I know, a bit of a letdown from the more colorful specimens featured in my previous posts. We still need to give the species that overslept the day when Mother Nature was waving her paint brush.

Hit the jump to read more about this species that could easily be mistaken for a member of the Sparrow family.

Continue reading Hiding in Plain Sight

Splish Splash Spoon Smirk

Greetings everyone! Brad and Jan are out visiting one of our favorite editors at our satellite facility in Colorado. Always good to see our employees when we can…and I hear the view from that facility is magnificent! While they enjoy their trip, going to jump our typical alternating schedule and bring you another series of shots from our Texas Gulf Coast trip back in 2023.

Roseate Spoonbill found at South Padre Island Bird Viewing and Nature Center in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about our brightly colored and slightly devilish feathered friend.

Continue reading Splish Splash Spoon Smirk

As the World Turns

I have to thank the weather gods as of late, nothing like waking up on a training day to temps in the low 60s. Basically for the past week or so I’ve had the luxury of enjoying cool temps for at least the first part allowing me to stretch out some of the longer runs. I have to be extra careful on the hot days that I don’t over-cook. My thermostat was severely impaired by a couple of unfortunate mishaps over my running career and now more susceptible to “going over the edge” so to speak. The impact to the body would be one thing to overcome, but worse would be enduring the scorn from Linda. I’ll still need more heat conditioning before the July ultra race, but for now focused on taking the legs to exhaustion and then pushing them again before they’ve fully recovered – little ultra-secret, you NEVER train for the full race distances (similar to marathon training), but we can simulate those hardship miles by training on tired bodies. Now, tired doesn’t mean injured so we have to make sure to keep those heavy feet ABOVE the roots of all evil! I was thinking about those careful foot placements on today’s run when this post topic popped in my head.

Ruddy Turnstone found on South Padre Island Jetty, TX in January 2023

About now you are probably wondering what a Ruddy Turnstone has to do with trail running. As a general warning, there is a high occurrence of hallucinations and mental disconnects during long runs, so keep your expectations low – hit the jump and I’ll do my best to explain.

Continue reading As the World Turns

Dance Party…by Brad Marks

Thanks to the return of the wet stuff, I am officially in a forced recovery day. I should probably give a hat-tip to the weather gods based on the muscle whining while getting out of bed this morning. Instead, I get to spend the day learning about the traditional muscle structures of those “grotesque” creatures that watch us upon their high perches and hopefully test out some new wing linkages – Halloween is nearly here people ha! Meanwhile, Brad is going to give us a look at another creature with wings that do not illicit the same level of nightmares… unless you are foolish enough to let them see your cheese curl while strolling along the beach. Time to grab your favorite dark chocolate treat (thanks for the recent restock Brad and Jan!), sit back and enjoy a few laughs.

Take it away Brad…

Jan and I had just returned from a long day of birding along the Atlantic Coast.  I think we carried our cameras for 9 miles that day.  No monopods.  No fancy shoulder straps.  No sherpas.  Don’t feel sorry for us–we were on vacation after all.  And we are retired.  But after chasing birds in swamps, marshes, and  forests (and avoiding the more than occasional alligator) we decided to have a little bit of fun.

Our resort on Hilton Head was right on the beach (aren’t they all).  Keep in mind that it’s mid-February on a beach; the high temperature that day was almost 60F (but only if you rounded up).  Normally, a beach and cold weather don’t go together.  Beach (more specifically sand) and camera gear don’t go together either, but there was nary a breeze this time of day and no fluffy blowing sand to worry about.  I remember Brian and his brother Ron getting caught in a sand storm on a beach in Texas and I didn’t want to repeat their adventure.  Plus, I didn’t want to have to extricate sand castles from my lenses and cameras.  My camera gear coverage from Wildlife Intrigued hasn’t quite started yet; still the newbie I guess.

The light breeze didn’t stop the gulls from entertaining us.

Gulls from Brad Marks

Hit the jump to see more antics.

Continue reading Dance Party…by Brad Marks

Woodwren Instruments

Welcome to June everybody! We are almost halfway through ’24 and assuredly you are thinking ONLY 43 days to the first ultra race of the year and ONLY 120 days before this year’s annual Haunted Trail Event. The horror, the horror (link here). Linda apparently heard my Marlon Brando impersonating as she just walked by and stated “No dork, that’s just you!”. Harsh, but she is probably right, however, looking back, you are likely wondering where the year has went. While in the grind, I could always look back at the two quarterly performance reviews and see the accomplishments, not so easy these days as most of my haunt projects are in a constant state of construction up until days before the event and training is a perpetual endeavor. What I can look back on are the various birding trips throughout the year and the resulting tins. Today we are going to travel back to Texas and bring you a subject from one of my favorite photography settings.

Carolina Wren found at Guadalupe River State Park, Spring Branch, TX in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this “woodwren instrument”.

Continue reading Woodwren Instruments

Vulture Love…by Brad Marks

This has felt like an unusually long month for me. Pretty much been on the go since the start, dog shows, our annual medical appointments, family events, more dog shows and every time I managed to find a slot, I was out on the trail. With Ruger’s recent competition over the weekend, the back to back schedule pressure is finally lifted for a couple of weeks. This will give me more time to get ready for the upcoming ultra and finally make some progress on a mega Halloween prop taking shape in my basement (fingers crossed Linda doesn’t go down there and see her basement covered in foam shavings). In tribute to the Vultures circling impatiently overhead while on my long run today, Brad is going to bring us another adventure from their travels east. May I recommend putting on Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light while enjoying this “fresh” post (link here)! (…and still pissed they replaced Patti Russo with an actress for the I’d Do Anything For Love video).

Take it away Brad…

I bet the title conjured up one of two songs from the 1970’s.  Jungle Love by The Steve Miller Band, or Muskrat Love by the Captain and Tennille.  Both used synthesizers.  I just wanted to see if I could get a song going in your heads, like the Gulls, Gulls, Gulls from last year.

Why does nearly everything interesting that happens in a tree, happen in the middle of a bunch of leaves and twigs?  I mean, c’mon!  Can’t anyone actually hop to the end of an exposed branch and go through the poses to make bird photography easier?  It’s just a few photos and a microsecond of your day.  No?  Well, OK.  See if I make your photos flattering or not.

Actually, with today’s birds, I’m not sure there is a way to make the photos flattering.

Jan and I were on a Bird Walk through the Audubon Newhall Preserve on Hilton Head Island.  The guide was talking about cedar knees and the red-cockaded woodpecker nest hole we had just passed.  There was a very slight breeze blowing through the treetops.  But not quite enough of a breeze to make the noise that was happening directly above us.  One of the other birders pointed overhead and said there was a large black bird in the tree.  At first, I thought it was a crow.  Naturally, Jan and I pointed our cameras skyward as the other birders grabbed their binoculars.  The guide had lost all of us for a moment. 

At first, all I could see was one large black bird through the viewfinder.  I was happily snapping away when it “skooched” to its left, my right

Black Vultures found by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to see what I saw. 

Continue reading Vulture Love…by Brad Marks

PTrSD: A Tale From the Trail

Disclaimer: Before I go any further, wanted to state for clarity sake that this is NOT intended to belittle in any manner the true medical condition referred to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. That is a serious condition and truly wish the best outcomes for those that are having to deal with that on daily basis.

What this is referring to an incident that did cause extreme, although temporary, stress while training this morning on the Cry Me a River ultra trail course (link here). For those not familiar with this race, it consists mainly of the Illinois River Bluff Trail (link here) with some additional trails on the ends to accommodate the 50K/100K/100mile distances. One of the toughest courses in the area that will test your elevation training to the limits (the 100m course has 23,500 feet of elevation gain and the 50K is around 12K). It also has the distinction of giving me an ambulance ride to the emergency room (link here). I have since wiped that blemish off my race record, but the event remains cursed as last year I broke my elbow on a training run a week prior to the start – note, that was my first Post “Trail” Stress Disorder event as I still flinch whenever I pass that “Root of All Evil”.

Today, we are gathered here to talk about another PTrSD trauma that happened this very morning and it involves THIS BEAST!

Wild Turkey attack on Illinois River Bluff Trail in May 2024

Hit the jump to read more about this harrowing (Linda prefers hilarious) experience.

Continue reading PTrSD: A Tale From the Trail

Whoops then Brags

Suspect most of our readers know my long training runs are used to work out upcoming posts. There is plenty of “noodle time” to come up with a theme and decide on the best supporting series of shots from the tiny sliver of backlog in the image queue. Did you just chuckle, I heard you chuckle!..okay, maybe “three year” backlog would be a more accurate description. Too my credit I have tried to stay in that 1 to 1.5 year range over the last year or so, but I digress. Arrived at the trail yesterday, stretched, looked at the forecast, noted the heat index and prepared to be miserable for the next several hours. That is when I noticed every post was absolutely covered in Cicadas, some partially in and others fully out of their shells. The holes had been noticeable in the trail dirt for about a week or so, but had not really noticed them out – they have now formally arrived. There was an unfortunate Cicada that had emerged, but then apparently “smacked” into lifelessness. The thought of waiting 17 years (granted some are on a 13yr cycle), digging yourself out of the ground, graduating from nymphood into adulthood and then “splat” consumed me for the multitude of miles – futility, mortality, lifespan, purpose, the lockers at the end of Men in Black and a cadre of other topics since sweated out. I mention this only as an excuse for completely forgetting about working out the post.

Soooo…. Whoopers it is!

Whooping Cranes found at the Big Tree in Rockport, TX in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about these birds that nearly met the same fate as that unfortunate insect.

Continue reading Whoops then Brags

Fishing Hawk…by Brad Marks

I had forgotten just how tiring these national dog competitions can be. As mentioned in the previous post, we made it down here for the Canine Performance Events (CPE) Nationals being held in my hometown of Springfield, IL. Imagine a state fairgrounds stuffed to the gills .. or should I say muzzles with face lickers and tail waggers. Suspect they will have the greenest grass they’ve ever had once this is over ha! The various competitions have been going on all this week. Speedway competitions (think drag and barrel racing) and scent work led it off, but now the Big Kahunas have taken the stage with 6 concurrent agility rings in full swing. Raven did well today qualifying in 2 of his 3 runs with 6 more runs still to go over the next two days. Definitely a tough day for him as he is currently passed out between me and the keyboard – even mom is feeling pretty wiped. Ruger has been watching with intent as he hopes to be making his debut at nationals within two years (he needs more titles before he becomes eligible). We already had to get on him about trash talking some of the current competitors.

“I unplug my muzzle in your general direction, sons-of-a-puppyfarm! So, you think you could outclever us French Poodles with your silly knees bent crashing into agility bars. I’ll wave my private parts at your owners! You cheesy load of secondhand electric butt sniffers!”

While we sit Ruger down and have a discussion about sportsmanship, going to let Brad take the reins and bring you an adventure with a talented member of the birding family (and assuredly a fish trash talker as well).

Take it away Brad…

This story comes at the very end of our Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve (UNBNP) visit.  The visit to UNBNP started with Jan finding the California Thrasher (link here).  I finally found her among the trails so we wandered around the upper part of the preserve for a while.  After Jan and I had been walking amongst the chapparal for a couple of hours, we headed back along the crunchy pea gravel path back towards the car.

One our way out, we bumped into a nice couple, roughly the same age as Jan and I.  After chatting for a while, they asked if we had seen the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus).  We had not.  Just then the man pointed off into the distance at a tree leaning out over the preserve lower levels, right where Jan and I were about 15 minutes ago.  Roughly two hundred yards away there was a twig of a tree, with a white/black lump on the end of one of its three branches.  Lo and behold there was a large bird sitting there.  I zoomed in as far as I could and was able to capture this highly cropped image (not quite as good as Sam’s photos with her 500mm, visit Sam.Rappen here) of an Osprey.

Osprey by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about this UNBNP encounter!

Continue reading Fishing Hawk…by Brad Marks