Been a weird couple of days. We ended up getting absolutely slammed with storms last night with an initial round of hail. As I type, we are probably less than 15 minutes from the start of what looks to be several more rounds of angry weather, except this time with a forecast of ping pong ball sized hail. Mother Nature spurned. Managed to get my butt out of bed early today in hopes of getting at least 13 miles pounded out assuming the ground wasn’t too saturated. What I wasn’t expecting is the highly humid steamy temps – by mile 10 I looked like Johnny Storm had flamed on. Heeding the “Linda Voice” (surgically embedded while I was sleeping) decided to shut it down only to resolve the gnawing defeat by going back out for another 5 right before dinner (and before the storms were supposed to hit). All this to simply say I’m exhausted and decided to go with something we will not be seeing tonight.
How is that for a curveball!?! Technically, more like a knuckleball as there isn’t a perceivable spin. I am in the midst of processing more images from the Vegas and Dauphin trip and wanted to give Brad a break before his next feature. Looked in my queue and decided it was time to finish this draft.
Prepare yourself before you hit the jump, you are about to endure several more moonings!
Welcome to May everybody! I mentioned this in my last post, but this year is sailing by. Good news, Brad has successfully returned home from his field assignment. Sounds like our quest for the incredibly elusive Ptarmigan will continue on. I wanted to start getting a few of the pending posts popped off his growing queue – word is there might be another batch coming soon. The weather took a turn for the cold this weekend and decided to go with one that fit the chilly temps. Put your mittens and hats on folks and brace yourselves for the cold Mighty Mississippi winds.
…take it away Brad…
I think most people remember the first time they saw a bald eagle in the wild. I know I certainly do. The story was featured right here on Wildlife Intrigued in an article called Yellowstone Feathers and Fur. At the time I thought I would probably never see another bald eagle in the wild so I absorbed as much of that opportunity as I could. Little did I know I’d be able to fill a couple of memory cards the next time I saw a bald eagle. Or see dozens of them in the same place. There have been a few stories about bald eagles on Wildlife Intrigued over the years. I suppose this one was also influenced by Brian in a way. He tells me that the photos are important, but the story about them is often more important. Even if a photo is worth a thousand words, it’s still nice to read the words. That’s why I thought I’d try this one on for size. By the way, I like to have music playing in the background when I write stories. Guess which song was shuffled while I was writing? The answer is at the end. (No peeking ahead of time)
Hit the jump to read more about Brad and Terry’s fishin’ adventure!
I cannot believe how fast this month has gone. Granted we were out of state for most of it, but even then, it feels like we accidentally took a wormhole to May. I’ve been in a bit of a panic since glancing at the post count for April. Even with Brad’s help, I was still way below my self-imposed monthly quota. Managed to claw my way back over last week with several finds from our trip to Las Vegas in Feb/Mar. Needed one more in these last couple of days before May. Checked out the queue – Brad has several ready for us, but he is still on assignment and want to keep him focused on the Ptarmigan objective. That left me three choices – a grey bird that continues the Desert NWR theme, a grey bird with quite the proboscis or a complete left turn to some creepy crawlies. Grabbed a coin, made a few tosses and welcome to today’s featured feathered friend.
Powers of deduction can quickly reveal the winner. No bursts of color and by birding standards a pretty normal bill…yep, we are going to stay with the Desert National Wildlife Refuge theme from the last couple of posts. While reading the latest finds from this site – specifically the Corn Creak Field Station area – three birds stood out. The Western Bluebird, the Mountain Bluebird and what I thought was a surprising addition based on our location.
We just got back from our trip to St. Louis were Linda ran the kids at the Poodle Club of America Agility Nationals. A big congratulations to Linda and Raven who qualified 2 out of the 3 runs they competed in. Not only did they qualify, they took a first and a second. His third run was just about there, but Raven decided to “improvise” a little. Ruger had two runs and he lived up to our low expectations ha. He just turned two years old and a bit ..hmmm.. let’s go with Linda’s word – scatterbrained. Absolute speed demon in the ring but, just gets distracted easily and seems to enjoy bringing comic relief to the audience. That’s to be expected and once Linda gets that worked out, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. It was also a bit nostalgic for Ruger as he was reunited with his brother (was actually running against him). We had a great chuckle as his brother (Orion) is EXACTLY the same – full of speed but prefers his own path through the obstacles. Can’t wait to see these two compete next year! Oh, and even Raven had a reunion as he got to see his mother, now 14.
With the accolades out of the way, I should get to the featured feathered friend of the day.
You might have seen this one coming if you caught some of the hints in the last post. Carrying the theme from the last post, I am pleased to bring you another Bluebird for today’s topic.
Hit the jump to learn more about our gorgeous blue tinted specimen.
Howdy folks! Even with Brad’s help I am running behind this month. Having been gone nearly the first three weeks of April and now heading out to St. Louis for a few days so Linda can compete in the Poodle Nationals at Purina Farms, I’m a few posts behind. Trying to get at least one more in while I am waiting for some glue to dry on this year’s signature Halloween prop – a piece that is definitely ending up to be a lot more effort than initially imagined. Cue Linda eye roll “Every one of your projects turns out more than you expected!!!!” True, but most of the time … in the end…”wooooorttthhhh IT” ha (like in this link here). We’ll see how this is going a few months down the road. For now, will try to clear the head of glue fumes and bring you an incredible feathered feature of the day.
Don’t worry, if you hit the jump I’ll get you closer to our feature.
I has been a very long time since I was “birded out”. After three solid weeks of birding through the southeast, I have to admit I’m probably there. I’ve walked nearly a third of the miles I usually run in a month and that is saying A LOT. Was it worth it…well, I was sitting at 240 for the Average Year when we embarked on the migration trek and thanks to some unexpected good fortune before we even made it to Dauphin Island, the count now sits at 292. For those that have been following along, yes, that is a mere 8 little birdies away from the initial goal – and only 4 months in. Unfortunately, The Beast developed a glitch and my rotator on my previously repaired shoulder feels like a knife stab on every training run stride.
Gear can be fixed and pain eventually subsides, you’re really here to see the incredible feathered feature of the day!
Eh, to be honest, this one is not that incredible and thanks to an unexpected surprise, it isn’t even a new bird to the blog. At least it has a cute crest. Could be worse, there were a few little brown jobbers in the queue ha.
The intent was to focus on the background for this rather drab looking birdy per the norm with new checks on the life list. Processed all the pics, added them to the new post, went to add the tags and “what is this..the Juniper Titmouse tag is already in my history” Sure enough, Juni made its appearance back in August 2014 (from a trip back in Nov 2012) – link here.
Hit the jump to see more of this bird that will NEVER make it into Linda’s tin. She has a strict policy of only tinning the colorful ones.
Howdy folks! Last we talked, we were heading out to Dauphin Island for the Spring migration. Big thanks to Brad for manning the Intrigued Headquarters while we hopped through base camps during the first leg of our adventure. You will be hearing more from Brad as we head “back” to Dauphin. Those that do not fear the blue “wedge piece” might think we overshot as are current site is just outside Gainesville, Florida. Reminiscent of Jeep’s popular spare tire cover – “Not all who wander are lost”. Definitely not lost, we are here for a dog agility event and tomorrow we’ll start heading back through the panhandle, quick airport stop to pick up Ron and then make our way to Dauphin. Have I mentioned lately how great retirement is ha. That isn’t to say there hasn’t been a good bit of birding along the way… understatement – there has actually been a LOT of birding to the point of already being completely exhausted. Birded Kentucky, birded Alabama, birded Georgia and for our first time ever, birded northern Florida. In addition to a world class farmer’s tan, I’ve given an adrenaline shot right to the heart of the Average Year efforts (link here – note, not current). The official count now sits at 260 after adding 20 checks since are departure – several of them lifers. Feeling a lot more confident now being a mere 40 species from the 300 goal and still haven’t reached Dauphin.
I finally have a few hours to relax while waiting for the dogs to take their runs. Being on the road and a number of their energy calming walks clipped thanks to an outrageous number of Gators in this state, this event might turn out to be a clown show.
Hit the jump to read more about our funny looking specimen.
Yesterday we reached the second stopover on our current adventure. Quite the surprise I already have 5 more adds to the Average Year (bring me to 245). Three of them were standard fare that had managed to eluded me back home, one is an absolute asshat (link here) that pains me to give even the slightest attention, but the 5th was a nice pickup from a miss this year at Conroe, Texas (link here) – every time I hear their “squeak toy” call it puts a smile on my face…even better when they make it into the tin. We break camp tomorrow and move onward. Not knowing what the connectivity is going to be like, wanted to cut the suspense, as they say, and bring you the second part of Brad’s underwater adventure.
Take it away Brad…
Welcome back. When we left off last time in Part 1, our intrepid underwater photographer was sorting through stacks of negatives in envelopes and piles of printed photographs. (Did you like the alliteration?)
Since the mishap with the leaky seal in our underwater camera, I had been trying to find a replacement camera to fit the housing. It had been several years since we bought the Sealife film camera. In that time, Sealife quit making underwater film cameras in favor of digital versions. However, since they were very proud of their new products (they really do make a good camera), and digital cameras were still very expensive in general, the prices had increased accordingly. Not wanting to pay far too much (IMHO) for a camera we only use every few years, I kept searching. I wanted to find a housing for my Nikon DSLR. But when I saw I’d have to give up two appendages to purchase one of those, I thought it best to keep looking. Ironically, in early 2010, I found a small company that made reasonably good underwater cameras and housings for a reasonable price. We ended up buying an Intova underwater housing and camera kit. Intova just happened to be a Hawaiian company, not that it was any influence over our purchase. Unfortunately, they have since been bought out by a larger photography company who decided to discontinue the product.
On our next trip to the Big Island of Hawaii during the summer of 2010, I was eager to give the new camera a test run. One key difference between the digital camera and our old film camera (purely coincidence) is that its hard clear plastic case has TWO silicone seals to keep seawater out. Plus, now I put a small desiccant packet in the case with the camera, can’t be too careful. The Intova case has more tiny buttons than you can easily use underwater, but it does a decent job focusing at a distance or close-up. Unfortunately, the camera takes almost a half-second to actually take the photo once you press the shutter release button (newer ones are nearly instantaneous like a DSLR). The subject and photographer are always moving. Just point and pray.
(digital photo, 2010)
Hit the jump to learn what this intriguing creature is and a few more of those below the surface inhabitants.
As you read this, we are on our way to catch the Gulf migration. We had to cancel this trip last year and looking forward to giving the Average Year efforts a booster shot (a few ticks behind, but link here). Thanks to some local finds, the count sits at a healthy 240 with just a shade over 9 months left. A few days in Dauphin Island will assuredly push me closer to the 300 goal. We first head to Florida for a boys agility competition and then make our way back across the panhandle to Gulf Shores. While we travel to our first base camp, Brad will be taking the helm to boldly go where no Intrigued post has gone before! Thankfully there are people like Brad (and his wife) that are willing to risk it all and live to post about it. …catch you later in the week, meanwhile, take it away Brad…(note, you can hit the image link to see larger versions of his shots)
With the exception of Hawaiian green sea turtles, nearly every Intrigued article has been about something with feathers, or at least above sea level. This one is going to completely different. The only air you will see is what’s reflected on the underside of the surface of the water, or the “underside of air”. There’s also an evolution of photography woven throughout the story. Grab your reef-safe sunscreen and a towel, because we are going snorkeling.
But first, set the way-back machine for a bit of history before we “dive” in. Our friends from Boston scored a “free” condo on Kauai (kah-oo-ah-ee) for eight days in February 2000. Of course, we said we’d go with them. We found babysitters for Allyson (she was not quite four years old then and retired grandparents are wonderful). Once we booked flights from frozen Chicago to Kauai (known as the Garden Isle), we were on our way.
Jan and I were in Hawaii! We were very excited to squeeze out every ounce of fun during our first trip to the islands. We decided to snorkel at Ke’e (KAY-ay) Beach on the northwest side of the island. We were looking forward to some sunshine and warm water.
This was going to be our first underwater photography experience. Not knowing what to expect, and not wanting to spend a bunch of money on a camera if we didn’t like it, we used disposable film cameras. Five of them if I remember correctly. Each little “camera in a box” had 24 exposures of ISO 400 film, a nearly microscopic (smaller than most smart phones) fixed focus plastic lens (only in focus for about 3-10 feet away), and a thumbwheel to wind the film. (Kids, go ask your parents or grandparents about manual winding film cameras)
After arriving at the beach, I jumped right in. Holy crap the water is cold! We were in Hawaii, right? Shouldn’t this water be warm? After the initial temperature shock, I eventually remembered to breathe and started snapping photos. The water around Hawaii is very deep and never gets a chance to really warm up. The ocean currents push very deep water up the steep slopes of the islands (upwelling) towards the surface. Here is the first fish I saw, and photographed, underwater.
(digitized* film photo, 2000)
It is a surge wrasse (Thalassoma purpureum). They are about the size of the 2-3 lb. bass from a farm pond but much more colorful. The surge wrasse likes heavy surf areas (hence the name) and is usually within 30 feet of the surface.
Hit the jump to read more about this underwater adventure!
March has turned out to be a very good month and we still have several days left! Thanks to our quick trip to Vegas, my Average Year status is now at 239 (link here) – that includes two local finds yesterday thanks to standing out in a large tree lined meadow waiting for the distinct peent of horny male American Woodcocks (link here – more sad memories). Call me 12, but I still laugh every single time I say or type out that name hehehe. The other +1 was more of a twist as it “found” me. I was just standing there noting it was getting surprisingly chilly as the sun was preparing for bed, when I noticed a fast moving bird heading across the meadow directly at me. Ever witness people just standing there taking it all in as a car or other potentially dangerous object speeds in their direction? This bird just kept coming, I just kept standing there, bird continues to close the gap, I continue to gawk, bird appears to be on a mission, I continue to ponder the history of flight, bird undeterred, I wonder if Ron is standing next to me (birds hate him), bird proceeds to whiz past my right ear and land on a nearby branch, I nearly crap my pants. What the hell was THAT! I turned to give it a stern talking to when I noticed it was a Fox Sparrow. Took a few snaps to get the +1 for the year and politely informed it a Top Gun flyby wasn’t necessary, a friendly wave would have been sufficient. I don’t speak bird, but I think it called me a ground hugging troglodyte and pointed to its wings – sigh.
That puts me a mere 61 birds away from the 300 goal for the year. Hoping to take a huge chunk out of that next week as we are heading down to Dauphin Island (and along the Panhandle) for some migration action. During that time we’ll be bringing you several posts from Brad including an adventure to a place Intrigued has never been before. Actually, Brad also influenced today’s featured post.
Life Intrigued 