Stumped Me

Howdy folks, hope you are feeling a little more rested than I am at the moment. We are closing in on this year’s haunted trail event and time is becoming a precious commodity. My brother Ron was able to come down last weekend and help get the trail season jumpstarted. We build/fix/buy props year round here at Intrigued, but there are always projects that are lagging for one reason or another – primarily due to nonstop rain lately. With the added help we can hopefully get those over the finish line before we transition into grooming the trail and preparing props for the haul down into the valley (fingers crossed it dries out from all the flooding). The event is the last weekend in September which is the earliest I think we have ever held the haunt. Something tells me I am going to wish I had that extra week from the previous years…also going to wish I didn’t have injuries on my left hand – middle finger knuckle has been “obliterated” and today I decided to see how much pain I can endure by absolutely smashing the tip of my pinky on the same hand – eh, “The show must go on” as they say ha. Just as a heads up, I will be “sparse” from this point on due to the extra time required for the trail..oh, and I still have that little ultra thingy to do in October, so any spare time will be pounding long miles out. Fortunately, I like the challenge…which brings us to today’s featured feathered friend.

European Starling found at Bear Creek Lake State Park, Lakewood Colorado in September 2024

I generally consider myself fairly decent in the field when it comes to these feathered creatures…yet this particular specimen..technically specimens had me stumped. Go ahead and take a quick guess at what you think this particular species is and I’ll see you on the other side of the jump.

Continue reading Stumped Me

You Stole My Heart, but I Love You Anyway

We are technically at the first post of September. My last post was published 2 minutes before midnight on the 31st, but the WP servers sit in different time zones so it might look like it creeped to the 1st. Normally I would be in full panic mode and wondering if I’ll make it to double digits in total sleep for the week while getting ready for the Haunted Trail event. Due to the ankle injury, I have a bit of reprieve as we had to push the party date three weeks into October. My ankle was pretty adamant that there would be no trail work until at least the brace phase. Still have a lot of work to get done, but I’ll have a few more weeks of some decent sleep before the pressure builds. In the last post I mentioned I just had to get through the tins from Colorado and I would be current to this year. That is now complete – and there was copious amounts of rejoicing. In recognition of this momentous accomplishment, going with a featured feathered friend from that trip.

Black-Billed Magpie found at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado in September 2024

Hit the jump to learn more about this stout looking bird.

Continue reading You Stole My Heart, but I Love You Anyway