Tag: Henderson Nevada

Almost a Sure Thing

Now this is cutting it a little close. Welcome to the last day of June or what we call at Intrigued HQ – “PPPD” or Potential Post Panic Day. That day comes on the last day of every month since the beginning of this blog over 18 years ago. A tip to the hat to all or blog friends out there with amazing output production (some of you crazies are daily ha). An early goal of getting into this format was to produce at least 6 posts/articles per month. Over that many months there has been some close ones when the “panic” sets in and our official (overpaid) post counting staff calls us up on that last day and says “Hey {snip}. we are short of our goal” – I censored the content of that call to protect all the kiddie ears out there. Brad has been a big help these recent years keeping those calls down, but things got away from me this June with all the doctor appointments etc. Fortunately, you can still bet on the “sure thing” we’ll get it done if we can – ultra runners are all about the grind.

While parsing through the photo queue, I noticed this series sitting in there and thought this was a fitting feathered friend to feature as it was also a “sure thing”…well, almost.

Abert's Towhee found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Henderson, NV in January 2024

Hit the jump to read about another member of the Towhee family.

Continue reading Almost a Sure Thing

So Long Bunny, Happy New Year!

Best Wishes for a very happy New Year Everyone! This morning I was thinking to myself how overjoyed I was to finally close the door on this current year. According to a site I was reading regarding Chinese astrology, the year 2023 was supposed to be the “worst luck” for anyone born in the year of the Rooster, Horse, Rat or Rabbit. Immediate assumption – I was a Rabbit. Looking back on it, this past year lived up to that prediction. Up to this point in my running career, I had made it to every single starting line. Banged up at times, feeling under the weather, sure, but my ass was on that line to let the chips fall as they may. That streak was ended thanks to the “root of all evil” (as Tim over at Off Center & Not Even has accurately coined it) and a devilspawn tree. The 50K ultra trail race lost and still doing nightly therapy to try and get the broken elbow back to something closer to pre-break mobility. Then managed to blow my back out the day before the 50 mile ultra race. More recently, for the second year in the row we planned to head out to Arizona only to have Linda come down sick the day before.  Canceled it last December and had to delay our departure this year. As I began to mentally list all the shortfalls for the year I started visualizing giant ears, button nose and those monster feet of the Nevada Jackrabbit. 

Jackrabbit found at Henderson, LV in March 2023

Then I stopped and smiled – because that is EXACTLY what you do when you encounter one of those absolutely adorable creatures. My outlook changed immediately and a flood of counter offers came flooding in.

Hit the jump if you need a shot of cuteness to right any frowns.

Continue reading So Long Bunny, Happy New Year!

Heat Running Ducks

Hoo boy, this morning’s run was a bit sticky! We have had a relatively mild summer to date, but this week we are back to our normal late summertime in the Midwest weather. Normally not a problem for me as I train in these conditions in order to survive the July ultra, however, we all know what happened to those plans. Speaking (or more literally, typing) of which, I returned to the “scene of the crime” a few runs back…

I know some of you were worried about the fate of that tree per my last post. It is still standing at the moment. The Corp of Engineers caught wind of my late night plans and had their troops waiting for me when I showed up in my Ghillie suit and chainsaw. Didn’t fully think through the camouflage strategy with a bright orange saw. You get to live another day you bastard Ent, but I’m still coming for pulp!! I’m through the last of my heat races so heat conditioning is not as critical…miles are more critical as the “runway” is extremely compressed to the 100K. Translated, mercury bursting or not, lace up the shoes and minimally get 10 miles checked off. Got up earlier today in hopes of beating some of the misery (“feels like” is going to 115F) – didn’t help a lot, my face looked like 50 shades of …red.

Cinnamon Teal found at Henderson Bird Viewing and Nature Center, Henderson, NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this richly hued species and where you can likely encounter them.

Continue reading Heat Running Ducks

A Long One

First off, want to extend a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there. I can’t imagine the stress and willpower it takes to raise a child, especially one like me – hats off, keep up the good work. I purposely waited to publish this post as this weekend brought with it a tremendous amount of sadness. Yesterday officially marks the end of a complete cycle of holidays/celebrations since losing my mother on Mother’s Day last year (technically a week ago because of the floating holiday – link here). As the year went by I would slowly come to terms with the emptiness and then a holiday or event would immediately bring it back front and center – major holidays – one less gift to ponder, birthdays – one less card to receive or buy, exciting life accomplishes – one less phone call and most of those are coupled with one less visit. I think it was extra hard as Mom was the last of the parental figures in our lives – we were officially on our own. Decided to go for a short five mile run yesterday to be with my thoughts. Eleven emotional miles later I had remembered numerous good times, reminded myself all the sacrifices she had made, recommitted to all the life lessons she lovingly bestowed and gave one last thanks for the moral foundation instilled in me. Acceptance will be easier from this point on. Our Mom and Dad were a true blessing.

In recognition of a long year, thought I would go with a featured feathered friend that also knows a thing or two about “long”.

Crissal Thrasher found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve in Henderson, NV in March 2023

Hit the jump to learn more about the prolonged hunt for this long-billed one.

Continue reading A Long One

Burt’s Bees Please

I predicted it – we’ve come to the end of this short month and I’m scrambling to hit my monthly quota. Hats off to my fellow bloggers that are far more productive than I am – not to mention those dedicated souls that are releasing content daily. I need at least one if not two really long runs between posts just to figure out what my next topic is going to be. Luckily I managed to get a decent 9.5 mile run in yesterday that resulted in this bundle of cuteness being selected to close out February.

Ross's Goose found at Henderson Bird Viewing Center in Henderson, NV while there in February 2020

Not sure what the key trigger was, but somewhere in the fog of fatigue I remembered our trip to Las Vegas in February 2020 – possibly thinking about warmer climates being confronted with unexpected snow/ice on the difficult ascents and descents where I was training. That led to remembering I had not processed a single picture from that trip – thousands of pictures just sitting there alone in a cold dark folder in a long forgotten drive hoping with all their bits to be found and presented to the world – yeah, my mind is all over the place when trying to forget that my legs aren’t lounging on the beach sipping drinks with tiny umbrellas.

Ross's Goose found at Henderson Bird Viewing Center in Henderson, NV while there in February 2020

Hit the jump for more background on our extremely cute Goose.

Continue reading Burt’s Bees Please

Not So Shiny

A friend of mine has been getting me all teased up for a vacation trip to Hawaii.  He is headed there soon and busy pointing out all the birds from that region he’s already managed to get in the tin.  Linda and I had plans to go there for our 25th wedding anniversary, but we ended up postponing it due to other commitments.  Every year since then we have tried to plan a makeup trip – again to no avail.  Last year we decided that this would be our retirement gift to ourselves and put the trip on the shelf until we decide it’s time to divorce ourselves from the daily grind.  So every time someone mentions they are heading to the islands my fingers get all twitchy like, a tick develops in the shoulder and my eyes start to blink uncontrollably until I make Quasimodo look like GQ material.  They have some stunners of birds there that I need to see… damn, there goes that twitch again.  Oh well, I can at least live vicariously through my friend’s captures until we decide to turn our badges in.  You’ll be mine Red-Crested Cardinal .. some day… some day.  Until we get to go island hopping, I can still continue hunting for all the continental US birds that still continue to elude me.  Today’s featured bird first fell victim to my hunt back in December 2015 (link here).

Female Phainopepla found at Wetlands Park Preserve, Henderson Nevada, November 2018

Wait.. ummm, a little late on this, but for those that might be slightly concerned over wildlife with red eyes, you might want to be cautious – the light on these shots were not as conducive to getting the nice red highlights, but they do possess the dreaded early morning Vegas eyes.  If you recall back on that initial encounter, we were at Corn Creek Visitor Center outside Las Vegas, Nevada.  While birding the Mojava Desert over New Year’s, we found a Phainopepla hanging out at the top of a tree.  Those shots had to be heavily processed to account for horrible backlighting.   In oddly similar manner, we discovered this new specimen.  Like before, we were in Vegas, in Late November (close enough to the New Year’s timeframe), and once again it was sitting at the top of a tree in horrible backlight.

Female Phainopepla found at Wetlands Park Preserve, Henderson Nevada, November 2018

Hit the jump to read a bit more about the shoot.

Continue reading Not So Shiny

Cinnamon Water

Welcome to February everyone!  Not sure how to feel about that yet.  On one hand glad to be past the worst of the Polar Vortex which will hopefully allow me to get off that instrument from hell … the treadmill.  On the flip side, I am officially one month closer to the 50K which translates to one notch higher on the stressometer.  Oh, it also means the post counter goes back to zero so make that two notches on the stressometer.  The best way to keep that under control is to start early and that means not a moment to spare.  Let’s go back to the spoils from the Vegas trip last November.

Cinnamon Teal found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Henderson, NV November 2018

This particular specimen is referred to as a Cinnamon Teal. Not a big stretch to guess how this Teal got its name.  Linda and I were nearing the completion of the pond circuit at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve when we noticed an individual pointing above average glass towards the corner of a nearby pond.  Talk about a dog whistle for photographers. We slowly made our way over there being very careful not to disturb whatever he was focused on.  Eventually I made it to a point where I could see the area of water that was holding his attention.  Excitement dimmed just a a bit as his rapid-fire shutter was waving at a Snowy Egret hanging out near the edge of the water.  Don’t get me wrong, Egrets are pretty cool, but if there is one sure bet you are going to see at Henderson, it’s a Snowie.  Out of courtesy, we hung back until he was satisfied with his shots – not sure he ever knew we were there.

Cinnamon Teal found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Henderson, NV November 2018

Continue reading Cinnamon Water

A Dash of Yellow in the Desert

Greetings from the Midwest Tundra.  It is currently -7F not including windchill and I am pretty sure that is close to when appendages start falling off.  Tonight the first lunar eclipse took place over a supermoon.  Thanks to Ron reminding me, I managed to get out and witness it – actually that reads as if I put a lot of effort into it.  We were heading back from a night out, stepped out of the car when we got back to the house and looked up.  There it was, only a sliver left and radiating the blood moon hues.  Thought about getting the Beast and snapping a few shots to share on the blog.  Then my nose, ears and a thumb fell off.  Decided to pass on that idea – sorry everyone.  To our credit, I did help Linda with a photoshoot in the early morning.  Her client wanted pictures of her three dogs in the 5″  of fresh powder we received yesterday (on top of the 12″ we already had).  Think it was a balmy 5F out then, which was enough to put a serious sting in the fingers.  They say positive thoughts can get you through uncomfortable times.  Time to click our heels three times and entertain visions from the desert.

Verdin found at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve, Henderson Nevada, November 2018

Hit the jump to read a bit more about this desert songbird.

Continue reading A Dash of Yellow in the Desert

Purple Shimmers in the Desert

How is this for a weird experience?  I mentioned a few posts back that I was recovering from a back injury, but I didn’t go into too many details.  Now that I am completely healed from it, thought I’d loop everyone into a bizarre injury that had me pretty worried. The last thing I need when training for a 50K event is to have an injury – especially in such a critical area.  Usually On Sundays, some friends and I do long training runs on a hilly nightmare of a course through a local cemetery (figure they can bury us where we drop).  A few weeks ago we were taking on the course in pretty warm weather for an early January day – mid 40’s accompanied with a strong wind.  Decided I was too layered up for the conditions so took my Gore-Tex coat off, removed a layer and put the outer shell back on (important tidbit for later).  Although a rocky and uneven course, we know every square inch of it – no slips, bobbles or wobbles occurred up to mile two.  That is when I felt something pierce my lower back.  I noted the strange feeling to my friend and kept on running – quirks and pains happen all the time – runners learn to ignore them because they almost always work themselves out.  2 more miles and my hips started seizing up.  2 more miles and serious pain started radiating from the lower back.  3 miles later we were back at the car and I was trying to figure out a way to stand without letting my friends see any hint of tears.  30 minute drive home and I couldn’t move without a knife twisting in my spine.  Most concerning was a 5×8 inch badly swollen red bulge near where the initial stab was felt.  All I could think about was the setback to the 50K training (goals are not taken lightly around Intrigued).  For brevity, will skip to the juicy part.  Got into my doctor the following day – explained the story above preparing myself for the herniated disk diagnosis.  Was not expecting the doctor to hypothesize that it sounded like a spider bite.  The recluse would have destroyed skin by now, so they speculated Black Widow, grabbed a magnifying glass and went to work finding the holes.  Good news, not a Widow, instead they pulled a stinger out of my spine what I imagined to be the size of this bird’s bill.

Juvenile Costa's Hummingbird found at Henderson Bird Viewing Center in Henderson, NV, November 2018

Not sure who was surprised more, the doctor or me.  Apparently a dagger wielding demon of an insect decided to unload all the venom it had a few inches up from my waistline and directly into the center of my spine.  From there it traveled my nerve network down into the in the hips and up the back causing the lockup.  Remember, this is the first week of January – those things are supposed to have died off or went into hibernation.  No way it stung through the outer running shell.  We have come to the conclusion that a wasp,hornet,large ass bee or possibly a Tarantula Hawk (link here) sneaked into the coat when I was removing the layer, panicked at mile two and unloaded everything it had into the spine – I could see a blood spot on the base layer next to the skin.  The good news is 5 days of steroids had me back on the trails this morning running in 5″ of snow.  I bet I know what you are thinking right about now – what the hell kind of bird is that?

Hit the jump to find out!

Continue reading Purple Shimmers in the Desert