Jan Marks – Page 6 – Life Intrigued

Stellar…by Brad Marks

I must say, as far as days go, last week was pretty good. Although the rain finally arrived at the end of the week, I was able to get a number of good runs in on the trail – definitely enough to remind me just how hard the July 50K ultra is going to be (link here). If you recall, that is the race I missed last year due to shattering my elbow a mere week before I was supposed to toe the line. It’s redemption year and building the base early to leave nothing to chance. Then my brother Ron was able to come down thanks to an opportunity to attend TransWorld down in St. Louis. Horrible name, but before you jump to conclusions, it is the premier Professional Haunt Trade Convention/Expo in the States (link here). This is somewhat of an “invite only” event and you have to prove you are in the haunt business to be allowed to attend. AMAZING. To put it into perspective it took us 3.5 hours just to make it through maybe a 3rd (at best) of the exhibits. While I recover from the trail training and the miles of expo walking, going to let Brad take over and take you through another “stellar” experience.

Take it away Brad…

If you haven’t seen the majesty of Yosemite Falls when there’s water flowing, add it to your bucket list of future destinations right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

We had been planning a trip to Yosemite for years, but something else always came up and it slid down our list. Last fall we decided to team it with other destinations we wanted to see Out West to make sure we’d end up going.

Sidebar story: Normally the waterfalls (Bridal Veil and Yosemite) only run in the spring when there’s ample snowpack melting. The winter before Jan and I went, Yosemite received record snowfall, some say on par with what they used to receive way back a hundred years ago. Others said it was twice as much as usual. A few of the roads in the park didn’t even open until late May or early June. Even when we went in September, the upper mountain roads were just then opening.

Quite breathtaking. Hit the jump to learn more about the falls and a rather stellar resident.

No Fear…by Brad Marks

Welcome to March everyone! Brad is currently between trips having recently returned from the field out east before he heads out west later in the month. In the meantime we are getting ready to make our spring migration south to Texas in a week or so. Busy, busy, busy here at Intrigued making sure we have plenty of material to keep our readers entertained through the rest of the year (and likely beyond at this rate). I hit you pretty hard with Texas posts through most of February and it is time for Brad to jump in and mix it up a bit. I was going through his queue and noticed one on a bird I just recently saw for the first time during our January trip to Arizona. Luckily Brad …and Jan are much more on the ball than I am and won’t make you wait until next year to learn about their encounter (honestly, I am trying to get better hehehe). I am going to head off and try to recover from this morning’s brutal training run (14 mile, 2,800′ ascent) and let Brad kick it back into gear.

Take it away Brad…

As most of you know Jan and I took a trip West last summer to see a few National Parks. Near the end of the trip, we met Allyson in Las Vegas to spend a few nights seeing the sights and do a little people watching. During one of our full days, we all took a Pink Jeep tour to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Intrigued Legal department require me to mention that no endorsement was received for the mention of Pink Jeep tours. However, if Pink Jeep wanted to sponsor Wildlife Intrigued, please contact our Legal department. Our first stop at the West Rim was the overlook next to the visitor center. Actually, the overlook was in a side canyon off the Grand Canyon. Our tour guide pointed out that as we looked across the chasm at the wall of rock on the far side there is a dip in the rock structure. Once we stared at it for a little while, being birders, we saw the formation the rock is named after.

We had been looking out over the canyon at Eagle Rock (can you see it in the photo?) when a busload of tourists arrived.

Knowing hordes of people would flood the visitor center, Jan and I decided to walk around on a scenic path through the desert to avoid the crowds. I think everyone on the bus wanted to see the suspended walkway which lets visitors stand 4000 feet over the canyon floor with nothing but a bit of glass between you and Isaac Newton’s best discovery: gravity. I knew that the Intrigued accountants probably wouldn’t let me expense the glass walkway experience, we took a pass.

At the furthest point on the path, away from the most people, Jan spotted a tiny brown bird perched atop a cactus. The sun was very bright, and the scenery was a bit washed out, even with the red rocks all around. It felt like we were on a movie set filming a show about Mars. No poop-grown potatoes around, thankfully.

At first, the bird looked like just another branch segment on a Whipple Cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia whipplei). I threw in a little botany lesson for free. I know Brian, I know . . . back to the birds. Upon closer inspection, she found this little wren sitting on the cactus.

Hit the jump to learn more about this rather well named bird!

ADHLAS…by Brad Marks

Howdy folks. We know you don’t come here out of a thirst for statistics, so we wanted to get you back into the action as soon as we could. Brad had perfect timing as he just provided us the latest drop of adventures to share. Nothing better than the present to pop a fresh one off the queue, while I battle the last remaining spirits in the new machine. Only one pillar left to port, the digital darkroom – no more delay excuses, I’ve run out of distractions and all the “squirrels” have been rounded up and put to work cleaning the Intrigued HQ grounds….wait is that competitive gardening coming on the TV!?!?!…I better let you go.

Take it away Brad…

Recently Jan and I signed up for an assignment in Alaska during late summer. Tough duty, I know. To get ready for our trip to the Yukon (actually, I’m not sure we’ll even see the Yukon, but it sounded better), we attended a presentation on the tour we were taking. The tour guide was giving us some information about some of the wildlife there. He said that often visitors are not able to tell the types of bears apart. Alaska has both grizzly and black bears. But often the grizzlies are very dark colored, and the black bears have very light fur. To the casual observer they are indistinguishable. The guide gave us a sure-fire methodology to tell them apart in a pinch. Are you ready? Here it is:

If you find yourself too close to a bear and you don’t know which kind it is – climb a tree. A black bear will follow you up the tree. A grizzly bear will simply knock the tree over. Identification problem solved.

Nothing we saw on our trip through Yosemite and adjoining parks was anything like that. Well, except for this black bear from Sequoia National Park last summer (link here). Jan and I only saw very small furry critters. To be fair, some were quite good at climbing trees, we can’t rule out that they are part black bear based on what we learned above, but I seriously doubt it.

Our story begins here. As does the identification dilemma for hikers near National Parks. No, I’m not talking about bears any longer. Thankfully today’s subject is much more approachable and far less dangerous and does not involve any tree climbing, at least not on your part. I’m talking about chipmunks and ground squirrels. Yes, there is a difference between chipmunks and ground squirrels. Before I jump in, I know this may get confusing (I certainly was), so let me give you a primer.

Chipmunk vs. Ground Squirrel identification primer:

One website says the difference between a chipmunk and a ground squirrel is: Chipmunks are small mammals with distinct stripes, while the ground squirrel has body stripes like chipmunks, but no stripes on its head.
Another website says something similar: One easy way to tell them apart is by their stripes. Chipmunk stripes run the length of their bodies, including their heads. Ground Squirrel stripes start at the neck and run along their backs, but they do not have stripes on their heads. (Someone was splitting hairs when they wrote up this definition, IMHO.)
Still another website says that ground squirrels can weigh between 1 and 10 pounds, whereas chipmunks are usually under a pound (not based on the amount of the sunflower seeds they eat near my bird feeders). Good luck getting them to hold still while you weigh them.
Ground squirrels can live between 5-10 years while chippers only 2-5 years. This one isn’t the most reliable visual indicator, unless you have lots and lots and lots of time. (Allyson’s grandpa (Jan’s dad) used to tell her “chipper” stories when she was little. The story was different each time, which kept Allyson coming back for more.)
Their tails can be an indicator all other things being equal. Ground squirrel tails tend to be longer and bushier than the chipmunks “shorter and not nearly as fluffy” tails. Chipmunks will sometimes run with the tails straight up or out behind them.
Habitat can be a big differentiator as well; except we saw all of the critters below in nearly the same habitats. None held still long enough and we didn’t wait around to see to know if they ran up trees (ground squirrels) or not (chipmunks). Chipmunks tend not to climb trees, but climb over fallen trees. Ground squirrels have no qualms at about climbing trees, or so we are told.
Though not really a visual differentiator, hibernation patterns differ slightly: chipmunks wake up every few days to eat during colder months while ground squirrels can go for longer periods of time between winter feedings.

Well, there it is. Clear as mud, right?

You are all ready now to hit the jump and put some visuals to that primer!

Killdeer…by Brad Marks

Sitting here killing time one keystroke after another. Now in the midst of the annual “digital clean-up” process and it is mind numbing. Part of this is making the final push to cross the finish line of the PC migration marathon. Some of it is due to massive procrastination last year (okay, maybe last TWO years) and need to get the birding folders/spreadsheets/trackers etc. updated. Then there is the standard annual rollover resets of the blog post backups and general archiving that needs to be done to keep my OCD from raging out of control (and NOBODY wants that). I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I need to go back to the corporate grind in order to get all my free time back! The good news is I think my North American Bird List folder (link here) is updated. That is my running gallery for the best shots of every bird on the list in case a client wants a specific species or if I want to author something someday. Even updated the left navbar with the latest count – 421 species! While I slash through minutes like Scooby through snacks, going to turn it over to Brad to bring you a North Carolina “killing” of a different sorts.

Take it away Brad…

There’s something about being warm during the winter months. Jan and I live in the middle of Illinois, so February is usually a heavy flannel month. Jan suggested we head southeast for a week to escape a bit of winter (really didn’t need much arm twisting). We also wanted to see what we could see in a new part of the country for us.

Jan and I spent a week at Myrtle Beach, SC last winter. During one of our “free” days on the trip (they are all “free” when you are retired) we headed to North Carolina since it was just up the road a piece from where we were staying. The locals all said to go to a preserve a mile or two across the state line. Our GPS was a bit confused for a while, taking us down unpaved roads to an empty lot at the edge of the water. This can’t be right. We stopped in a parking lot for a few minutes and picked a spot (on an actual map) that might actually get us to the coast, without having to stop to ask for directions. Our new destination was Sunset Beach.

After driving across the long and tall causeway bridge, we arrived in a small community of summer cottages on a narrow spit of land just a bit offshore in the Atlantic called Sunset Beach. I’m not saying it was a ghost town, but there were very few cars around, and even fewer moving about. Once I found the parking lot near the beach, I readied the cameras. Before I closed the hatch on my car, there was some movement in the sparse foliage behind me.

Hit the jump to read more about Brad (and Jan’s) adventure.

Stink Eye…by Brad Marks

Brad is continuing to hold down the Intrigued HQ back home while we are officially on our way back from or winter migration (much to the chagrin of our nefarious legal department). Honestly, I am not sure it was a true “migration” in the sense the cold weather followed us nearly the entire way and now, still days from home, we are once again in freezing temps. I suspect Linda will quickly put an end to any future discussion of going back to Arizona in the Winter. The good news is there is plenty of new birds in the tin for future posts. I am also excited about getting back so I can officially kick off the ’24 running season – legs getting lazy. While we calculate the best timeframe to slip back in IL, Brad is going to take us along on another of his Colorado adventures.

Take it away Brad…

Normally these pages are filled with rare, exotic, or extremely colorful birds. This time I decided to focus (pun intended) on a bird we probably all overlook. You’ve probably seen them hopping around everywhere you go, but like me, you probably just ignore them.

Jan and I had just left the lofty Rockies (above 9,000 feet) and the freezing temps (check out that story here) for the rather warm plains of eastern Colorado (6,000 feet and nearly 80F) and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge (RFNWR). Did you catch the irony in the name? Usually the word “Rocky” conjures up images of snow-covered peaks soaring towards the stratosphere. The word “rocky” isn’t usually associated with the word “flat”. But that’s just what the organizers decided to do for this particular location. Sort of like “jumbo shrimp” or “military intelligence”, “Rocky Flats” seems to be an oxymoron itself.

On the same day we encountered the Western Meadowlark (link here), this sinister looking character was hanging around the parking lot.

If that look hasn’t scared you, hit the jump to read more about this “commoner”.

Wagons Ho Junco…by Brad Marks

A big howdy from Vegas my friends! It has been an exhausting month of birding (so far) full of new lifers that are sure to make their way to you once .. or should I say if we ever make it home. We were supposed to be on our way back already, but unfortunately, we are stuck in Las Vegas.. who am I kidding, there are worse places to be held up than the Sin City. For the record, the Sphere is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I’ll give more details on our unexpected situation in a later post when we get everything straightened out – we might have to find a Conestoga wagon to get back home. Meanwhile, Brad is going to jump in and entertain you with another one of his Cali adventures.

Take it away Brad…

When wandering through a forest of Giant Sequoia trees it’s best to keep looking . . . down. Yes, that’s right. Down. Oh, I get it. These trees are magnificent. And very, very, very tall. However, they don’t move, except for a tiny bit near the tops. Have you ever heard the stories about penguins tipping over looking up at airplanes as they flew over? Probably pure bunk, but that’s what I felt like trying to see the tops of the Giant Sequoia from near their base. Even though the trees are unquestionably tall, the real action is down below, on the forest floor. This is a birding blog after all.

Having said that, photographing birds on the ground isn’t always exciting. Unless you come across a new species, or variant, you have not seen before. That’s exactly what happened to Jan and I at Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. As I mentioned earlier, we did go to see the trees, all 250+ feet of them. But when something small and greyish/brownish catches your eye, birders are obligated to take photos, normally a lot of photos.

Near every path Jan and I hiked through the Giant Sequoia forests, this little bird was hopping in the undergrowth.

Hit the jump to learn more about this hooded feathered find.

Tall Trees and a Bright Flash…by Brad Marks

I need a word with the individual who turned off the heat in Arizona – we are NOT amused. We expect to get snow at home (and they ARE), but Ron and I have already birded in a snow shower down here and now 12 days into our migration, yet to wear a T-shirt much less a pair of shorts. The bright spot is we are getting looks at some good birds. Ron is at 106, I am at 100 species in the young year, which includes 6 lifers for me and 12 for my brother. That is plenty of great fodder for future posts. Meanwhile, Brad is going to take over while we get ready to move to our next basecamp (please be warmer, please be warmer!!). Take care everyone and for those stuck back at Intrigued HQ…throw and extra log on the fire (high is looking like 2 degrees (F) BELOW zero next week).

Take it away Brad…

It is Day One of our Southwest National Park Tour. Jan and I flew into Las Vegas and rented a car to drive to SoCal to experience a few National Parks. After all, we have the National Parks Annual Pass and want to wring every cent out of it. Truthfully, there isn’t much to see between Las Vegas and where we stayed in Fresno, CA. Unless you like desert scenes, Joshua trees, and gigantic citrus orchards as far as the eye can see. Anyone ever enjoyed Cuties or Halos? They are called mandarin oranges, or clementines, depending on where you live. The orchards where they are grown, and the “factory” that packages them, went on for miles. While those are enjoyable, for a few miles, we travelled to see mountains and trees and wildlife.

After a restful night, Jan and I drove to see Kings Canyon National Park at nearly first light. I was prepared for some very twisty-turny roads on the way to the park, and I wasn’t disappointed. However, the entrance was near the beginning of the curvy roads so I didn’t have to endure very many switchbacks. We arrived at Kings Canyon very early. How early was it? (remember the show Match Game from the 1970’s?) It was so early, the ranger stations at the entrance weren’t staffed yet. I still flashed our National Parks Annual Pass just in case there was a camera inside checking out cars and license plates on the way in. Kings Canyon is known for, well, a canyon. A very nice canyon to be sure. It is also known for some of the largest trees (by volume) in the world, the Giant Sequoia. Coastal Redwoods are certainly taller, by almost 100 feet, but are spindly in comparison to the Giant Sequoia trees.

On our way to see the General Grant Tree (268 feet tall), something caught our eye. As Jan and I wandered down the trail to see the General, there was a brilliant flash of yellow in the undergrowth. Keep in mind, we are just outside the parking lot where Giant Sequoia “seedlings” were towering over us (see Notes below). I had a hard time wrapping my mind around something so large when I’m used to oak or maple trees topping out at 50-75 feet tall after a hundred years or more; a Giant Sequoia is just getting started at that age. I also realized that by days end my neck would be stuck in the “looking straight up” position. Or normally what happens to me when we fly discounted seats and the headrest only hits the middle of my neck.

There was the flash again, hiding in a bunch of brambles near the base of a Sequoia, the tree not an SUV of the same name. Jan had the medium length zoom on her camera while I only had the short range zoom in hopes of being able to capture an entire tree in one photo. My camera setup was useless for something so small. Jan started snapping away and was able to capture the bright yellow flash.

Hit the jump to reveal the source of the bright yellow flash!

Chickadees Three…by Brad Marks

January is the time when the word Midwest becomes Latin for “find your mittens”. Lucky for us, some Mesopotamian genius in the 4th millennium solved this problem by strategically placing a sturdy stick between two cylindrical objects and soon after, “Snowbirds” was being etched on cave walls. Of course, now we have fancy glamping portable homes sitting on those rolling contraptions making this human migration far more pleasant. Pleasant being a relative word as our annual trek hasn’t exactly gone as planned. We go south to shed the layers of clothing, this year we are adding them thanks to a band of frigid air riding shotgun to Arizona – and now we might be greeted with the fluffy white crap looming near week’s end. Damn you Mr. Snow Miser (link here)! While we get this setback sorted out, Brad is going to jump in and bring us his first post of the new year. Let’s hope he found his mittens.

Welcome to 2024 Brad, take it away…

As birders all know, the little birds are the hardest to catch successfully. They blend into the trees. Little birds tend to be spastic. But they have some great calls and fantastic colors. Little birds are also very rewarding if you are able to capture photographs of them sitting still for a millisecond, or 1/1000^th of a second for those thinking in photographic terms.

Todays’ three subjects have similar calls, but they are different enough to get your attention and all come from different parts of the country

Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) have a three- or four-toned call with different notes. The three-note call (Chick-a-dee) has the first note being the highest, the second a fifth lower and the third up a half-tone from the first (sounds like the last three notes from Close Encounters). Their four-note call (Chick-a-dee-dee) is a series of two notes repeated, but about a half octave apart. Most of the Black-caps near us use the three-note version, and this one from our back yard in central Illinois is no exception. This is the first bird call our daughter Allyson learned to recognize and tried to imitate when she was about four years old.

Hit the jump to learn more about the Black-capped’s kinfolk.

The Intrigued Family Wishes You a Very Merry Christmas

Everyone here in the Intrigued family would like to extend a hearty Merry Christmas to each and all! We have had a wonderful year here and that is entirely due to all our wonderful readers.

Hit the jump for some more merry good cheer!

Western Meadowlark…by Brad Marks

We are nearly to Christmas, the stores are bustling, the roads are jamming and the last minute shoppers are starting to panic. It also means we’ll soon be shutting down Intrigued headquarters so our staff can spend time with their family and friends. Brad is going take us along on another one of his birding adventures today, our traditional Christmas Day post and then we will probably call it a year to enjoy the festivities and play with all our new toys. Maybe another one while Linda and I are migrating south, but we’ll play that by ear. Before Brad takes it away, wanted to extend congratulations to my brother Ron who reached the 300 unique species annual goal today towards our Average Year (link here). He scored a +1 lifer to put the proverbial cherry on top – if you recall last year, we both fell short of the goal (link here). Quite fitting as today’s post features a +1 for Brad as well!

Now you can take it away Brad…

When we left Hill City, SD it was relatively early morning for the kids, but mid-morning for Jan and I. By mid-afternoon, we had already been to two National Parks (Black Hills and Devils Tower) in the same day mind you. Why not try for a third? By the time we arrived at The Badlands, we had already travelled 300 miles that Saturday morning. After we flashed our National Parks Annual Pass at the gate, we followed the winding path to the depths of the park. Gotta love the Annual Park Pass! What, you don’t have one? Go get one right now . . . go ahead . . . you can catch up on the story in a minute. (No, Wildlife Intrigued doesn’t receive any commission from Annual Park Pass referrals. But hey, maybe that’s something productive our Legal department can work on.)

Just outside the car on the right-hand side was a small group of Bighorn Sheep, lounging and munching on the sparse early season grass. I slowed down to take a look since we rarely see them in the parks. But after rolling down the windows, the soundtrack I was hearing didn’t fit the scene. There was this solitary sweet song coming from across the road. At first, all I could see was dried prairie grass and reddish-brown dirt. But then something bright yellow moved in the grass. This little fellow was singing its heart out. As far as I could tell, no one else was around to appreciate the song: birds or humans. It was singing for the joy of singing.

Western Meadowlark found at the Badlands by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about this little yellow fellow!

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

	doerfpub on A South Texas Specialty
	doerfpub on I’m Waiting
	George Lara on A South Texas Specialty
	Bob Ramsak on I’m Waiting
	A Haunting We Shall… on Halloween Project: The Great P…