Tag: Jan Marks

Panorama Point…by Brad Marks

Shockingly December is ticking off faster than the previous month. In this case, it is a good thing since it puts us closer to warmer weather – Linda and I head south soon after jolly St. Nick squeezes down our chimney. It is getting a bit stressful as another Average Year effort (link here) is also coming to a close. Currently sitting at 337 and Ron has added two since I updated the stats putting him at 299 – just one under our pre-kickoff 300 species goal. You may recall, we both missed it by a feather last year (link here). Carrying on the sub-species theme from my last post, Brad is going to bring us another adventure from his Colorado trip. Unfortunately Brad, no extra partial count credit for sub-species ha. 

Take it away Brad…

I’m one that always like to take a new road to see where it goes.  However, I’m not always successful and sometimes have to do a fair bit of backtracking.  Jan and I had just returned from a whirlwind tour to Devils Tower, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Wind Cave (see here).  The kids had to work that Monday morning.  Jan and I had the entire day to explore the Front Range of the Rockies near Denver.  I know, I know, a very big task for only a day.

This is really part two of a trip to Golden Gate Canyon State Park (GGCSP) in Colorado.  We had succeeded in getting to the park before many other visitors.  In fact, thus far we had seen ZERO other visitors.  After leaving the Mountain Bluebirds behind (link here), I found a wandering, spaghetti-like curved road. 

Red-Backed Dark-Eyed Junco by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to learn about what was “eyed” at the end of this Colorado adventure.

Continue reading Panorama Point…by Brad Marks

Blue Flash…by Brad Marks

Welcome to December everyone! A little less than a month and we’ll be tearing up checks accidentally written out with a ‘2023’ date. Note, as I do not handle the day to day billing, I have to admit I do not even know if the concept of writing a “physical” check still exists. The sand is definitely a blur as it moves through the hourglass and I still have a lot to get done before heading to warmer temps in the south. One of those pressing to-dos is to get converted over to a new computer. My current workhouse was growing long in the tooth. New versions of Lightroom and Photoshop were strangling every last CPU cycle, the Halloween prop related software was starting to complain about old drivers and maybe not related, but the WordPress issues over the last couple of months has been infuriating. The new behemoth has arrived and is a wonder to behold – the lights dim in the house and the local power company has to switch to auxiliary power on ignition (i9 24 core with a graphics card that cost more than my first car). Now the “mountain” of work to migrate all the system configurations, apps, preferences and data. While I’m out of commission bit fiddling, Brad is going to bring you another one of his adventures – this time from the state of “Nil sine Numine”.

Take it away Brad…

One day in late April, Jan and I were in Colorado with a bit of free time on our hands.  We had just returned from the whirlwind tour to Devils Tower, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Wind Cave (see here).  The kids were at work and we had an entire day to explore the mountains outside Denver.  I know, I can hear it through the screen, “There are too many mountains to see in just one day.”  We weren’t trying to see all of them.  Our selection was sort of a virtual dart throw at “stuff” that was close to Denver.

After finishing breakfast at the hotel, Jan and I started driving early.  We wanted to enjoy Golden Gate Canyon State Park (GGCSP) without many visitors.  The road from Golden, CO to the park was paved, but it was by no means straight.  To call it “curvy” might be an understatement.  This first road sign might be an indication of what to expect on the way to the park.

Mountain Bluebird by Brad Marks

I mean, it’s not even in a straight line — it goes sideways!  You’d think drivers would exercise caution on a road like that.  But NO!  We were passed by more than a few vehicles on the way up the mountain, even a “school bus” passed us at one point.  By the time we reached the Visitor Center, I really needed to get out of the car to stop the constant motion for a few minutes.  I can still get motion sick, even when I’m driving, on these very curvy roads.  Think Spirograph on steroids. (Kids go ask your parents what a Spirograph is.)

Hit the jump to find out what lies ahead on Spirograph road.

Continue reading Blue Flash…by Brad Marks

Just Hanging Around…by Brad Marks

We are now in a do not pass Go, do not collect $2000 straight line to Christmas. We made it through the day we give thanks for what we “have”, quickly followed by the US tradition of stomping/clawing/punching/gouging/insulting and other equally rude behavior to get all the things we “don’t have”. The irony in the juxtaposition speaks volumes for our society. Luckily, we checked out of that scene many years ago. It is time to haul out the red and green decor and have the annual discussion with the boys that Santa “is” allowed to come down our chimney that one night of the year – excessive barking could result in a stocking full of coal. Note, last year Ruger responded with “Screw it, that fat sooty ass is mine!” (now that is a cocky puppy who knows what list he’s already on ha). Ruger has been (slightly) better this year so we’ll see how he reacts to the home intrusion. He does give a perfect lead in to today’s post from Brad. Continuing the game bird theme, here’s another one of his intriguing adventures.

Take it away Brad…

One thing I didn’t expect to be doing was standing in line at a National Park to experience the scenery.  But that’s just what happened at one area of Yosemite.  While Jan and I were waiting for our turn to get a photo of Yosemite Falls without a million tourists in our way (not much of an exaggeration on a late summer Saturday), we began chatting with the family next to us.  They had been in the park for a few days and were heading out the next day.  The gentleman said since we were just starting our visit, we must make sure to head to Glacier Point before leaving the park.  Often times advice is worth just what you pay for it.  However, this advice turned out to be pure gold.  He also said to make sure we were there before sunset for the best view.

Late one afternoon, later into our visit we began the drive to Glacier Point overlooking Yosemite Valley.  Jan and I, OK really just me, didn’t anticipate the number of cars also heading the same direction.  We were in a minor traffic jam inside the park.  Luckily for us, most of the cars were shooting right past the turnoff for Glacier Point.  I felt glad to be free of the taillights in front of us.  But my shoulders slumped a bit when I saw a sign for “only” 16 more miles of twisty roads.  The first mile was all switchbacks, but from mile two to the summit was a smooth ribbon of newly paved asphalt with gentle curves.  Jan and I arrived at the summit with time to spare before sunset.

I parked the rental car in one of the few spaces I could find near summit. The elevation was over 7,200 feet for those keeping score at home.  Jan and I began the quick walk to the point to see Yosemite Valley from a completely different perspective.  A few feet into the journey, there was a group of people looking over a fence into some low scrub brushes.  That usually means there’s something worth taking a peek at.

Sooty Grouse by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read about the fruits of the peek!

Continue reading Just Hanging Around…by Brad Marks

NAWWS (Not Another White Wading Shorebird)…by Brad Marks

I do not want to put a big ol’ sour rant before Brad’s post, so I am just going to quickly mention that I am having boatloads of WordPress issues as of late. Not so much on the posting side, rather on the commenting side – particularly commenting on other people’s posts. It’s a crap shoot if it works and for the life of me I am unable to figure it out. This is especially infuriating for a career IT person who earned his early retirement exorcising ghosts in the machine. I’ll update later, but for now, accept my apologies if it appears like I have been ignoring your posts. Where my eyes happen to be blood red, today’s feature has a much more calming and pleasing color. Enjoy another of Brad’s adventures while I round up a Goat for some yoga therapy.

Take it away Brad…

I know, I know.  I can hear it now.  Not another white wading shorebird.  OK.  It’s not.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen today’s featured feathered friend wading.  Not that they don’t wade in very shallow water from time to time.  It’s just . . . I’ve never seen them wading.  Or swimming.  Or diving.  Actually, I’ve never seen them doing much of anything except watching the world go by (see Notes).  Plenty of sites show them to be very active.  I usually see them sitting on a post; or on a rock in the water somewhere.  Or at their most vigorous, casually paddling around on the edge of the Mississippi River.  In fitting with the theme of recently published stories, our guest today is not a wading shorebird.  Nor is it white.  It is nearly black, except for piercing emerald green eyes. 

Have you guessed our featured feathered friend today?

Double-Crested Cormorant by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to reveal the latest “emerald” gem from South Carolina.

Continue reading NAWWS (Not Another White Wading Shorebird)…by Brad Marks

Cotton Balls on Stilts…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone! Linda and finally made it back from Rochester, MN. We were up there for Linda’s annual heart checkup and I am pleased to report everything looks excellent. Linda has a bit of PTSD on these visits from all that has been through up there, but she pulled through like a champ. We even celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant, Canadian Honker – DELICIOUS. Think I have mentioned this before, but there are two things that always strike me about the Mayo campus. First is the perfect entropy that plays out in their waiting room. It happens in every medical waiting room since Covid, it’s just on a larger scale there. By entropy, I am referring to the fact patients will always pick the set of chairs that maximizes their distance from anyone else. I enjoy watching the visible thought process as the options narrow ha. The other intriguing element is everyone walking around with cotton balls on their arms. Pretty sure 95% of the patients with visits that day have to start out with a phlebotomist. Just thinking about all those pokes makes me want to faint. Luckily Brad is back with a much happier story about fluffy balls to help put my mind at ease.

Take it away Brad…

Have you ever been digging through some stuff piled on your desk or the kitchen counter and found something you thought you already took care of?  Well, that’s this story. I started writing just after Jan and I were in South Carolina this past February.  We were (OK, I was) overwhelmed with the embarrassment of riches of birds to photograph and write about.  I think I mentioned in an earlier story that we took well north of 11,000 photos over the course of three days.  Our primary reason for being in the area was not birding or photography.  We had really been trying to leave snowy February in Illinois behind for a week.  We also wanted to visit a State Park or two to be out in Nature without a parka.  It just so happened that the birding was rather spectacular, “forcing” us to fill up memory cards along the way.  I guess that’s what two backup SSD drives are for.

At first, I treated every white wading bird the same as I was trying to identify them.  I learned that some white wading birds are supposed to be blue, not white.  I also learned that all of the medium-sized white wading birds aren’t all the same bird.  I guess you need to pay attention to their feet, legs, and bills to know for sure.

Snowy Egret by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to learn more about the “fluffy factor”!

Continue reading Cotton Balls on Stilts…by Brad Marks

Slow and Steady…by Brad Marks

The Halloween season has come to a close which brings with it a mixture of sadness and relief. We hate to see it end, but it also feels like the steam has finally been released from the pressure cooker. Yesterday (the 1st) was “Spirit Day” as we have come to call it. The night before the haunters were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of ghouls and monsters danced in their heads. Away to the local Spirit “popup” Halloween store we flew like a flash for what to our wondering eyes should appear but an entire store at 50% off. A bundle of props we flung on our backs. We were heard to exclaim as we drove out of sight, we can’t wait until the next haunt night! Actually, there is a little pressure still left in the cooker as I have to find places to store all the new stuff – eh, worry about that another day ha. In addition to celebrating another successful haunting season I also managed to reach an annual running goal. In all the Halloween chaos and injury setbacks, I managed to still hit my 1200 mile annual running goal – 60 days early!

I mainly bring this up as a lead in to let you know Brad will be taking the helm to give me a badly needed rest and because his post happens to be about another trail “speed demon”.

Take it away Brad (and Jan)…

Let me set the stage here for you.

It’s late September.  Jan and I are in a National Park in southern Nevada just outside Las Vegas.  We are in the desert with Red Rock all around.  That’s right, it’s Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 20 minutes outside of Las Vegas.  The temperature is in the upper 80’s or low 90’s at 4pm.  Yes, we remembered to bring water with us.

We flashed our Annual Park Pass (surely you all have one of these beauties by now) at the entrance gate and started on the 13-mile scenic drive to see what we could see.  One of the first things we saw surprised us a little bit.

Desert Tortoise by Brad Marks

It was a “Tortoise Crossing” sign.  I figured the chances of seeing a Desert Tortoise were just as high as our seeing a Bighorn Sheep in Arches National Park (still haven’t seen one there, despite the myriad of road signs).  Although the Elk Crossing signs near Estes Park, CO are very accurate.

About four miles into the scenic drive, we came upon a white sedan with its doors open and flashers on, taking up the right side of the road.  We crept past and parked to see if they needed any help.  Two young men (college age I’m guessing) were kneeling in front of the car.  I suspected car trouble.

Imagine the surprise when Jan and I got out of our car to find out what they were doing.

Hit the jump to find out what the surprise was!

Continue reading Slow and Steady…by Brad Marks

Grrrrr!…by Brad Marks

Well, I’m slowly getting my legs back under me – been a while since a run has knocked me this hard. It has been said the recovery period after an ultra is just a forced sanity check to reconsider recent decisions. Note, Linda always sends me off with “Make good choices” knowing good and well I’ve probably already made 5 bad decision in the time it took her to tell me that. On the bright side, there is a comforting sense of knowing I could probably outrun any “breathing” danger that might await me on my runs (assumption roots do not have noses). Just in case, there are always friends around I could kneecap if I needed extra get-a-way time. Don’t feel bad for them, they are thinking the exact same thing – I imagine the amusement a Bear would have if it walked out onto our trail and saw the lot of us whacking each other with hiking poles and making overt suggestions regarding who might be tastier. Speaking of humor and unexpected wildlife encounters, I know the perfect post for today and it comes courtesy of Brad’s recent drop of new adventures. While I continue to rest and ponder some of those recent decision, we’ll let Brad lead us down the trail.

Remember…”Make good choices”…

There were two old guys, probably Wildlife Intrigued retirees, sitting on the porch at a retirement home.  Each had a quilt on their laps and a shawl around their shoulders, happily rocking away in the August sunshine.  There was a long-forgotten elbow brace sitting nearby.  Nothing is said for what seems like forever.  Then Old Guy (OG) #1 says, “I saw a bear once.”

“Where did you see a bear?” OG#2 asks somewhat incredulously.

“One day when I was hiking in the woods.  It just jumped out of the brambles and stared at me,” says OG#1.

“It just jumped out of the woods?  What did it do then?” questions OG#2.

“It went Grrrrr!” replies OG#1.   (imagine a menacing growl)

“What did you do then?” quizzed OG#2.

“I s#!t my pants!” says OG#1 sheepishly.

“I would too if a bear jumped out of the woods, looked at me and went Grrrrr!” says OG#2 sympathetically.

“No, I mean right now when I went Grrrrr!”

(This joke was brought to you courtesy of my father-in-law.  I think it’s one of his favorites.)

Well, that nearly happened to Jan and I.  Except for the old guy part, the rocking chairs at the retirement home, and no quilts or shawls were involved.  Our pants stayed clean, too.  We were in the woods though.

Hit the jump to read more details about this Sequoian sized encounter!

Continue reading Grrrrr!…by Brad Marks

Project: Afterglow

Trying to take it easy today to give the back a chance to mend from the ultra race damage. since I cannot just lie here doing nothing, figured it would be a good time to get one of the mega Halloween ’23 project posts out. These tend to be rather involved with all the technical detail and accompanying images. New tombstones for this year’s Haunted Trail is no exception. Hopefully the DIY haunters out there will enjoy this project and hopefully get you well on your way should you want to add this type of prop to your own Halloween displays.

To give you an idea of how these new lighted tombstones look, here’s a shot of one of this year’s new stones on our haunted trail.

Halloween 2023 Decorations

Hit the jump to learn how this (and several others) came to be. Warning, your browser image cache is going to be smoking by the time you get to the bottom of the post ha.

Continue reading Project: Afterglow

Hall’s Pond…by Brad Marks

Going to be setting a new land speed record for getting this last post of the month out – check off another successful meet on the Intrigued post quota. At some point my superiors are going to stop accepting that as a “stretch” goal ha. Have good news for everyone, we have “proof of life” for Brad. That sounds a lot more exciting that it really is as in today’s day and age, it simply means we got a text he’s on his way home. Probably dating myself here, but it feels just like the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom show. If you recall (assuming you are old enough), Marlin Perkins would sit back in his smoking chair with a snifter of Scotch while Jim is out in the field getting mauled by a pack of Hyenas. “Honey, I would like to get this bird located here {spins globe stopping it with a well placed finger}, what do you think?” “There!!! HELL NO..send Brad.” “Good idea, where’s my snifter?” I am sure he will have a number of future posts covering his adventures. In the meantime we are pulling one of his queue to keep you entertained while I tend to things that go bump in the night.

Three short little days until the first night of the Haunted Trail..as they say..or rather sing “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn” (link here). Sure wish I had “Eight days a week”.

Kick it Brad…

If you’ve ever been to Boston, you know how frantic life can be there.  Like any other large city, there are big buildings, crazy people everywhere “driving” with a coffee in one hand and a smartphone in the other, and other people with a smartphone in one hand and a cup of coffee in their other hand posing as pedestrians.  Of course, nearly everyone has obligatory earbuds firmly ensconced.  Jan and I were visiting Boston for the umpteenth time (really, I’ve lost count over the decades) for our goddaughter’s high school graduation.  Knowing I’d like to see what birds were living in and around Boston, our friend Connie suggested I try a little pond near our hotel in Brookline. 

When I first arrived at Armory Park, all I could see was a giant dog park (very few were picking up, BTW, so watch your step if you visit) and a half dozen tennis courts with players who thought they were getting ready for Wimbledon.  It was then that I noticed a heavily wooded area behind a fence with a swing gate; that’s where I headed:  Hall’s Pond.  I went through the gate, wandered along the wooded trail, and came upon a serene little pond with a small deck extending over the water.  The pond is roughly 150 feet wide by about 200 feet long.  The surrounding gardens and wooded area may only be 3-4x as big as the pond itself.

Hall's Pond by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to see more finds from Hall’s Pond.

Continue reading Hall’s Pond…by Brad Marks

GAWWS (Great! Another White Wading Shorebird) or Déjà Vu All Over Again…by Brad Marks

We are now in the pressure zone, a mere two weeks before the big haunt and my days are starting to feel like back to back ultras. The good news is we are making progress – a lot of that thanks to my brother Ron spending multiple days down here helping me out. Probably have maybe 3 or 4 days max to wrap up the new props before clearing the trails and starting the mind-numbing battery installation phase. Last year required well over 300 AAs, 50 AAAs, 120 9vs and a myriad of other formats – with all the new props those numbers are going to jump significantly. Note, things would go a LOT faster if the younger generation(s) would stop sucking on batteries causing that #$%@#%@#$# little screw to be on all the battery compartment lids. Fortunately in all this chaos, I have been able to get in a little birding…

Birdman 2023

You might have noticed I am back to using my injured elbow…how about we just keep that to ourselves for now, first rule of Fight Club – “Don’t talk about the elbow”. While I toil away, Brad is stepping in to once again throw me a lifeline with one of his birding adventures. He is currently out in the field on assignment, so responses will be dependent on his connectivity – if we are lucky he will stumble upon some forgotten jungle tribes with Internet access points and let us know how it is going. Well, “I Bis” be getting back to the haunt work.

Take it away Brad…

I think I’m finally beginning to understand why Brian has such a backlog of bird stories.  When he and Linda travel south during the winter, he racks up 200+ birds per “vacation.”  Jan and I encountered 56 on our trip to Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina last February.  As I was reviewing photos for other stories, I noticed this unassuming bird in the background of many of the photos.  I started writing this story just after our trip.  I guess it was on my keyboard too long because in the meantime, Brian published a story on this exact same bird (link here).  Well, not the precise bird, but a bird of the same species.   So, what to do, what to do . . .   Should I scrap it or continue writing about the same bird, but with a different perspective and habitat?  After a week or so I chose to continue the story.

I have to admit that initially, I was going for the herons and egrets.  But our featured bird today is no less exciting than those are.  Granted, its name is grander than the lighting in these photos allows.  Jan and I found these wading birds very early in the day, less than an hour after sun-up.

White Ibis by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about our pink legged friend.

Continue reading GAWWS (Great! Another White Wading Shorebird) or Déjà Vu All Over Again…by Brad Marks