Tag: Long-Billed Curlew

Nose Down

Evil clowns to the left of me, horrific jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle of haunt season! Technically, Halloween is around 67 days away, but here at Intrigued the spook comes early. We hold our annual Haunted Trail event the last weekend of September which translates to “where the hell did the year go already!!”. We pretty much work on this event 352 days a year taking off only 2 days for the event itself and 5 days to tear it all down and get it back into storage..capping it off with 2 days of badly needed rest before the 50 mile ultra race a few days later. That doesn’t even count all the work Linda does to prepare and put on the party itself (house decor, food, drinks etc.) and the invaluable Haunt Squad who must have something mentally wrong with them as they keep signing up to help out every year (must be the free beer … and root beer ha!). Guessing needless to say, but I am nose down trying to get ready knowing full well I’ll still be putting the finishing touches on the trail as the guests start arriving. Apologies for being out of pocket lately, especially on reading all your great posts – will probably let Brad handle the posts once he and Jan returns from assignment. To hold you over until then, going with a featured feathered friend that also has its nose down.

Long-Billed Curlew found on Bolivar Jetty, Texas in January 2023

Hit the jump to read more about this uniquely billed creature.

Continue reading Nose Down

Hodgepodge

I have to feel a bit sorrow for all the SoaRs out there (Spouse of a Runner) or more specific SoaIRs – Spouse of an Injured Runner. Clearly we can be a difficult lot as Linda continues to remind me daily. Beginning to think my full name is really “Don’t You Dare”, purely based on the number of times that is proclaimed lately and as far as I can tell..always directed at … well, ME. She caught me heading out to a pile of concrete with a sledgehammer the other day (we had some new concrete poured and the contractors left huge slabs for me to deal with). My excuse that it couldn’t be any worse than what the therapists were going to do me apparently didn’t hold water. The good news is Doc says the elbow is healing nicely, but wants to re-xray it in three weeks. Obligatory head nod while inner Bri goes postal “THREE WEEKS, is he crazy!?! I have a road race this Saturday and an ultra in October to train for – where did she hide that sledgehammer, I need to get on with building my strength back up …when Linda is away, of course”. While my accelerated recover plan germinates, thought I would see if I could get a quick post out. Brad was kind enough to take us along on his Huntington bird walk last we met. Unfortunately, my birding days are put on hold for some time – even decided to send The Beast in for some spa recovery time at a local Nikon repair shop – so, how about we take a walk of a different kind.

Long-Billed Curlew found at South Padre Island in December 2016

This adventure will be from the comfort (and safety) of my den. Yep, it is time for a hodgepodge of images that either didn’t make the first cut, one-offs or in some cases just some fun images that have been perpetually stuck in 5 o’clock traffic.

Hit the jump for a walk for those of us with no particular place to go.

Continue reading Hodgepodge

Natural Born Zombie Killer

Welcome to November everyone! Granted we are a few days into it, but I’ve finally managed to make it to surface for some badly needed air. Halloween has past (long live the haunt!), sadness has been overwhelmed by cherished memories and, as of last Saturday, my race season has likely come to a close unless a race in the snow happens to catch my fancy. Although we are likely a ways from the ground sticking fluffy stuff, Bri needs some time for rest and healing – the 100K race left its mark. Now the focus turns to getting back to “normal” and the first order of business is feathers.

Long-Billed Curlew found at South Padre Island in December 2016

I know some of you were wondering when we were going to get back to our featured feathered friends .. after all, this is a blog that is supposed to be about all things wild. In my defense, zombie encounters can get a bit wild if you don’t have a long pointy stick to pop them in the head with. Today’s featured shorebird has absolutely no fear of running into the walking dead. They just causally walk up to the animated corpse and “bill” them in the head.

Long-Billed Curlew found at South Padre Island in December 2016

Hit the jump to learn more about our natural born “zombie killer”.

Continue reading Natural Born Zombie Killer

Lone Star Goodness

Welcome back to my blog ladies and gentlemen.  If you have been having some problems getting to this site over the weekend you can blame GoDaddy.  Not sure yet what is going on with them, but their availability has been crap for the last couple of days.  I was getting really worried, but found out that my brother Ron was having similar problems with his blog which is also served by GoDaddy.  He has been exploring the actual WordPress services and those appear to be working out quite well – his birding blog I mentioned previously is hosted there already.  Depending on how things work out, there may be a switch considerations coming in the future.  Until now, we’ll just use my current blog – which by the way, I have pretty much worked all the kinks out of already and has been working pretty good up to this point. Enough about the technical details, let’s get to today’s featured bird.

Texas Trip Nov 2013

How do you like the snout on that one!  For some strange reason I have an affinity for this species hehehe.  That there is a Long-Billed Curlew.  To be honest, was not entirely sure when I came upon it in the digital dark room.  Based on the key characteristics (yeah, the snout), it could have been a Whimbrel.  Decided to phone a friend (Ron) and get his opinion.  He pointed out that the Whimbrel has a stronger striped head, a dark crown with a white median stripe and generally less buffy look.  I have to agree – a Curlew it is!

Texas Trip Nov 2013

Hit the jump to see a couple more shots of this Curlew

Continue reading Lone Star Goodness