Tag: Patagonia State Park

Number 30

I am currently in the sweet spot so to speak. The mental and physical stress of the annual Haunted Trail event has passed for the most part along with yesterday’s final taper run before the ultra race, means a good rest is at hand. The full fretting on the upcoming race hasn’t set in yet giving me a rare moment of calm my body badly needs. Taking it really easy for the next few days in hopes of getting some of the tweaks, twinges and dings to subside to put me in the best condition to battle the trail – the trail adage holds, you just need to get to a point where the entire body hurts as much as the individual angry parts and then you can transition to the mental part of the task. I’ve never forgotten the wisdom a good friend passed on to me many a year ago – “Equilibrium is the secret to success – if you injure your hand, just smack the other with a hammer and carry on”. That may say more about me and the friends I keep than their “wisdom” ha. The good news is there is time to get a post (and maybe more than one) out during this rare moment of relative stillness. To kick that off, here is today’s featured feathered friend.

Ash-Throated Flycatcher found at Patagonia State Park, Patagonia,AZ in March 2025

Any guesses on an ID before you hit the jump – hint, this is the first time this species has been featured here at Intrigued.

Continue reading Number 30

That is One Good Looking Broad

Greetings once again from the road. By the time you read this we should be out of California and somewhere in Arizona. Picked up a number of birds during our first “official” trip to the state lighting up the 6th new state this trip on my eBird profile. Have to admit, Linda’s bribe of birding opportunities for agreeing to go out to Washington for the CPE Agility Nationals has materialized far better than ever imagined. I am getting a bit homesick now and looking forward to getting back…but not until we hit a few more of my favorite birding spots in Arizona. Fingers crossed the heat doesn’t chase the birds away.

This month is coming to a close and surprisingly it was spent entirely on the road. Big thanks to Brad for keeping the post quota pressure from adding additional stress to the trip. For this 6th and final post of the month, I am going to feature a member of a bird family that doesn’t get a lot of attention on this site. This has absolutely nothing to do with our fondness for this group of birds – we love them actually – but it comes with a great deal of work both during the encounter, inevitable work in the digital darkroom and then depending on a number of conditions (gender/lighting/breeding/etc), the potentially painful ID process.

Broad-Billed Hummingbird found at Patagonia, AZ in March 2025

To get the ball rolling, this post is going to focus on a Hummingbird that is pretty easy to identify if you can find the male. Hit the jump to learn more about this distinctive speedster.

Continue reading That is One Good Looking Broad