Haunts in the home stretch, weather is annoying me more than the ridiculous tiny screws on purchased props, trying to get miles in on a tired body and my head has put out an APB in search of its favorite pillow. Welcome to “hauntlife”. Last thing you want me to do is try to put sentences together, so even though Brad is out on assignment, he’s going to bring you an adventure from the exotic, untamed and dangerous realm of .. wait, did he say “subdivision”!?! Must be the sleep deprivation. Take care everyone, you are assuredly in good hands for the next week or two.
Take it away Brad…
Intrigued HQ gave Jan and I this assignment during the Fall of 2023, just after Brian’s visit to Las Vegas (here). We were just coming off a multi-day visit to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, with probably well north of 10,000 images already in the tin. Jan and I met Allyson in Las Vegas (isn’t that fun when your adult children choose to spend time with you, even if they have to pay for the airfare?) to spend time together and see a few shows. With so many demands on our time in just a few days, we were unable to look for today’s subject.
Fast forward to Spring 2024. Because of a flat tire on our rental car the prior day (see A New Low link here), we had to compress our extensive birding assignments (thanks to the taskmasters at Intrigued HQ) into one less day. On the day we found these little jewels, it really came down to either having a shower and getting cleaned up after nearly 10 hours outside in Las Vegas, or take a chance that we might find what we were looking for. I’m very glad we rolled the dice in favor of the birds.
I plugged in the secret coordinates into the GPS app, and we started on the adventure to find today’s birds. When the GPS app said, “You have arrived”, I thought for sure it had gone bonkers in the desert heat. Jan and I found ourselves in the middle of a subdivision. But the GPS app said we were there (and we all know they are never wrong) so I parked the car next to a long chain link fence. The fence was surrounding what looked like an empty city block. As I was prepping the cameras, a 40-something couple rode by on their bicycles. All they said was, “There are two of them out right now,” and pointed to the other end of the chain link fence as they pedaled away.
Finishing up camera assembly (Jan’s first as always), I gently closed the hatch on the rental so I wouldn’t frighten the birds, if they were, in fact, still there. Jan and I moseyed about a hundred yards along the length of the fence until we got to the far corner. Not knowing how large our quarry was, neither of us really knew how far out to be looking. Were these birds larger than the small scrub brush we were seeing? Or were they the size of a can of your favorite soft drink (soda or pop depending on where you are from)? Then I saw these two, sitting up proud as you please, not very far away.
Hit the jump to see what caught our attention on the other side of the fence.
Continue reading Whatchu looking at?…by Brad Marks
Life Intrigued 