Tag: Summer Tanager

Building Team Intrigued…by Brad Marks

Howdy everyone! Just got back from attending the Midwest Region Haunt Convention up in Chicago with Ron and “partner in haunt” Brad S. (yes, I have lots of friends that happened to be named Brad ha). This was our first time attending this Halloween themed gathering and it was a BLAST. Got to see some of my heroes in the industry, try out new props/gadgets/mechanisms, take in all the attendees in costumes (a shocking amount of them) and most of all, came back with a ton of new ideas to add to our own haunt this year! Pretty exhausted from hours of walking around the exhibits and the long car ride up and back. Was getting ready to write up a post and realized Brad had sent me on our latest corporate outing. Let’s go with that while I test a quick rest from the trip.

…take it away Brad.

In the middle of May, Brian suggested we have an Intrigued team building event.  The entire staff of photographers and writers was invited.  No, there weren’t any rope courses, trust-falls, tug-o-war events, or overpaid motivational speakers.  We did talk extensively about the Legal department and how much copier paper they had been using lately.  It was Brian’s day off from intensive training for an upcoming ultra-event.  I think the next event is “only” a 50k trail run.  I’m working up to 10-15 miles on my bike and mowing my 1-acre lawn, only using the self-propelled feature for mowing up the hills.  I did my best to keep up with Brian on the trails in the deep woods at Jubilee College State Park.  We are both, after all, retired.

We met early in the morning at Intrigued HQ and drove the corporate Jeep (the corporate motorhome was out for cleaning and it wasn’t far enough away to use the corporate jet) to the north entrance of Jubilee State Park.  This entrance is mostly used by people camping and riding their horses over miles of trails.  The sky was clear and blue, not a cloud to be seen.  The trees were sporting their full leafage (is that a word?) and blocking our view of most of the birds. 

Brian parked the Jeep (skipping the valet service) and we began assembling our cameras.  It was an honor to be in the presence of The Beast, Brian’s Nikon 200-400mm lens.  Normally, I use a monopod to hold up my nearly 9 lb. (8 lb. 12 oz.) camera/lens combination (D300 with battery grip and Nikon 200-500mm lens).  I believe that I end up with better results taking gravity out of the equation.  But for the team building event, I decided to hand-carry the camera by the lens foot.  Of course, I had the camera strap wrapped around my wrist as a failsafe.  Brian hand-carries the much heavier combo of The Beast and his camera (8 lb. 15 oz.) all the time.  In other words, we both carried a full gallon of milk (or your favorite almond/soy substitute) plus a glass or two, all day.  (By the way, employees of Wildlife Intrigued all use Nikon cameras and lenses.  If anyone from Nikon wants to talk sponsorship for the shameless plugs above, please contact our Legal Department.  You may have to leave a message because they are probably out buying more copy paper.)

Just as I was putting the lens cap in my pocket, Brian pointed and said “Look over there.”

Hit the jump to learn what caught Brian’s eye and to read more about our corporate outing!

Continue reading Building Team Intrigued…by Brad Marks

Tanager Acne

Well, we are back home from our trip up to Springfield, Ohio for the CPE Invitationals. In general a bit of a disappointment. With the exception of Ruger’s impressive showing in his first ever drag race event, the 4 days of showing (1 practice day and 3 days of actual competition), yielded only one qualifying run in Raven’s 9 attempts. He just seemed off and really wasn’t running at his usual pace. Also a lot more standoffish and too aware of the onlookers and hordes of other competitors to really get the job done. Definitely not a fan of having horse dirt between his toes. I felt bad for Linda as she was having to fight through a nasty cold from the moment we got there. Tough to run, much less coerce a less than enthused Poodle through an obstacle course.

Juvi Summer Tanager found at Shell Mounds on Dauphin Island, AL in April 2021

Hit the jump to read more of about our blotchy friend!

Continue reading Tanager Acne

Summer Comes Early

I want to start with remembering all those that are serving, have served and on the day we officially honor them, those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can continue to live the values instilled in this country by our founding fathers. Those that have given their lives in combat and the families that have lived/live with that sacrifice shall never be forgotten.

Last post I featured a feathered friend that Ron has already been able to check this year …one more importantly… I still have yet to find for our “Average Year” efforts (link here – still not updated). I also noted there was a plan for me to claw back some points. Last Friday Linda and I went to Havana IL and successfully tinned a few sure things. Specifically the Western Kingbird (Link here – why they nest there I have no clue) and the Eurasian Tee Sparrow (link here). Note, if you want to see a limited region for a bird, check out that European Tree Sparrow – basically a small blotch in IL (link here).

Summer Tanager found at Shell Mounds on Dauphin Island in April 2021

Even managed to get 2 more +1s for the year on the way home that Ron didn’t have ..well, yet. Not that I am competitive or anything (wink), but was feeling pretty good gaining +4 on him. Then opportunity knocked. Brothers and I decided to meet mom’s house to start the long process of cleaning it out. This meant Ron would be traveling down perilously close to Havana on his way to the house. My warnings that the birds had already left for the summer were ignored (no trust ha). Sure enough, he stopped by there and picked up 3 of the 4 Friday tallies. Well, that euphoria didn’t even make it past the long weekend.

So, like the previous post, bringing you another red hued bird.

In contrast to the last post, Ron DOES NOT have this Tanager checked off for this year. It is still a few weeks off from the season, but rather than wait, bringing you summer early! A male Summer Tanager to be exact. The official check for this year came while we were down in southern Texas during January. Ron probably missed getting it by mayne 20 minutes thanks to having to head to the airport to catch his flight home. While he had to sit in the airport lobby, Linda and I headed back to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in Brownsville. There was a rarity we were chasing there before he had to take him to the airport. I’ll cover that hunt in an upcoming post. For today, just note I managed to tin the Summer Tanager while I was there (and the rarity, but shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone yet).

Hit the jump to continue reading about Ron’s missing check

Continue reading Summer Comes Early

Summer’s Here

Greetings everyone!  It has been a bit since I have posted and for that my utmost apologies.  There is just something about a few hot days, a couple of passes of fertilizer followed by a a whole lot of rain that somehow makes my grass think they’re in a race to the clouds.  At this rate I’ll be mowing every 1.3 days!  Taking advantage of the fact it is raining this very minute, thought it would be a great time to put another notch in the post counter.  Although we are technically a month early, let’s welcome Summer to the blog…
Summer Tanager Shot at Starved Rock May 2015
Well, a Summer Tanager that is.  This gorgeous bird was found on an outing at Starved Rock State Park.  My brother Ron and I had the opportunity to do a day of birding there back in May 2015.  Wait a minute, come to think of it, it was pouring down rain that day too.  If I recall correctly we ended up having to stand under tree cover waiting for a lightning storm to pass over.  Okay kiddies, let me make a short PSA – it is not recommended you stand under tall trees during a lightning storm.  Don’t even think about it, don’t do it and certainly don’t reference this blog when they scrap your body off the ground and drag your butt into the ER after disobeying my advice.
Summer Tanager Shot at Starved Rock May 2015

Hit the jump to read and see a bit more about the Summers!

Continue reading Summer’s Here