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Sep232019

Bomb Chachalaca

Howdy all!  Let it be known that rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.  Seems like a tired record these days, but the hustle and bustle is reaching peak levels.  The Halloween party is mere weeks away which brings with it outright panic.  This year it is twice the levels thanks to having to do the inside decorations and possibly the cooking along with the massive outdoor trail setup due to Linda still playing the recovery card (yes, I’ve been asking every one of her doctors just how many of those cards are left in the deck – good thing she can’t throw anything in her current state).  Waaaay behind on posts for the month, not to mention falling behind on reading the output of the others I follow.

Going with a quick one today so I can get back to prop building.  Today’s featured feathered friend is making its second appearance on the blog.

Plain Chachalaca found at Bentsen-Rio Grand Valley State Park in January 2018

You may recall this rather interesting looking bird is called a Plain Chachalaca – cha-cha-la ca.  Our previous sighting was at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge back on our December 2016 trip down the Texas Gulf Coast (link here).  This happens to be one of those birds you don’t tend to forget after your first encounter and quick to recall as soon as your ears catch tone of their presence.  Their song signature is what led to the name.  Cornell declares it sounds like a “raucous” and very repetitive “chac, a lak”.  I on the other hand I feel it sounds more like two Bullfrogs being rubbed together in hopes of being able to start a fire.  Even their call is annoying as hell – would describe it as what it sounds like when you quickly squeeze the air out of Possum lungs.

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this Central American chicken.

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Nov042018

Where’s the Hat and Boots?

Greetings everyone, welcome to November albeit a bit late to the month.  I was sitting down after a night of traveling around the countryside assessing various Halloween haunts (picking up ideas for our annual haunted trail) and heard the clank of the blog counter resetting as the clock crested the witching hour.  That sound is definitely more intimidating during the September and October months thanks to an extremely busy schedule – November is a different story – it is actually welcomed since It means I can re-dedicate myself to something I enjoy second to experiencing the event itself – that’s talking (err typing) about the experiences.  A perspective that I believe most outdoor bloggers can relate to.  The only downside right now is I used up all my pre-processed images to get me through the previous months.  That can be easily overcome as in the case of today’s triple F (featured feathered friend).

Nashville Warbler found at Weslaco Valley Birding Center January 2018

I still have a tremendous amount of blog material from our trips down the Texas Gulf Coast.  Took a run through the folder last night and thought this cute Warbler would be worthy of introducing to my readers.  This particular specimen was found at the Valley Nature Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas.  You may be familiar with this location already as it was the place that gave me the national bird of Costa Rico (link here), the Inca Dove (link here) and that darling of a Warbler the Black and White (link here) to name a few.  The Birding Center is a neatly tucked away gem of a birding hotspot posing as a generic park in the middle of town – go through the visitor center and out the back gates and you find yourself standing in six acres of an elaborate forest ecosystem.

Nashville Warbler found at Weslaco Valley Birding Center January 2018

Hit the jump to find out what this new bird to my list is called!

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Oct262018

A Better Castaway Companion

Did you hear that!?! If you just heard a huge sigh of relief loud enough to be heard from the Netherlands, that would be me successfully putting a cap on one of the busiest two months I have experienced in a looooong time. The Annual Halloween Cookout is officially in the books (all the decorations are officially dried out, packed and stowed away), the 4 scheduled Half Marathon medals are hanging on the wall, the new well is awaiting final health inspection and as of Wednesday night, my presentation to the local Peoria Camera Club was given. Whew, that blurb sure doesn’t sound as difficult as it was to get all those checked off the to-do list. All of those tasks had been outlined in previous posts, with the exception of the presentation. The president of the Camera Club (Julie) attended my presentation to the local Audubon Society Chapter earlier in the year (link here).  After that talk she offered up the opportunity to come and speak to the camera club.  Honored to be considered, I quickly accepted and began fretting about it almost immediately.  At the Audubon speech, I was in a room full of better birders and likely better photographers.  In the new setting I was among a room full of better photographers and likely better birders.  Definitely more comfortable in the former being a self-learned photographer.  When Julie reached out with the October date, my heart skipped a beat and immediately went to work revamping the Birding Texas Gulf Coast talk to focus on the photography aspects.  Apprehension remained up until the point the lights went down and the slide show started.  Ended up running out of time to get through all the bird detail (due to favoring camera setup, field philosophies etc), but the audience seemed to enjoy the talk and received a lot of good comments afterward.  Also got to talk to a few of them later thanks to a chance decision afterward to catch a bite to eat at the same place.  Again, extremely honored to have the chance to present my craft to them and to meet a wonderful group of similar enthusiasts.  Huge appreciation to Julie for making all that happen.

While preparing for this speech, I noticed a picture was included of a bird I had not featured on the blog yet – and by definition, one that did not have the official check by it on the bird list.  This seemed like the perfect time to remedy that!

Wilson's Warbler found at The Valley Nature Birding Center, Weslaco Texas January 1st, 2018

Hit the Jump to find out what this new addition is!

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May122018

No Hope

Okay, so I kinda screwed up on my last post.  I’ve been going through so many new birds as of late, that I went lax a bit on my paperwork.  I made it all the way to end of my post completely under the illusion that the Yellow-Throated Warbler was new to the blog.  Granted, there was even a small pat on the back as I closed out the text for that post knowing the list counter was going to move.  If you recall, an official tick in the list requires a sufficient picture that reveals the key characteristics, validation of the ID from a trusted source (usually my brother Ron), processing of the image with upload to gallery and then an official blog post.  Definitely a bit of work and one of the reasons my official bird count is embarrassingly low.  My backlog is fairly sizeable – thus the extra push on new birds over the last several months.  The final step in the post is to set the tags. All of a sudden, my editor filled in the rest of the characters when typing in the name of the Warbler Whaaaaat!?!  Ugh, that clued me into a previous post which was quickly located from a Georgia birding trip.  Drats.

Decided to remedy that snafu tonight.  I can guarantee tonight’s featured feathered friend (Pat may I buy an ‘e’)

Inca Dove found at Valley Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas January 2018

My Dove count is definitely starting to shape up.  Already featured on the blog are

  • Mourning Dove (link here)
  • White-Winged Dove (link here)
  • White-Tipped Dove (link here)
  • Rock Pigeon (link here)

 

and I have a couple in the works I haven’t had a chance to post yet (think of this as a future episode teaser)

  • Eurasian Collard-Dove
  • Common Ground-Dove

 

Today, I am proud to bring you the latest addition to this list,. the Inca Dove.

Inca Dove found at Valley Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas January 2018

Hit the jump to read more about this uniquely feathered Dove

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May062018

Flying Zebras

Ugh, I’m 6 days into the new month and nothing to show for it on the blog. It has been a bit busy around here at Intrigued as of late and not sure it is going to calm down anytime soon. Case in point, yesterday at 6:15pm local time I was standing at the arrival doors for Punta Gorda airport. It had just poured there and I was taking a few minutes to stretch the legs out from the 2.5 hour or so flight down there from Springfield IL. – where I had driven 1.5 hours before that to make the flight from my hometown. The stretch was important because I was getting into my father’s van so my brother (who had made an earlier flight) and I could drive him back … nonstop. At 1:00pm this afternoon we rolled into Springfield where we unloaded the van and then I made it out to the airport to drive the 1.5 hours back here. All that makes for one tired Bri. No complaints though, always happy to help out my Dad and being in a vehicle for that long you get to re-live some great memories and strengthen the family bond. Thought I would relax a bit before heading to bed early for some badly needed shuteye – I struggle to get any naps in while on the road so the deprivation keeps building throughout the trip. The best way for me to relax is to sit in my den, watch some Cardinals and talk about Team Bird. Although today’s featured bird is more of Yankee fan than a Card.

Black-and-White Warbler at Valley Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas January 2018

Hit the Jump to read about this new bird on my list.

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Mar042018

Yigüirro in Weslaco

Greetings everyone. My apologies for lack of productivity as of late. Wait, I should clarify that a bit .. for my lack of productivity in getting posts out. Thanks to a an upcoming commitment, my post counts were significantly elevated in support of that endeavor. Unfortunately, my fairly ample runway of time was gobbled up by some form of rift in the space time continuum. There is no other explanation – one minute there’s like 3 months to go, then there was a small but finely tuned wind storm that ripped the pages right off my calendar. This forced a transition from prep phase to the produce phase and now pretty much in the polish phases. Can’t wait to find out how all this turns out, but you will assuredly be reading about it here…soon. Rather than leave everyone hanging a little over a week, thought I’d treat you to some finds on our recent trip to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Clay-Colored Thrush found at the Valley Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas January 2017

If there is one thing that is prevalent when birding the Gulf Coast and southern most tip regions of Texas its colorful birds.  So stunning that many even passed Linda’s high “pretty” threshold that has to be met before she will even bother taking a picture of a bird.  This rather drab looking specimen before you doesn’t come close to those other coastal finds (like here and here).  That doesn’t mean it isn’t something I’m super excited to now have on my birding list!

Clay-Colored Thrush found at the Valley Birding Center in Weslaco, Texas January 2017

Hit the jump to find out what this bird is!

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