Spot the roadrunners!

March 17, 2015 • 3:50 pm

This time the maddening search for cryptic animals comes from Ben Goren, who sent a photo supposedly including two specimens of the greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). Can you see them? Note: since photo is effaced by The Albatross, click on the picture to make it big. But be sure to come back to the main site if you want to comment!

From this morning’s walk in South Mountain Park with Baihu.  Two in this photo. Mere iPhone snapshots, alas.

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69 thoughts on “Spot the roadrunners!”

  3. I think I see a third one. Just to the right of the left one – you can see what looks like a head behind the bush.

  7. Watch your step. There’s a rattlesnake hiding under the encelia in the foreground. 😉

    1. Alas, I’ve yet to spot a rattler in the park. They’re beautiful animals, and I’d love to actually see one in its home…from, of course, a suitable distance in a non-confrontational setting.

      b&

      1. Ben, i live in SoCal desert and hike often. Haven’t seen a snake yet this season but pretty sure i’ll see one soon.

  9. Did Baihu eat them? Even though I have seen roadrunners crossing roads in the SW, I am always astounded at how small they are compared to Wile. E.’s buddy.

    1. No, Baihu no can haz roadrunner. They’re probably a bit big for him to consider stalking…and there were a couple women coming up behind us on the trail and we had just walked past a BIG black dog in the parking lot that didn’t notice him but that Baihu seemed unusually nervous about.

      …and, on the question of size…the coyotes here are pretty small. The proportions between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are actually pretty close to their biological ancestors. Our native coyotes are smaller and leaner than, say, a pit bull. These roadrunners are roughly the same size as Mom’s hens, considering the different proportioning.

      b&

  10. One walked by my kitchen window an hour ago. It wasn’t more than 10 feet from me. I am fond of these birds and always appreciate seeing one.

  12. Well, one hid beneath a book and the other beneath the sun… And I have to assume it isn’t B&B’s road tracks we are looking for…

    But … meep one, meep two!

  13. Excellent pic! I have a tough time getting anything that good with my Nikon DX. Spotted ’em. I think I’ve seen them here in Colorado (just not too recently).

  14. I saw on right away. The look on its face seemed to suggest that it was surprised I found it.

    1. Jerry’s books covers are in the way. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ with it…

        3. When I go to the enlarged pic I still have the books in the way. It has always been thus.

          1. I didn’t mean to double click, but to click once, then when you get the picture that still has the books, click on that picture. This should lead you to a book-free shot. Let me know if it works for you. 🙂

    2. Thanks! Now that you’ve helped me see the second one, it’s really obvious. 🙂

    2. Darn, I spied the first roadrunner near the upper right corner quickly, but the second one I could not find until Dr. Needtob provided the answer. Where is Wile E Coyote, Super GEEEnius, when I need him?

    1. South Mountain Park is absolutely beautiful. It’s archetypal (relatively) undisturbed Sonoran Desert habitat. It’s got all the signature plants…lots of saguaros, ocotillos, palo verdes (palos verde?), barrel cacti, cholla, and all the native bushes (including wolf berries, some of which are currently fruiting) and small cacti (many pad types are blooming now). There are no bad trails…either you’ve got a sweeping view of an huge swath of the metro area, or you’re in a valley that shows no signs of civilization save the path.

      …and the east (Pima Canyon) entrance is less than a ten minute drive from my front door….

      b&

      1. I’ve saved your address previously, I’ll send you a note as soon as I know when I can get away…

        😀

        Srsly, thanks for the description, it is most enticing. I do hope to see that ecosystem some day. Have only been in AZ once, with no opportunity to get out and explore.

          2. You guys are brain linked anyway so neither would be able to play a hoax on the other.

      2. I have hiked through many areas like this when living in AZ. But I would sometimes spend too much time turning over rocks looking for scorpions to appreciate the beauty.

        1. I’m not a big fan of scorpions…but one would assume that you are, and you were appreciating their beauty? Would that not be sufficient?

          b&

      3. Just idle curiosity – can you walk barefoot in that landscape? (And if not, how does Baihu manage?)

        1. I can’t, but Baihu weighs an order of magnitude less than I do. And the trails are all well-worn dirt or sand or scree or the like. Remember, bobcats and pumas (and, once jaguars) are all native to this area, and they typically don’t wear shoes….

          The big concern is for when the ground gets excessively hot…but it takes a lot of ambient heat to get desert ground to dangerous temperatures. It’s very common for pavement to be blistering but the native ground to be merely warm.

          We’re generally not hiking when it’s that hot, but, when we are, he’s typically only on the ground on a shady patch long enough for me to soak his coat with icewater, and then he’s either back on my shoulders, or, if it’s really hot, I’ll hold him away from my body. And remember to pick a different time to go hiking next time….

          b&

          1. Your mention of hot ground brings to mind our West Coast black sand (west of Auckland NZ). It’s very fine, and the black colour is iron. So it has high absorption, high heat capacity, and high conductivity, and walking across the beach in bare feet in early afternoon can be an agonising rush to get to the high tide line where evaporative cooling has moderated it a bit. Tarsealed road is actually less hot.

            It is very noticeable that slopes facing the sun are far hotter than those still exposed to the sun but angled the other way – in direct proportion to the radiation density per square inch hitting the surface. A direct illustration of basic physics.

          3. True, but I frequently forget them. Or I’m too lazy to go back to the car for them. Instead I dip my feet in the (polluted?) water from the little stream that soaks innto the sand at the top of the beach, and sprint in a peculiar bouncy high-stepping fashion** towards the nearest point on the high-tide line.

            ** A bit like those desert lizards that lift their feet alternately off the sand, but more dynamic.

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