How can that be? Well, I’m just making a small photography joke.
Fuzzy? Yes, and that was my fault. As the roadrunners darted around, out of, and into the shrub evidently holding their nest, they moved so quickly and stopped so infrequently, that I never got a sharp shot of them with the nesting materials. Although, as you will see below, I had plenty of chances.
Focused? Yes, and that was all on the roadrunners. I’ve seen them wandering around sort of aimlessly — hunting, I presume, but looking very in-the-moment — but these birds were on a mission: Gather nesting material.
Some brittle stuff was ideal in their estimation: I saw one of them deliberately plant its feet and wrench a tangled bundle off last year’s shrubbery growth. Some brittle stuff was inadequate for reasons I couldn’t discern: I saw one of them repeatedly pick up what looked like dried-grass hairballs and then dismissively throw them away. Not up to standard . . .
Stepping out the front door
Rare moments of repose and reflection
Gotta go, gotta go!
This stick? Of course not. *This* one.
This will be your best shot, lady . . .
Read more about the greater roadrunner here, and their breeding behaviour here.
Find out about the lesser roadrunner (Who knew?) here.
Great photos! Excellent focus on an elusive bird.
Judith -Thank you. And thanks for the photographic pun.
Thanks, Isabel, I really needed to know about the breeding behavior of the greater roadrunner. The dangling mouse bit certainly is memorable.
Laurna – Yeah, some mental images we really don’t need, eh?
Reminds me of a big dog who wanted to play “stick”, so I threw a biggest one as far as I could. When it landed it broke into a half dozen pieces. That dog would not return until he had every last piece of that stick in his mouth. Good boy!
Barbara – 🙂