Welcome Pauline Barclay, a new follower of Desert Canyon Living. Pauline is a writer and animal lover, who blogs here.
Also, thank you all so much for your birthday wishes. I had a great day and I appreciate all your good wishes so much.
The other day, I looked out our living room window and saw this in our dead tree. And I didn't even know road runners could fly. Well, that is, I had never seen one fly before.
The dead tree will be cut down in due time. Right now a pair of Western Kingbirds have a nest with young ones in the tree. You can see it right between the two road runners in the pictures above and below.
For a while, I have enjoyed watching the kingbirds
feeding and taking care of their young. Because of this, I am by now a bit emotionally attached to this nest and the baby birds. So I only took two pictures from the living room window, before I ran out to scare away the road runners. While they are my favorite canyon birds, and I'm thrilled they came back this year, I have to draw the line somewhere. Like stick with snakes and bugs for your dinner. As I approached, the male flew down from his branch, landed a bit away, and took off at a run. But the female just moved higher up in the tree and wouldn't leave until I shook the branches. All the while, several kingbirds and some other smaller birds were all over the tree, but not able to do anything much to protect the nest. An interesting wildlife encounter for me and a reminder that there is no end to what I can learn about the critters of the canyon.
Yay for you for making those Roadrunners go elsewhere. You're right, there's plenty of other food for them to eat. Leave those kingbird babies alone!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you had a great birthday, and I wish you health and happiness for the many, many more that I hope you have.
I love roadrunners. We see a lot of them down here, but I've never seen them off the ground-very cool pictures. I understand your attachment to the kingbirds, and hopefully the roadies will stay away now.
ReplyDeleteHi Inger! I love those roadrunners and good on you for chasing them away from the kingbird babies! I love your adventures with the desert animals.
ReplyDeletethey sound like the owls in our woods right now - looking for an easy meal of cardinals or blue jays plucked from the nest...
ReplyDeleteI never knew that roadrunners were a threat to other birds & their nests. I still love them. They & ostriches always make me smile. Both are silly birds & as you know, I like "silly"!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be no end to the things I learn here! I would probably leave the dead tree for the wildlife. We leave them here and call them 'snags'. All kinds of critters find good use for them.
ReplyDeleteI had no clue that roadrunners could or would fly... too many cartoons, I expect.
ReplyDeleteBelated Happy Birthday! I hope it was a good one!
I hadn't known that road runners could climb into trees; or that they went after other birds' nests, although I suppose that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures.
Sorry I missed your birthday! Hope it was a special one.
ReplyDeleteInger,
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a blessedly wonderful day!
I love the road runner and it reminds me of the show I use to watch as a child...loved the road runner but also felt sorry for the coyote!
I didn't know roadrunners could fly either. Glad you chased them away!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen a roadrunner since the old days when we drove Route 66 through NM, Ariz and up into Calif. Then, lo and behold, I actually saw one on my way to work one day and it nearly shocked me into a ditch! I was dropped-jawed and excited as I didn't know they were in Oklahoma. Never thought about them being able to fly. Maybe like a chicken, they can't get very high?
ReplyDeleteNever a dull moment in the canyon! I'd never seen a roadrunner.. other than the one on cartoons. I've been trying to comment on your blog for the longest time, but it seems like something always comes up and I'm cut short. ANYwaY. I hope your birthday was a memorable and fun one. Happy belated birthday. Inger, you are such an inspiration.. I love your positive attitude, and the way you always bounce back. I, too, feel that housework and yard work are certainly exercise. I'd rather be getting exercise by getting something accomplished than just jumping in place for half an hour.
ReplyDeleteGracie LOVED Samson's poem. And she walks around with this love sick look on her face all the time now... She can't believe a pup as handsome as Samson could be in love with her.
Hi Inger - glad you had a lovely birthday .. and the tales of life in the Canyon are so interesting! Long live the King birds .. enjoy the weekend .. and hope the back is improving slowly .. Hilary
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lovely birthday Inger, it's lovely to hear about the astonishing wildlife you have there, - some of us thought that road runners only existed in cartoon animations, now I know they're real! Kathy
ReplyDeleteI love looking at roadrunners till I saw one literally beating a red winged black bird to death.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you- snakes and rodents Ok, birds are off limits.
I have never seen a Roadrunner other than in cartoons. They look big....are they?
ReplyDeleteGood that you saved the nestlings.....mother nature can be cruel at times.
Hej Inger, länge sedan jag var inne på din blogg, alltid lika fina bilder.Hoppas allt är bra med dig.Massor med kramar från Sverige
ReplyDeleteNature can be cruel at times. I've tried many times to intervene, usually to no avail. Hope you are feeling well and had a nice birthday, Inger. :)
ReplyDelete