Beep Meep
Managed a quick trip to the beach in order to see if California is OPEN yet. Most coastal access remains closed, with all parking areas blocked.
But I found this Guy racing around a rest stop, and managed to get a shot before he raced off.
For a generation of viewers, the familiar “beep, beep” of Warner Brothers’ cartoon Roadrunner was the background sound of Saturday mornings.
(Although commonly quoted as "meep meep", Warner Brothers, the current owner of all trademarks relating to the duo, lists "beep, beep" as the Road Runner's sound, along with "meep, meep." )
Despite the cartoon character’s perennial victories over Wile E. Coyote, real-life coyotes present a real danger to Roadrunners; Coyotes can reach a top speed of 43 miles an hour—more than twice as fast as roadrunners.
Roadrunner can outrace a human, kill a rattlesnake, and thrive in the harsh landscapes of the Desert Southwest. Roadrunners reach two feet from sturdy bill to white tail tip, with a bushy blue-black crest and mottled plumage that blends well with dusty shrubs. As they run, they hold their lean frames nearly parallel to the ground and rudder with their long tails.
Roadrunners have evolved a range of adaptations to deal with the extremes of desert living. Like seabirds, they secrete a solution of highly concentrated salt through a gland just in front of each eye, which uses less water than excreting it via their kidneys and urinary tract. Moisture-rich prey including mammals and reptiles supply them otherwise-scarce water in their diet. Both chicks and adults flutter the un-feathered area beneath the chin (gular fluttering) to dissipate heat.
Roadrunners eat poisonous prey, including venomous lizards and scorpions, with no ill effect, although they’re careful to swallow horned lizards head-first with the horns pointed away from vital organs. Roadrunners can also kill and eat rattlesnakes, often in tandem with another roadrunner: as one distracts the snake by jumping and flapping, the other sneaks up and pins its head, then bashes the snake against a rock. If it’s is too long to swallow all at once, a roadrunner will walk around with a length of snake still protruding from its bill, swallowing it a little at a time as the snake digests.
Based on banding records, the oldest roadrunner was at least 7 years old.
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
(600 mm, 1/2000 @ f/9.0, ISO 1000)
Beep Meep
Managed a quick trip to the beach in order to see if California is OPEN yet. Most coastal access remains closed, with all parking areas blocked.
But I found this Guy racing around a rest stop, and managed to get a shot before he raced off.
For a generation of viewers, the familiar “beep, beep” of Warner Brothers’ cartoon Roadrunner was the background sound of Saturday mornings.
(Although commonly quoted as "meep meep", Warner Brothers, the current owner of all trademarks relating to the duo, lists "beep, beep" as the Road Runner's sound, along with "meep, meep." )
Despite the cartoon character’s perennial victories over Wile E. Coyote, real-life coyotes present a real danger to Roadrunners; Coyotes can reach a top speed of 43 miles an hour—more than twice as fast as roadrunners.
Roadrunner can outrace a human, kill a rattlesnake, and thrive in the harsh landscapes of the Desert Southwest. Roadrunners reach two feet from sturdy bill to white tail tip, with a bushy blue-black crest and mottled plumage that blends well with dusty shrubs. As they run, they hold their lean frames nearly parallel to the ground and rudder with their long tails.
Roadrunners have evolved a range of adaptations to deal with the extremes of desert living. Like seabirds, they secrete a solution of highly concentrated salt through a gland just in front of each eye, which uses less water than excreting it via their kidneys and urinary tract. Moisture-rich prey including mammals and reptiles supply them otherwise-scarce water in their diet. Both chicks and adults flutter the un-feathered area beneath the chin (gular fluttering) to dissipate heat.
Roadrunners eat poisonous prey, including venomous lizards and scorpions, with no ill effect, although they’re careful to swallow horned lizards head-first with the horns pointed away from vital organs. Roadrunners can also kill and eat rattlesnakes, often in tandem with another roadrunner: as one distracts the snake by jumping and flapping, the other sneaks up and pins its head, then bashes the snake against a rock. If it’s is too long to swallow all at once, a roadrunner will walk around with a length of snake still protruding from its bill, swallowing it a little at a time as the snake digests.
Based on banding records, the oldest roadrunner was at least 7 years old.
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
(600 mm, 1/2000 @ f/9.0, ISO 1000)