A Greater Setback

I suppose you could say it is a fitting time for getting things “wrapped” up. All the excitement of seeing the festive colored boxes with their pretty bows bringing joy to kids and adults. The catalyst for this heartwarming affair, a jolly big-waisted fellow that shimmies down the chimney (or alternative burglary entry point into your homestead). Unfortunately, my coal colored gift this holiday year reflects some bad actions earlier in the year. To be exact, October 12th, one of those days that now takes its rightful place among my other noteworthy “mishaps”. The ankle specialist wasn’t wearing festive clothes yesterday, but he did take the time to wrap my gift in a shiny shade of black coal…ho, ho, ho, you are the proud recipient of a non-displaced double fracture! Grinch said WHAT!?!?! Now, in my joint’s defense I need to apologize for all the hurtful comments hurled at it since race-day. It was not faking it for sympathy, a stunt that it has pulled many times in the past – nope, it was damaged and now I am the proud receiver of a black boot that will loudly proclaim I’m damaged goods to anyone we come upon during the next 6 weeks. No running, of course, no long birding hikes (we’ll see) and beach time is likely right out. My Texas trip just took a mighty blow thanks in large part to the first orthopedic surgeon I went to in early November telling me it was nothing, take two aspirin and find your own way out of the office. Lost 4 weeks of recovery time and I’ve been doing chiro visits and physical therapy that was likely making it worse – shocked that it didn’t displace as a result of all the yanking and twisting. While I try to move on to the acceptance phase, decided it was an appropriate time to feature the totem animal for all runners.

Greater Roadrunner found at Saguaro National Park West, Tucson, AZ in January 2024

Hit the jump for some looks at a bird that probably has more running shoes in its closet than I do..and that is saying a LOT.

I’ve always said the Greater Roadrunner is misnamed. Not the “runner” portion and I can even live with the “greater” aspect even though there is no comparative species in the States. The troubling part is the road aspect. Based on my experiences Wile E.’s nemesis prefers to run on dusty desert stretches more akin to us ultra-trail runners (I can still put myself in that category even though I’m temporarily hobbled right?).

Greater Roadrunner found at Saguaro National Park West, Tucson, AZ in January 2024

Fit, trim, fast, efficient, flashes of color and well, can be a bit goofy at the right angle – yeah, it’s one of us for sure or rather, we are part of their flock ha!

Greater Roadrunner found at Saguaro National Park West, Tucson, AZ in January 2024

The Greater Roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico, although I have seen it far more often in Arizona, Texas and Nevada. Each of those states have gone a different direction opting for the Cactus Wren, the Northern Mockingbird and out of the blue, the Mountain Bluebird respectively. The Roadrunner in these first shots was taken last January in Saguaro National Park outside Tucson, Arizona (link here). Hmmmm, I should probably clarify that for the locals – make that Saguaro National Park WEST (link here). As you can see from the provided link, Saguaro NP is split into two with Tucson nestled in between. The Rincon Mountain District sits to the east where the place we visited, The Tucson Mountain District (TMD), sits to the northwest of the second largest city in Arizona.

Greater Roadrunner found at Saguaro National Park West, Tucson, AZ in January 2024

Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of time to explore TMD when we were there with Ron earlier in the year. It was January, so we did not have to deal with the heat, quite the opposite, we were being chased by a snow storm as we traveled across the state. With the hours available, we did manage to walk the trails around the Red Hills Visitor Center and then went most of the way up the King Canyon Trailhead. Red Hills was a nice easy walk, King Canyon took some heavy breaths and would not recommend if you are not in some decent level of shape. It is at the visitor center we spotted this Roadrunner “Humaning” us as we traversed the trail – it had a tiny pair of binoculars it would pull out from under its feathers from time to time before excitedly jotting something down in a tiny book.

Roadrunners are perfectly colored to blend into the desert environment. The matching shade of browns/tans, the black in their tails and crown to break up the profile and broken white lines to blend in with the sand and rocky floor. There is an easy tell if you happen to get a glimpse of the side of their head. There is a bare spot of skin showing behind their eye with a blue and red hue that varies in intensity as it transitions in and out of breeding season.

These next shots come from a specimen found on our visit to the Clark County Wetlands Park in Las Vegas, NV (link here).

Greater Roadrunner found at Clark County Wetlands, Las Vegas, NV in January 2024

Having grown annoyed by the snow on our tails we pulled anchor and made our way to Las Vegas – we can stay at home if we want to enjoy that cold, fluffy white stuff ha.

I’ve mentioned before, our go-to place to bird in the Vegas area is Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (link here). Take note, that place closes at 2:00pm, so we always make our way to the nearby Clark County Wetlands Park to finish off the day.

Greater Roadrunner found at Clark County Wetlands, Las Vegas, NV in January 2024

This particular specimen was acting more like a typical Roadrunner and wasn’t letting me get too close – either that or it was mocking me with how fast they can run compared to me – harsh! Curious, did some research – they top out at 20mph and that is across varied terrain. If I try to go half that speed on our local trails I take a Pig-Pen envying dirt bath. It did finally give me good look at the colorful patches behind the eye.

Greater Roadrunner found at Clark County Wetlands, Las Vegas, NV in January 2024

Out of shots for this series – let’s see if there are any tidbits from Cornell worth passing on. In addition to being permanently inked on my own leg, the Roadrunner is revered within Native American and Mexican heritage in recognition of “their strength, speed and endurance” – all traits highly regarded in the trail running community. Linda will be elated to hear this one – in addition to Lizard toes and Scorpion fingers, they also enjoy Rattlesnake legs (assuredly taste like Chicken). I actually laughed at Cornell’s description here thinking Linda had a hand in it. “As one [Roadrunner] distracts the Snake by jumping and flapping, [another Roadrunner] sneaks up and pins its head, then bashes the Snake against a rock.” I have visions of it holding that Snake by the rattler and just windmilling the head into a nearby boulder until its legs fall off. Best of all, if the Roadrunner can’t swallow the victim whole, it will walk around with the tail sticking out of its bill until it can. Did you just hear that thump!?! That was Linda fainting. Better wrap this up and get her back on her feet.

Take care everyone, and hopefully your holiday season will be free of injury.

47 thoughts on “A Greater Setback”

  1. We have a lot of roadrunners in NM. You need to come here more often. I’ve seen them grab robins, whack them on the ground several times, and then swallow them. They are always looking us up and down to see if they can take us down and whack us on the ground a few times. The way they look at us reminds me of the Farside comic where the spiders have a web at the bottom of a slide, and one spider says something like, “If this works, the eating will be good!” Wonderful photos of the post-velociraptors with punk featherdos.

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    1. All I can say is I didn’t see one the entire time was in NM last January. Is this a myth like Snipe hunting in the Boy Scouts? What is it with these Runners smacking everything against rocks – ruthless. I remember that Farside – a classic, definitely miss those cartoons. Almost as good as Calvin and Hobbes. Hey, maybe we could get them to rename the Roadrunner to Sid Vicouses.

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  2. I love the Road Runner, your photos are beautiful! (envy). I have that Cornell app too but don’t use it, oops. I came upon one several months ago on my bike ride, photos of it are on my site but they aren’t as good as yours. iPhone. So, you are a Vegas Local? (nosy). 😂🤭

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    1. Thank you John! Highly recommend that Cornell app (Merlin). Not always accurate, but it hears a lot more than I can detect with my aging ears. At least if I know it might be in the area I can start looking closer for it. I always say, the best camera is the one you have on you at the time! I am technically not a Vegas local, but Linda and I have spent a lot of time in that area and it feels like a second home whenever we get the chance to spend time there. In fact, at one point we had plans to move there for our retired years.

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      1. Oh, okay, it’s great here sans the traffic… I use the iPhone 15 on my bike rides, the only camera I have that can slide into a large enough pocket is the Nikon Z30 with the little 26mm lens.

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        1. Yeah, we can definitely do without the traffic out there, but most of the time we are out in the refuges and other wildlife areas so it isn’t as bad as say the areas around the strip. Lately we just completely ignore downtown and the strip in favor of the Red Rocks Canyon, Spring Mountain and our favorite Desert NWR and of course the Henderson hotspots. Nothing wrong with the iPhone, those convenient cameras have come a long way.

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          1. Yes they have, the 15 has the best camera I’ve seen yet. Not interested in the 16. That is what I tell people who may visit Las Vegas, don’t spend all of your time on that strip, there is so much more here. The Valley of Fire is wonderful too!

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            1. Agreed, Valley of Fire is my wife’s favorite place – I always have problems finding birds there, but I do like the scenery! Been spending a lot of time at Spring Mountain lately, they have been getting some good local birds and a few rarities there like the Acorn Woodpecker. Steep entry fee though, so we have to make sure there is something worth going after before we head in.

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            2. That’s wonderful, I hope you find a new bird! Grakles, Hummingbirds and Robins are seen in my backyard and elsewhere in town along with the problem bird – the Rock Pigeon. The scenery in the VOF is fantastic!

              I saw a Ladder Back Woodpecker on my Hummer feeders twice last summer. I sent my photo of the bird to my sister in Michigan who is a life long birder. She knew what it is! I love watching and hearing my hummers in the backyard but I can’t identify which type they are yet.

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            3. I did manage to get a lifer today on Bolivar Peninsula which was definitely an exciting event – fingers crossed we can find that rarity tomorrow morning. Love those Ladderbacks – remind me of our Downy Woodpeckers back home – their squeaky call always makes me smile. When it comes to Hummers, we are pretty limited in IL – we have a grand total of ONE species. You at least get to enjoy the Ana’s, Costa’s and Black-Chinned out there in NV – they can be tough to identify when they are not showing off their pretty gorgets! In the spring we are going to head back to Arizona and hopefully get some tins full of their incredible Hummer varieties out there.

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            5. Thanks John! I would never dissuade someone from getting big glass and 600m is quite respectable ha. My beast only goes to 200-400m and with tele on can stretch that to nearly 600 – although it isn’t a 600, it is and end to end f4 which means I can shoot an just about any light condition … at the cost of weight from all the internal glass. As far as the price tag goes…we find it best not to talk about that hehehe. You can always bring the feeders closer.

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            6. Yes! Or, walk nearer to them. Some landscapes outside of the city could be better photographed with more glass. Or, more Gain as ham radio folks say regarding larger antennas. I have been dumping and refreshing the two birdbaths in the early morning and turned to see a hummer on the nearest feeder, my 200 would have been perfect but it was in the house. blah! 🤣

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            7. I can completely relate – seems like the best birding opportunities always come when I don’t have my camera with me – such is life hahaha.

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    1. Thank you Marc! I can assure you these Roadrunners are quite real. Now, the cartoon variety took some creative liberties – a little less blue and a lot more brown and a lot shorter – but they got the meep meep right hahaha. Appreciate you dropping in and have a wonderful holiday season.

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  5. Meep, meep. Oh dear B, does this mean the holiday is off! At least one foot will be warm as you hit sub-zero. Seriously, that’s a bad break. Sorry, sorry no more badly timed puns.
    Lovely Roadrunner (Plymouth did a nice model as well). The joy of Saturday morning watching this little fella out wit Mr Coyote. The actual real life thing is quite the looker would like to see one tackle a snake, maybe some Acme patented snake food would distract one then whack it with the Acme anvil?

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    1. Fortunately, we did not have to cancel the trip south – there was talk of surgery with a plate and screws which would have put a serious dent in the plans, but they decided to start with immobilizing it with a boot first and seeing if the bone will heal on its own. I sure wish the first surgeon I saw would have properly diagnosed the injury so I would be a lot further along in the healing process than I am now – not to mention not done some of the things I did which assuredly didn’t help and possibly made it even worse (a chiro yanking on the foot to free it up fits the latter). You will be happy (and maybe surprised) that Linda’s favorite car is the Roadrunner – she grew up on the dirt track racing circuit. I remember fondly those days of watching the cartoon show – imagine my surprise when I discovered my first real life one and it wasn’t the size of an Ostrich!! I can assure you… if there is a way for the Roadrunner to get the chance to whack something on a rock…it would absolutely do it – those punky birds are ruthless whackers! Appreciate you checking – we are finally below the freezeline heading to the beach.

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  6. I think we saw that one earllier this year. Great capture of the color behind its eye. I’m still waiting for the “meep meep” and a tiny cloud of dust. Or an Acme ankle brace sitting nearby.

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    1. Thank you Belinda. This boot is going to be a pain for the entirety of our Texas trip, but fingers crossed it will ultimately prevent the need for surgery. The birds are gonna be laughing at me hobbling around ha! Appreciate you coming by and have a great Christmas week.

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    1. Strange indeed – not very happy with that situation, mainly due to lost time for recovery and likely did some things that made it worse thinking it was just a bad sprain. They are not technically stress fractures as there was a an “event” (turned my ankle literally 90 degress on a hidden rock) 2 miles into the run that caused it versus just the physical breakdown from the rest of the 48 miles. The good news is the two fractures didn’t dislocate (miracle) so it is hopefully just a matter of immobilizing the bones to give them a chance two heal. Appreciate you dropping in Maggie, have a great Christmas week!

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  9. Well, horsefeathers! Can’t believe the first “expert” didn’t find that break, but so glad the second one did. Sounds awful, but I’m hoping your constant grinding kept the break fresh so that it will heal completely, nice and strong. Take your vacation slow and relaxed, and enjoy the heck out of it, if only to make the point that you cannot be stopped!

    Great photos, the texture of the feathers really came through, and their crests and eyes are so expressive! Looking forward to more!

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    1. Major suckage for sure. I am grateful that the second surgeon was able to locate issue – I kept telling Linda this injury felt significantly different than any of my hundreds of other sprained ankles in both constant pain and swelling that hadn’t diminished much over the 2 months since the incident. Apparently I was pretty lucky it all stayed together or there would be no question about surgery – still a possibility if the immobilization with the boot doesn’t work. I am trying to keep myself under check and Linda is being her wonderful self letting me have it when I stray. We’ll see how long I can weather this once I get the rest of the way to Texas – Brad and Jan are also keeping a stern eye on my activities so added incentive to be a good boy (they know me too well and Jan is a runner so knows how my mind works hehehe). Can’t wait to see what rarities we can find in Texas. Take care and have a merry Christmas week!

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  11. I had some hearty LOL moments here, Brian. This sentence is hilarious, at least to a fellow birder: “…we spotted this Roadrunner “Humaning” us as we traversed the trail – it had a tiny pair of binoculars it would pull out from under its feathers from time to time before excitedly jotting something down in a tiny book.” And the “thump” at the end in talking about the rattlesnake skills. Excellent roadrunner photos and narrative. I’m sorry to hear about your ankle injury, but it’s good you got things resolved and are on the mend. In my experience, healing and birding with a tough ankle injury can be best enjoyed with a good feeder or two. Take care, my friend.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post Jet – I have my moments ha. I was expecting more comments related to the fact that Snakes do not really have legs, but I thought the concept of Humaning would appeal to my birding readers hahaha. The ankle situation is definitely a depressing setback both for the immediate vacation and the more pressing loss of training runway for next year’s ultra circuit, the latter being in definite jeopardy if this boot option doesn’t work. Linda did promise me she will find me a good place to sit and then have all the great Texas birds parade past me – she better not be lying to me to keep me in check!!! As always Jet, really appreciate you dropping in and have a wonderful holiday week.

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  12. I liked the over-the-shoulder pose in your fourth photo, Brian. Meep, meep! I hope Linda has recovered from her fainting spell. Now I can’t the image of a roadrunner with a snake hanging out its beak out of my mind…

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    1. That was my favorite shot as well, giving me that – “and don’t even think about following me” look ha. Linda has come to, but I can tell you, if she does come across a tail sticking out of a Roadrunner’s beak, it is going to take multiple medical vehicles and a trunk full of smelling salts! Appreciate you dropping in SoyBend, take care and have a wonderful holiday week.

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    1. Thank you Tanja, always glad to share a good Runner shot ha. As you can tell, not real happy about this whole injury thing. I work hard to keep the body fit and these last two years with the elbow injury and now this is quite depressing. So far Linda is cracking the whip on me about keeping the boot on, but at this point I’d rather undergo medieval torture if it would cut the healing time! Thanks for the encouragement Tanja, take care and don’t go too crazy on New Year’s Eve.

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        1. Thank you Tanja, Brad can attest, patience is NOT one of my strong suits. Linda has taken to reminding me to “Make good choices” whenever I head out to bird now (she also knows me well ha). Think we will be taking it easy on the eve – maybe just some drinks and a run…err..walk..err hobble on the beach while watching the fireworks over the Gulf to bring in the new year.

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  14. Hi, Brian, I hate to hear about your ankle. I know you must be just pining to get back on a trail! As for roadrunners, they are one of my absolute favorite birds. I had no idea they were so devious and violent, though! Wow! Take good care, B!☀️

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