Tuesday, October 13, 2009 6:23:55 AM

 

Beep-Beep! A roadrunner sighting...

 

This past weekend at an Open House I spotted this Roadrunner! 

 

 

I have only seen one before this and that was on the road (appropriately enough), not at all this close.  Surprisingly the Arizona Roadrunner is not that common or very shy.   

 

I happened to spot him from inside the house, this particular home has a really cool enclosed front patio, so a roadrunner bird really stood out.  When I stepped outside to get a better look and hopefully a picture with my camera/phone, I spooked the little guy and he jumped up on the wall and went over to the neighbor's front yard.  Since so far that day the roadrunner was my only visitor to the Open House I followed him with my camera/phone and was able to snap this picture, though he did not like it as his little crown raised up as you see in the picture. 

 

I am also including the picture of the bird when it jumped on the wall, though it is not very clear it may give you a sense of the actual size of the roadrunner, as the are larger than most birds you see around here.  It is hard to tell from the picture but this guy is close to a foot tall, more if you include his tail.  For more information about roadrunners check out this cool little video from the Arizona fish and game website.