Roadrunner Nest & Egg |
Finally, my luck turned! I found a rare roadrunner nest with an egg in it!!! Unbelievable, who would ever have thought?!?! I carefully hid a few feet away and watched for mama roadrunner to come back. Ten minutes passed…no mama. Twenty minutes passed…no mama. Forty minutes…no mama. Finally, I reluctantly walked away and I as I got about 20 feet away I swear I heard a faint “beep beep”.
You realize of
course, that I’m not the only one taken by these birds. Of course, they were immortalized in the
Looney Toons Cartoons. Everyone remembers
those heart-tugging lyrics of the theme song,
If you're on the highway and Road Runner goes beep beep.
Just step aside or might end up in a heap.
Road Runner, Road Runner runs on the road all day.
Even the coyote can't make him change his ways.
Road Runner, the coyote's after you.
Road Runner, if he catches you you're through.
Road Runner, the coyote's after you.
Road Runner, if he catches you you're through.
That coyote is really a crazy clown,
When will he learn he can never mow him down?
Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone,
Just runnin' down the road's his idea of having fun!
Just step aside or might end up in a heap.
Road Runner, Road Runner runs on the road all day.
Even the coyote can't make him change his ways.
Road Runner, the coyote's after you.
Road Runner, if he catches you you're through.
Road Runner, the coyote's after you.
Road Runner, if he catches you you're through.
That coyote is really a crazy clown,
When will he learn he can never mow him down?
Poor little Road Runner never bothers anyone,
Just runnin' down the road's his idea of having fun!
Here's a link in case you've forgotten: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYQsZuh2CM
But did you realize that Neil Diamond’s song “Solitary Man” war originally
titled “Solitary Bird” because of his deep affection for the roadrunner? He too, grew up with Looney Tunes and was
forever mesmerized by the beep beep of the roadrunner. Speaking of “beep beep”, Donna Summer’s
lyrics of “Toot toot, hey, beep beep!”
forever immortalized the life of street roadrunners gone bad. Yes, I
am not alone in my love of these creatures.
Ancient Indians also reverved the roadrunner. Witness to that is their ancient petrogylphs etched in sheets of corten steel. You can see these scatter throughout the resort and each one takes your breath away and you think of the effort the Cahwilla put into these masterpieces of art.
Pinterest Breakfast! |
Ancient Petroglyph |
But, it’s not to be…no roadrunners today.
I trudge back to the villa and better times ensue! We cook breakfast, scrambled egg pinwheel via
April’s Pinterest posted recipe and we’re ready for the day!
We head out to hike in 1000 Palms Canyon, an oasis on the San Andreas Fault. We get our briefing at the visitor center. A coyote, a bobcat, a great horned owl, and Gambel’s quail have been sited. Even a zebra lizard or two is on the list. We’re pumped! (Note: Did you know that today is a big solar flare day? That's what's happened to Mona's hair...it's solar flare hair!)
Wiki quail photo |
No rattlesnake this time. Whew! |
Desert turtle home |
Back to the villa. Decided to drive
around the resort a bit before heading in.
What’s that?!?!?! Right
there!!!??? It might be, it could be, IT
IS!!! A roadrunner!!! We stop the car and start taking pics. Here, use this camera…now, use this
camera. Get closer! Don’t spook him! Mr. Roadrunner took it all in stride. He’s been hounded by the paparazzi before and
he maintains his grace and stride. He
knows the poses we want and he struts in style.
Our visit to Palm Desert is now complete.
Zipper is still on duty! |
Wow, can the day get any better?
Yes, it can! I (Marvin) saw a
Vermont plate. We’re down to four states
still outstanding: New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Since last status update we’ve also seen Baja
California and Saskatchewan . Monte saw Nova Scotia, but we can’t add it to
the “spotted list” since neither of us saw it.
The game goes on!
Jupiter and Venus will be only 3 degrees apart on Monday. Great photo op out in the desert...
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