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Meep Meep!

A Roadrunner's Morning Catch

By Katlyn CampbellPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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May 15, 2021

Those two words and you immediately know what animal it is.

“Meep Meep!” is to a roadrunner as to what the Jaws tune, “Da-Dum” is to a shark. Like a blast from the past, this photo takes me back to my childhood watching Saturday morning cartoons of the memorable Looney Tunes characters. With the determined but never successful Wile E. Coyote, and the quick and witty Road Runner.

I have lived in southern Arizona my whole life and have seen rattlesnakes, javelinas, bobcats, tortoises, coyotes, scorpions, tarantulas, and roadrunners; but never one with its prey. Seeing a desert animal in their natural habitat, I’m always in awe of these creatures and grateful I share with them this place I call home. For some reason, something that you have seen on TV is even more exciting when you see it in person, especially something as famous as the roadrunner. Maybe it’s just the proof that it exists and now is right here in front of you.

The roadrunner is revered in the American Southwest. It is the state bird of New Mexico and has been featured in Native American folklore as a symbol of endurance and the belief it can ward off evil spirits due to their zygodactyl “X” shaped feet. As suggested by its name, roadrunners spend most of the time hunting on the ground and cannot fly, only glide short distances. I like to think of a roadrunner as a modern desert velociraptor with feathers. Its speed and stealthy hunting skills make it a feared predator, as it can run upwards of 26 mph and can kill a rattlesnake. Because of its speed, taking a picture of a roadrunner in action is no easy task, but thankfully the roadrunner paused long enough for me to take a few pictures.

Every Saturday morning, I volunteer at a therapeutic horseback riding center for children. Set among 18 acres of desert with riding trails and the desert behind, it's prime real estate for wildlife. I have seen this roadrunner a few times before as it ran past the arena. One time I saw a lizard in its mouth and that’s what gave me the idea- next week I’m bringing my camera!

The following Saturday, I brought my camera and wandered around after class trying to spot the roadrunner but no luck. I decided to leave and was backing out from my parking spot, and then I see the roadrunner run past in my side mirror… “meep meep!” I immediately parked my car, grabbed my camera, and followed it. Low and behold it had a lizard!

Breakfast anyone?

I felt like Wile E. Coyote adamantly stalking this roadrunner trying to snap a picture of it while it scurries back with its latest catch. Typically, I would only see a roadrunner whiz past as it crossed the road or spotting one while hiking. But I’ve never seen one with a lizard and I’ve never been lucky enough to have a camera in my hand- until now!

Hidden in the bushes.

I watched as the roadrunner ran under some bushes with the lizard and then I saw two! Very similar in pattern and color, this other roadrunner exhibits a smaller stature, a shorter less-elongated beak, a blue tint near the eye, and highlights of light green in its feathers. When I was taking a picture of the second roadrunner, I noticed a lizard tail hanging from its beak. So, I’m guessing mom went hunting for her chick!

I spy a lizard tail!

The young roadrunner chick.

I was able to keep a safe distance of about 20 feet without disturbing the mother or its chick and stayed kneeling on the ground. My camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40, has a 30x optical zoom so I could zoom in focusing mostly on the beak and lizard. So much so, that you can see the lizard’s tiny claws, mouth, and pattern on its body and tail.

Because of the shade and the roadrunner’s ability to camouflage with the dirt and shrubs I had to adjust the color and lighting. I transferred the photos to my phone using the Panasonic Image App and then edited the photo using my iPhone 8, as I find it easy to adjust the brightness, shadows, exposure, etc. The settings below are for the main photo:

Settings:

  • Exposure: 8
  • Brilliance: 32
  • Highlights: 0
  • Shadows: 86
  • Contrast: -17
  • Brightness: -3
  • Black point: 25

When I edited the photo, I wanted the focal point to be the roadrunner, rather than the background so I limited the shadows and fixed the lighting. I never paid much attention to roadrunners before, but when I saw the photos, I was able to appreciate the intricacies and details of this desert bird. I take note of its speckled feathers with flecks of copper down its chest, the red spot to the left of the eye, its spiked mohawk hairdo, the crescent of its eye that looks like a moon at night, and the lifeless lizard that has now become a mid-morning snack.

Fun fact: Roadrunners like to sunbathe.

The company, Your True Nature, has a collection called "Advice From...", which you most likely have seen in the gift shop of a national park. They create advice from the point of view of things found in nature and I wanted to share their poster called “Advice from a Road Runner":

So, next time life gets you down think like a roadrunner, dust yourself off, full speed ahead, and don't forget to take a few pictures along the way!

photography
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About the Creator

Katlyn Campbell

Traveler. Teacher. Poet. Writer. Photographer.

Inspired by the places I've called home 🇺🇸🇮🇪🇰🇷🇬🇧🇮🇹🇫🇷

IG: @katlyn.campbell

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