Beep Beep!

Okay, I have mentioned that we are overrun with road runners. They have nested near the house and you can't walk outside without tripping over them.  I haven't been able to get a &^%$*&#@ picture of them! This has been going on for two weeks.  Husband suggested I set out a pile of birdseed with a little sign embeded that says, "Free Birdseed."

Four days ago, I wandered out to the back gate looking into the pasture and the Daddy Roadrunner waltzed right up to me and went hunting for bugs.  He wasn't more than an arm's length away.  He saw me standing there and just cocked his head back and forth before going back to grabbing bugs.

I didn't have my camera.

I went back into the house to get the video and waited until he came back.  I pointed the video camera at him with the notion that I would film him as he came by. 

For the first time, ever, the video camera malfunctioned.  I couldn't even turn it off.  That bird has magical powers. 

So when I checked the birdcam (which I had positioned right in front of the where they go into the woods to their nest) I was sure I would have a ton of pictures.  I'd seen them preening and carrying on right in front of the cam and was confident I would have a ton of great shots when I checked the memory card.  But no.  For some reason, it had taken only one picture and the date/time was wrong.  I have no idea why it malfunctioned.  I had it on timelapse.  It was supposed to take two pictures every 30 seconds and had been running for two days.  One picture and then it shut down.  Voo Doo, clearly. 

So I took the memory card back out to the birdcam in the pasture, which was attached to the bird cam holder near the ground.  I had to crawl on my belly to turn it on.  My shirt crawled up and my belly still itches.  The sun was at a certain point creating a glare, so I couldn't really see very well and had to concentrate.  I had sweat in my eyes, too.  I had to reprogram the time so I flipped on my cell phone for the time and glanced up, my chin just grazing the top of the grass:

Two roadrunners were standing there staring me in the eye. 

Gulp.  The first thing that went through my mind was wondering whether they would mistake me for a bug.  When they calmly stood and looked at me, I sat up and reached for my camera, which I had FINALLY remembered to take with me.  I got quite a few closeup shots and am feeling pretty darn proud of myself.

I figure Mama (pictured above and below) would have pecked me if her mouth wasn't already full. 

Daddy Roadrunner is a lot more laid back and posed for me: 

He is pretty friendly.  He even seems to get along with the girls. 

Then, I moved the birdcam to a slightly different location and got a few more, today (click to enlarge). 

And here are a few more that I managed to get looking out my bedroom window - Daddy Roadrunner was running through the back yard:

He is as big as a chicken. 

I finally made the decision to start longarming for money and am working on a website.  That took up most of the day and I barely scratched the surface.  I'll get back to it later this week but tomorrow, I am going up to Stillwater to get a pedicure with Mimi. 

Happy Quilting, Penny, Evelyn and Pearl