Roadrunner on the Beach ~ Dog Pug

I'm always on the lookout to get shots of my favorites - and the Roadrunner is at the top of my list. I know they are here at Elephant Butte state Park in New Mexico and have gotten some good shots of Roadrunners in the past right around this spot.

Yesterday I put Katie in her stroller and we did our afternoon 1.2 mile walk up the road and back again. As we returned to camp, I saw our Roadrunner running across the road and the sand on it's way to the beach and water below. I got a quick shot.

Then I put away the stroller, put Katie on her leash and we walked up to the top of Dillard's Circle where I had a full view of the hillside down to the lake. And there was our Roadrunner. Just standing there with a lizard in his mouth.

I'd gotten a quick, blurred photo of him before, heading back the other way, getting ready to cross the street, and he had a lizard in his mouth then, too. But it was a bad photo, not blog-worthy, darn!

But yesterday I had all kinds of time to get a good, clear shot of him on the beach with dinner in his mouth. He was a little distance away, so I had to zoom in quite a bit, but I got him! And here he is:

Here's the first photo, when he was zooming along on his way to the top of the hill - before he went down to the beach:

And there he was. Look at those eyes, looking down at his lizard:

And homeward he went. I wonder if he has babies in a nest. I thought he would eat the lizard, but he just held it in his beak. So maybe he's bringing it home to feed other little Roadrunners.