Burrowing Owl, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
One more evening in El Paso. One last chance to find a roadrunner. There were parts of Rio Bosque that I had not seen in two earlier trips, so there I went. Not another soul in sight. Except for roadside burrowing owls.
Burrowing Owl, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
And utility pole-top burrowing owls.
Burrowing Owl, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
I drove all the way down to the property's nature center, which features a short, well-maintained accessible trail and lusher vegetation than the other end of the park.
Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso TX
On the way down, egrets and a great blue heron in the canal.
Great Blue Heron, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
I walked the trail, watching Gambel's quails and their babies scatter ahead of me. Again and again. Tiny projectiles. And then I stopped short, as I saw something in the distance. Could it be? White-tailed kite.
White-tailed Kite, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
I knew they were nesting at Rio Bosque--it was one of the reasons I had wanted to come in the first place. Isn't that an amazing roosting profile? They saw me, as hawks will, from far away, so I didn't want to approach too closely for fear of losing them all together.
White-tailed Kite, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
Now that's a ghostly-looking bird. (Click on images to see a closer view).
The sun was beginning to set. Time to go home. Would I get to see the roadrunner? Would I set this artificial suspense narrative up if I hadn't?
There it was, on a roadside stump, preening itself. I watched for a while. I would end up seeing, on my drive out of the park, several more--one raced in front of the car (luckily I was moving pretty slowly).
Greater Roadrunner, Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, El Paso, TX
When I got home and proudly displayed my roadrunner photo to Lily (the original source of the roadrunner-coyote quest), she was pleased but mildy dissatisfied. "I was hoping you'd get a photo of a roadrunner drinking from a cactus," she explained.
I've embedded a video version of this excursion below that includes several nice moments, including a super close up of an irritated burrowing owl, a grainy but viewable shot of a Gambel's quail family, and the preening roadrunner (interspersed, Disney Nature style, with shots of the earlier coyote).
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