His eye streak looks like a gas tank gauge

Is it half full or half empty?  With a vivid red streak near his eye, he caught a lizard in my garden.  He shook it in his beak until it fell to pieces.  He ate the lizard in about five bites.  Roadrunners live in mated pairs in a territory year round.   I see this guy all the time combing the area for food.  I love his feathers, so aero dynamic.  They can run up to 15 mph, usually chasing food. 

Yesterday he was running around the property and he ran up near the outside of the chicken coop.  He stopped and was looking inside.  All of the chickens were inside the coop but quickly ran outdoors to check him out.  They stood on one side of the fence looking him over and he stood on the other side looking at them.  They are about the same height.  After about one minute of gazing at each other, he resumed his roaming.   I thought it was kind of funny. 

coachwhip

It looked like a sun faded red hose on the side of the path.  As I approached it slithered off into the brush.  It really was a pretty snake. 

Don't look in that hole!

tarantula hawk catches dinner

I think I found a tarantula hawk's nest near the base of this cyprus tree. She drug her dinner under the brush.  A few minutes later she emerged and then flew off and landed on some nearby flowers and checked them for pollen.  Take a look at the fangs on the tarantula.  

They boast "a million roses" at any one time

Smells so good, the scent of roses in the air.  

Mt Baldy is in the background. 

This was taken just after sunrise at the nursery this morning.

His favorite spot

Made in the shade

They stretch out and lay around like they're at a resort in Palm Springs.

Black Phoebe's Nest

They moved in on the bracket holding the DirecTV dish. 

We had to move the nest.

Whoops!

Phainopeplas in the hood

Last week I noticed a new bird.  I ID'd him as a Phainopeplas - aka the "silky flycatcher".  He was parked in a pine tree and watched me by tilting his head like a parrot.  Occassionally I'd see him swoop out to catch a bug and then return to his perch in the tree.  A day or two later I noticed a female was with him.  The female is grey with the same red eyes. 

This is what I found when I read up on them.  They are from the Baja peninsula where they have an early spring breeding then they fly to a more mild climate (like Gavilan Hills for instance) for a second breeding season.  They stay for about a month.  Two weeks is spent by the couple keeping the eggs in their nest warm (yes, I spotted their nest at the top of the pine tree) and the next 19 days are spent raising the young.  Then they eventually migrate back to the Baja peninsula. 

They mainly eat bugs and berries but unlike other birds, they have a second stomach that digests the "shell" of the berries, while the inside of the berry goes to the first stomach.  Also, while this bird is known for being kind of quiet, it can imitate some other bird calls including the red-tail hawk's call. 

Summertime

beneath the canopy of a huge yellow flowering tree