Greater Roadrunner at Choke Canyon State Park (TX)

My recent blog posts were based primarily on images taken on the Bolivar Peninsula east of Galveston TX. But I did not take the most direct route from Denver to Bolivar. Instead, the route I chose took me to Corpus Christi, the Mustang Island State Park, Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Aransas NWR, Matagorda, San Bernard NWR, Freeport, Galveston Island, Galveston, and then the ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula. I spent several days in some good birding areas before I reached Bolivar. The first birding stop I made on the trip was north of Corpus Christ at the Choke Canyon State Park . The day I was there was heavily overcast, but the birds were active.
The Greater Roadrunner shown in the image below was actively searching for food in the low-hanging branches of trees and shrubs along the shoreline of Choke Canyon Reservoir.

Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
1/640 sec at f/6.3, ISO 3200
(Slightly larger versions of the images can be viewed by clicking on the image.)


Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
1/500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 3200

The Roadrunner seems to have spotted something edible in this scene, but I did not see the bird capture anything at this exact location.


Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
1/640 sec at f/6.3, ISO 3200

At this nearby site, the Roadrunner was successful.


Olympus E-M1X camera with 300mm f/4 lens and 1.4x teleconverter.
1/640 sec at f/6.3, ISO 3200

David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.