Pair of roadrunners

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Yes, this pic only shows one roadrunner and the title says a pair. Indeed I did see a pair of Greater Roadrunners today at Brush Hollow Reservoir near Canon City, Co, but as is most often the case with birds they were not interested in posing for me. Indeed, this roadrunner was 80-100 feet away when I took this pic.

The Canon City area and southeast Colorado in general is at the upper limit for Greater Roadrunner. Though I see this species around here, they are quite uncommon, and I have only rarely seen a pair together here. Brush Hollow Reservoir is a fairly scenic area as shown in the bottom pic. It is an irrigation storage reservoir and it is very low as much of the water has been drawn down due to a fairly dry summer here.

According to Birds of North America online, "Well-established pairs stay on their territory year-round." As the two roadrunners I saw were traveling together, and both were adults, they would be an established pair.

I heard a flock of Pinyon Jays calling not far away. It is not uncommon to see or at least hear this species of concern near Brush Hollow Res as there is a lot of great pinyon-juniper habitat around it as can be seen in the pic. There were a good number of Townsend's Solitaires in the p-j, many calling (sounding like rusty hinges) and some singing (as pretty as any songbird). An Osprey also called after diving for fish in the now rather shallow lake. As is often the case, Mountain Bluebirds flew in the fields surrounding the reservoir. SeEtta

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