This is the most rewarding photo I've taken while sitting on my recumbent trike. During a ride in the Rancho El Dorado neighborhood of Maricopa I happened to see a weird-looking bird in a driveway across the street. At first I thought it was a roadrunner but doubted it because of the neighborhood environment. From the driveway it proceeded through a gravel yard and into the next driveway. During this time I took several pictures with my iPhone 5; this is the one that showed the bird best. I was about 45 feet (14 m) away from the bird. This is a tiny portion of the original iPhone image.
Later research with an Audubon book led me to conclude that the bird was a greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). This was only the second time I had seen a roadrunner, the first being at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.
Another interesting thing is that I took this picture only 19 minutes after photographing a burrowing owl.
Really interesting Dave. Although a large percentage of the worlds population know about Road Runners because of the cartoons that show it. Very few seem to have seen one. I would have guessed that you had seen lots of them.
