hecmmontes's video: Roadrunners on Scenic Drive in El Paso Texas by Hector Montes 12 14 19

Roadrunner report 121519. This morning I observed the female roadrunner I call Sundown basking in the sun on her windowsill perch and then about to leave for her day in the wild across the street on the mountain, but although I rushed out to take photos and video, she left quickly and I did not see in which direction she left. Yesterday, as I reported in the video clip posted, another roadrunner appeared across the street at the top of the ridge where Sundown often basks before leaving for the mountain. I followed her to the ridge, and when I began to take the video, I thought that I was recording her basking with her back exposed. Then I realized it was not her at all, but a different roadrunner, not her mate Mr. Bigtail, which I will call RR3. First, Sundown basked nearby, and then you may see in the video that at times the two were in close proximity. The cityscape view is to give those outside of El Paso an idea of the location of the setting. At one point, RR3 seems to leave an insect atop a rock for Sundown, who rushes over to inspect it, but then appears to reject. As they look so much alike, I was better able to identify each by their movements, having observed Sundown for so long. When RR3 comes directly at the camera and literally to my feet, raising her crown and displaying her eye patch, friends who have followed Sundown will agree that it does not look like her. They will also agree that it is Sundown who goes up on the wall along Scenic Drive and then crosses the street and goes up the mountain, as RR3 remains basking with her back exposed. I say her because I assume that she is a female, although I don't know for certain. I doubt that the territorial Sundown and Big would allow a strange male to be present, but perhaps it is one of their offspring, female or male, that returned to visit the Scenic Drive Roadrunner Research Center (SDRRC). As I have only been a "roadrunner expert" for less than a year, I need to do more research about typical roadrunner behavior. At the end of the video, I alternated following Sundown as she made her way up the mountain, and RR3 going downward the until I almost fell off the ridge. Roadrunner photographers take note that you can't get so involved in the shot that you forget about your safety. It was a good time to end the observation as they each soon disappeared from view.