Today we went into Fountain Hills to explore the town.
What a beautiful town.
They have this enormous fountain that shoots 330' into the air
every hour on the hour.
On certain days they run all three pumps (rather than just two) and
the fountain shoots almost 600' into the air.
The fountain was built in 1970 by Robert McCulloch - of McCulloch
chainsaw fame. Mr McCulloch was also the man who purchased and rebuilt
the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Az putting that town on the map.
Around the fountain is a man made lake that uses reclaimed water to
operate the pump and water the expansive park area that surrounds the lake.
The park has shops, restaurants, and galleries at one end and includes a walking
path around the perimeter as well as an 18 hole disc golf course.
Making several circumnavigations of the park with the Doodles today
gave us an opportunity to meet quite a few of the locals.
We even visited 2 open houses doing some recon for work.
Of course I thought that I had forgot the cameras... did not have the phone..
so we were unable to get any photos.
Until.....
Towards the end of our day we were driving thru a neighborhood in town
and all of a sudden a flock of Roadrunners...
That's right I said Roadrunners.. ran in front of the truck taunting me.
The did their little Roadrunner chirps and seemed like they were daring me to
try and take a picture. As we lamented the lack of a camera we realize that we had
the little point and shoot so I immediately got to work.
Of course as soon as I pulled out the camera they made for the bush.
The result...
So now I've got Roadrunner back on the menu along with Snowbird.
Regarding my last post with the Sunrise pictures...
We've had several people tell us which is their favorite.
Let us know which is yours...
Cast your vote.
We have almost 80 people following this blog but only hear regularly
from less than a dozen...
Cast your vote. Let us know you are still out there.
I'll post the results in a later post.
Roadrunners are like dolphins. They surprise you and then they are gone good job on getting two photos.
ReplyDeleteHayden
The roadrunners again :) Are they moving slower during the winter? You got a picture your first try. Kim
ReplyDeleteHa... Good one Kim. they are moving faster.
ReplyDeleteI just thought that I was being a more crafty Coyote.
Oh all right, if I have to choose I'd say the 5th shot of the desert sunrise- but a hard choice!- beep beep
ReplyDeleteGuess I will be follower 81! I came across your blog while reading the MOC forum. I am looking forward to your upcoming posts from Quartzsite. I have really enjoyed the photographs you have included with your blog entries, especially the recent spectacular sunset and sunrise pictures.
ReplyDeleteHate to be a kill joy here, but the bird in the two pictures are Gambel's Quail found here in the southwest desert. Actually, both are males. They are easier to spot than the elusive Road Runner, but can be as difficult to photograph since they do not hold still for very long. I suspect you will agree to that! Keep on looking, since both the Gambel's Quail and the Roadrunner also reside in the surroundings of Quartzsite.
Bruce H.
Welcome Bruce and thanks for the comments.... You caught me... :-)
ReplyDeleteI actually figured out that they were Gambrel's Quails a day or two later when I was goggling info on Southwest Desert Birds.
I got a picture of a road runner last June and I started to think that those Quail did not look like the bird that I KNEW was a Roadrunner. My research confirmed that.
I was actually going to do a post at some point and confess that I screwed up. We're now at Quartzsite and should be doing a post tonight. Feel free to sign up for automatic delivery via email or RSS feed so that you get informed when we post and welcome aboard.