Lamb-Like First Day Of March Hiking With Wichita Bluff Nature Area Roadrunner

On this first day of the third month of 2025, it was to the Wichita Bluff Nature Area I ventured to join the throngs enjoying March not roaring in like a lion, but instead bellowing in like a windy lamb, under a blue sky, with the temperature feeling balmy, in the 70s, as measured by the Fahrenheit method.

I suspect the reason there were so many nature lovers out loving nature is the fact that last weekend, and the weekend before that, the outer world was rather cold, at times feeling as if the temperature was below zero.

It was not just humans (and their dogs) I saw enjoying the enjoyable weather conditions.

I had barely entered the Wichita Bluff Nature Area zone when I saw a bird I have seen a time or two, whilst hiking the bluffs.

A roadrunner.

My previous encounters with roadrunners have had the bird acting like I was a coyote, taking off at high speed to get away from me, thus rendering photo documentation impossible.

But, today's roadrunner seemed fearless, and almost vain, the way it was so cooperative posing for photos, of which I took around a dozen, choosing the one you see above as the best.

What with Spring-like pleasant weather having arrived, methinks I shall amp up my outdoor activity level, attempting to get in good enough shape to enjoy being more adventurous...

Return Of The Headache Free Shadow Of The Wichita Bluff Thin Man

An almost cloud free sky made for a well lit shadow of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Thin Man today.

I had camera, well, phone, in hand, having removed it from its storage location on my cargo shorts, hoping to be able to get a photo of the roadrunner which had run across the Circle Trail about 50 feet ahead of me.

But, the illusive bird was not seen again once I had the phone ready to take a picture.

So, when I saw my shadow looking so dark I switched from looking for the roadrunner, to taking a picture of the Shadow of the Thin Man.

I look as if I have lost an arm. 

I think the winds which have been blowing strong from the west have blown away the allergens which were causing me to be in constant sinus headache mode.

Being in constant sinus headache mode is extremely tiresome. Even after taking a medication which lessened the severity of the misery, there was still a constant dull ache.

That is now gone.

Today I hiked as far as the highest point in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area before turning around.

At the highest point on the Wichita Bluffs there is a covered picnic pavilion with two picnic tables. 

In the view above we are looking east at the Wichita River and the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Wichita Falls in the distance.

There were a lot of people enjoying the Nature Area today, having fun with the strong gusts which seemed to make it a challenge at times to remain vertical. 

I had planned on going on an early evening bike ride today, what with pleasant temperatures and extra daylight, but the sky has clouded up in the last hour, and possible thunderstorms are now on the weather menu.

Shadow Of Shivering Thin Man Above Wichita Bluff Hoodoo

That is a shivering selfie you see here, with my extra grumpy it's cold face on.

The real temperature may have been above freezing, but the gale force wind, delivered in gusts, made it feel like a severe Arctic Blast had blown into town.

Even so, I had myself a mighty fine time communing with nature in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area.

It has been awhile since I have seen the Wichita Bluff Nature Area Roadrunner. 

The Wily Coyote nemesis's usual hangout is in the area around the covered picnic pavilion one comes to at the highest point on the Bluffs.

I have never seen a Coyote whilst hiking on the Wichita Bluffs. But, where there is a Roadrunner there has to be a Coyote. This is a well known scientific fact.

Maybe I should bring some bird food with me next time I hike the Wichita Bluffs.

I brought goose food with me last time I walked around Sikes Lake. This created a frenzied furor. Most geese are well behaved most of the time. But something about the herd mentality, well, flock mentality, can get them acting a bit crazed when food is involved.

The feeding frenzy starts off semi-polite, then competing flocks join in.

And ducks.

The geese do not seem to like the ducks.

And then seagulls, which usually keep to themselves atop the coffer dam which crosses the lake, join the fray in nosedive mode. The diving gulls are not too intimidating.

But then this goose flock of four. A different breed. Bigger and light colored. And very aggressive, march in like the law arriving, honking and squawking. 

And hissing. 

I threw some bird food at the invading Gang of Four. But, they were not interested in that. The leader of the Gang came right at me, determined to take the box of bird food away from me. Defensive measures on my part did not work. The goose kept coming at me. So, I threw what remained of the bird food towards the better behaved birds, and quickly made my exit.

I seem to have digressed a bit from the Wichita Bluffs. Let us get back to there.

 Above we see the long Shadow of the Wichita Bluff Thin Man, hovering over the only Hoodoo construction currently constructed in the Wichita Bluff Nature Area designated Hoodoo area.

It ain't easy to operate a phone camera whilst wearing gloves. But, I managed, eventually.

I do not know when we are scheduled to warm up at my location. I can not remember when last I felt like riding my bike.

Speaking of riding my bike. Last night sister Michele texted me the phone numbers of the Tacoma Trio, David, Theo and Ruby. I did not know if these phones were text message enabled. I am assuming the Tacoma Trio got phones so as to alleviate some of the social isolation they are experiencing due to being cut off from going to school. 

So, this afternoon I text messaged each number, not knowing if the message was gonna go anywhere. A few minutes passed and the phone made its incoming message noise. It was from Theo. Made my day. 

And the speaking of bikes part relates to my hope that next summer I will be in Tacoma, with my bike, and Theo and I (and maybe David and Ruby) will go mountain bike riding in this cool Tacoma park with miles of mountain bike trails, which Theo and his siblings took me to last time I was in Tacoma...

Running With The Elusive Tandy Hills Roadrunners

In in the picture we are looking north on, I think, Lost Sunglasses Ridge, on one of the Tandy Hills, today around noon

At this location I quickly whipped out my camera, hoping to get a picture of the Roadrunner who was posing about 100 feet from me. But, by the time I got the camera on, aimed and zoomed, the Roadrunner had run away.

I think I may have alluded to the fact, previously, that Roadrunners tend to elude my attempts to successfully photograph the cute birds. Though, I have managed it a couple times.

Speaking of something being alluded to or eluded, just seconds ago someone with the interesting name of Anonymous had some words for me about alluding and eluding, and about my lack of a proper education....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Almost Going Over A Cliff Again In Gateway Park Without Daylight Savings Time": 

Neither the appeal of soccer nor the appeal of disc golf has “alluded” you. What has escaped your grasp are both the meaning of the word “allude” and the correct word choice of “elude.” Did you go to school in Washington state? 

I did go to school in Washington state. A couple of my school years were spent in Special Education. That may explain why allusions elude me.

Now back to the Tandy Hills Roadrunner.

Today I had three Roadrunner encounters. The first was the one I've already mentioned. Then, when the trail I was on junctioned with the Tandy Highway, I saw another Roadrunner. I was very close to this one, but this bird also escaped before I could take a picture.

A short distance later, heading north on the Tandy Highway, I saw the above startling sight. A white truck. It is well known that I have a strong aversion to white trucks.

As I walked by the white truck the truck driver howdied me. I howdied him back. The white truck turned out to be some sort of dump truck with a trailer behind it with a bulldozer type device on the trailer.

Now, here is where my hike today got real surprising. I headed up Mount Tandy, heading back to my motorized vehicular transport, about to the junction with the trail that leads to the summit, near the disheveled Tandy Shrine, when I saw another Roadrunner.

That is 3 Roadrunners in one day on the Tandy Hills. I don't see how these 3 Roadrunners could all be the same runner, particularly the third encounter. I don't think the Roadrunner would have run around the big white truck.

Methinks the hills are becoming alive with the beep beeps of Roadrunners.

Methinking this is further reinforced  by something I read in this month's Tandy Hills Prairie Notes...

"A juvenile Roadrunner, possibly the offspring of our nesting pair, was recently spotted."

So, we have some Roadrunners breeding on the Tandy Hills who have already produced some offspring?

I wonder how large a Roadrunner family the Tandy Hills could support? Should we start sprinkling Roadrunner food on the Tandy Trails?

A Redrock Walk With Roadrunners Through The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden

Phoenix Desert Botanic Garden Plant Sale

My sister and I arrived very early Saturday at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. The bi-annual plant sale was under way. By the time we left, a couple hours later, that throng of plant hunters had swelled far beyond the number you see in the picture.

Phoenicians seem to be early risers who like to be out and about, hiking, biking, walking and plant hunting, looking, for the most part, like people who have had the air let out of them, unlike most of the people I see at my regular location on the planet.

I can not remember the last time I enjoyed something as much as I did the walk through the Desert Botanical Garden.

I've long had an affection for redrock, developed long ago from my first exposure in Utah.

A Red Cardinal Standing Cactus Guard

The redrock in the Phoenix zone is like the Utah redrock on a small, yet very scenic scale. The Utah redrock has no saguaro cactus, that I am aware of. The Phoenix redrock, with its cactus, adds a real nice element to the basic redrock.

I saw several Roadrunners, aka Paisanos, running about today. I think the Paisanos may have been chasing the dozens of jackrabbits who scurried about chasing the dozens of quails.

Nothing seemed to be chasing the red cardinal you see in the picture perched on a cactus in front of a big mound of redrock.

The Desert Botanical Garden has around 65 acres of desert flora under cultivation, with over 50,000 plants.

When we first entered the garden my sister and I had the place, for the most part, to ourselves. That did not last long.

I don't remember if I've mentioned previously my interest in Native American culture.

Today I got to grind mesquite seeds in the Apache way. I do not know what I was supposed to make with my supply of ground up mesquite seeds. Maybe bread.

The above is an example of an Apache domicile. To me it looks as if this abode would be a bit of a fire hazard.

This particular Saguaro silhouetted against the Phoenix sky looks as if it may be making an obscene gesture. A lot of the Saguaros seem to be of a similar mind. I won't share the description my sister used for many of the various cactus shapes. Suffice to say it was a male oriented description. Maybe that would be better worded to say it was a description with a male orientation.

Let's leave the Desert Botanical Garden and go to another part of Papago Park to walk through a hole in the redrock in another blogging.

Solo Tandy Hills Hiking Observing The Tandy Hills Roadrunner Bonding With The Tandy Hills Trojan Horse & Other Mysteries

I am having one of those rare days where I feel as if someone has sucker punched me in the gut.

Which is a tad disturbing, because no one has sucker punched me in the gut.

It has been over 3 years since I've been metaphorically sucker punched in the gut.

Hiking the trails of the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium, today, put me in a less sucker punched frame of mind.

Speaking of sucker punches, this week's Fort Worth Weekly Best of 2011 issue made no mention of the Tandy Hills this year. Or the Prairie Fest. In years previous the Tandy Hills has been mentioned as the Best Place to Stand. And the Prairie Fest as Best Outdoor Festival, or something like that.

Today whilst I was hiking the Tandy trails I pondered why so few people avail themselves of the pleasure of Tandy Hills hiking. Fort Worth has a population of over 700,000. While it is true that over half of the population is over weight and thus not really drawn to hiking up a hill, that still leaves around 350,000 people able to do so.

I know of no other big city in America with a big, wild, natural zone so close to its downtown.

If something like the Tandy Hills existed a couple miles east of Seattle's downtown I can guarantee the hills would be alive with the sounds of people enjoying the natural world. During the hiking season in Washington's Cascades you can go to any of the dozens upon dozens of mountain hiking trails and find a lot of people hiking. And that's after driving a long distance to get to a trail head.

Even as I type, Washington's Maxine W. A. Milling is hiking with a group, over Cascade Pass, to Stehekin, to spend a few days at Courtney Ranch.

With there being so very few hiking type options in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone one would think the Tandy Hills would get a lot of visitors.

Before the novelty wore off, I'd drive to places like Turner Falls Park in Oklahoma and Dinosaur Valley State Park. And twice to Enchanted Rock State Park, just to have a semi-good place to go hiking.

And on another Tandy Hills note, I had myself a real cute encounter with the Tandy Hills Roadrunner today. As I was ascending Mount Tandy the Tandy Trojan Horse that I mentioned a couple days ago came into view. I then saw that the Tandy Hills Roadrunner was looking curiously at the Tandy Trojan Horse.

When the Tandy Hills Roadrunner saw me the speedy bird took off running over the hill.

There was no sign that any of last night's thunderstorm deluge dropped any water on the Tandy Hills. I wonder if the Tandy Hills Roadrunner is still drinking at Don Young's birdbath. I have never found the mysterious water barrel that Don Young and his cohorts installed in some hidden location on the Tandy Hills.

Don Young used to be Fort Worth's Best Watchdog. This year Don Young has been in the news a lot, doing a lot of Watchdogging. But, somehow Don Young was supplanted as the Best Watchdog in Fort Worth Weekly's Best of 2011 compilation, supplanted by Kevin Buchanan and the North Central Texas Communities Alliance.

Very perplexing.

The Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Bald Thin Man On The Phone With Elsie Hotpepper Not In Oklahoma

I was peacefully enjoying my return to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium, hiking the hills and enjoying the return to my circulatory system of mood enhancing endorphins, when the phone rang just as I was trying to take a picture of the Shadow of the Tandy Hills Bald Thin Man.

It was Elsie Hotpepper interrupting my natural reverie.

The Hotpepper wanted me to hop up to Oklahoma with her to have lunch at the WinStar World Casino.

I politely declined the invitation. The last time I went to the WinStar with Elsie Hotpepper it turned into a Lost Weekend in Oklahoma City with dozens of quarters in my pockets.

What happens in Oklahoma City stays in Oklahoma City, so there's nothing more I can say about that particular Elsie Hotpepper misadventure.

Switching the subject from Elsie Hotpepper in Oklahoma back to the Tandy Hills.

Today as I was heading down a hill a wily coyote suddenly ran across the path, ahead of me, running at a very high speed. I whipped out my camera, even though I knew there was no chance I'd get a picture of the coyote.

I do not know if the wily coyote was chasing the Tandy Hills roadrunner.

On The Tandy Hills While Texas Withers Among Other Things

It is in the 3 in the afternoon time frame and we have not yet gone over 100 in my zone of North Texas.

It was 92 when I hit the Tandy Hills around noon. Today a good wind made clear what had been missing that had rendered the hills too hot at noon.

In the picture you can see a line of trees with dead leaves on the ridge at the top of the hill.

If water ever again falls in these parched parts it will interesting to watch how the Tandy Hills comes back from its, hopefully, near death experience.

I saw no wildlife today on the hills, including no sighting of the Tandy Hills Roadrunner.

Speaking of the Tandy Hills Roadrunner, I got an email a short time ago from the Roadrunner Whisperer, Don Young, with a link to an interesting article in Mother Jones titled "As Texas Withers, Gas Industry Guzzles."

In the Mother Jones article the part of Texas withering while the gas industry guzzles is Fort Worth. The Roadrunner Whisperer helped guide Mother Jones through the Fort Worth Morass.

Changing the subject from Fort Worth Morasses to other morasses.

I think I may have inadvertently sparked a budding romance between CatsPaw and Gar the Nerd, formerly known as Gar the Texan. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

I Saw No Thirsty Roadrunners Running On The Tandy Hills Today

This morning it seemed the water in the swimming pool and the air were just about the same temperature.

With a few more 100 degree or more days the water in the pool is not going to be all that refreshing.

We are now at the point in the HOT time of the year where cold Texas tap water is not all that cold.

Today I again decided to do something different and went hiking on the hills of the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area around noon.

I saw no thirsty roadrunners.

The Tandy Steambath/Sauna was the HOTTEST so far this year.

When I returned to air-conditioned interior comfort I found the HEAT effects continuing with non-stop leaking through my skin's thousands of leak portals. To try and stop the leaking I tried a shower of that previously mentioned not so cold Texas tap water.

The semi-cold water was able to stop my leaking skin portals from continuing to leak.

It is starting to become a regular Friday afternoon thing, where I get a message from Elsie Hotpepper telling me she is once more in need of clothes. I suppose I shall go see if I can help Elsie get dressed. Again.

Don Young's Prairie Notes #55 With The Tandy Hills Roadrunner

Every month Fort Worth's Watchdog, Don Young, sends out his Prairie Notes.

Since this is July 1, Prairie Notes #55 has arrived.

I webpaged Don Young's Prairie Notes a couple times, due to me thinking the notes were too good not to share. Then it occurred me that I was sort of plagiarizing Don Young's good material without permission, so I stopped that bad boy behavior.

I did not realize til I right now, when I Googled "Don Young's Prairie Notes," that my webpaging of the notes Googles #1, along with a lot of blog posts where apparently I've mentioned Don Young's Prairie Notes, like this current blogging.

The coolest thing in Don Young's latest Prairie Notes is the picture he took of the Tandy Hills Roadrunner. The TH Roadrunner left the Tandy Hills Natural Area, crossed View Street, then ran onto Don Young's yard and hopped up on a birdbath to get a drink of water.

Currently, the Texas drought has rendered water very scarce on the Tandy Hills. Near as I can tell nothing remains of the two rains of June.

I'll carry an extra bottle of water with me on the Tandy Hills today in case I come across the Tandy Hills Roadrunner and it needs a drink.

Fun Today Chasing The Tandy Hills Roadrunner

I had my second Tandy Hills Roadrunner sighting today. The first time I saw a Roadrunner running on the Tandy Hills it was running south on the main trail that leads in from View Street.

Today I parked on View Street rather than the summit of Mount Tandy. I was barely on the trail, heading north, when I realized the Tandy Hills Roadrunner was leading the way.

It is not easy to get a picture of a Roadrunner running. The one you're looking at was my best effort.

I lost the Roadrunner at the part of the View Street trail, at the far north end, where it loops above the freeway.

A couple days ago I saw what I thought looked to be a coyote, running across the prairie atop Mount Tandy.

I wonder if the Tandy Hills Roadrunner and the Tandy Hills Coyote ever have fun playing with each other?

Switching subjects from cartoon characters, my pool is back working again.

This morning I woke up to find a pain in my shoulder blades that felt like a knife was stabbing me. Not that I've ever been stabbed, but I imagine this is how it must feel.

The knife in my back is better now. I don't know if going swimming would be good for this ailment. Or exacerbate it.

When I returned here, this afternoon, I saw Miss Puerto Rico. I was surprised to see she has turned into a redhead since I saw her a couple days ago.

There seems to be some sort of epidemic, in my immediate zone, of drastic hair color changes. So far I am immune from the epidemic.