Today's morning ride had some special surprises.
For several days I'd wondered what strange bird was hanging around a particular house--I couldn't spot it, but I could sure hear it. I suspected it had gotten into that house's attic, but had no way to see. Today I found out that the strange birdlike noises were coming from an animal I had never associated with strange birdlike noises...when it started making additional noises that fit its reputation better. It was a very small pig in someone's fenced back yard. The yard fence runs alongside one of the streets where I ride. I don't have the picture of the pig; I don't carry a camera when I'm doing the daily miles.
A few loops later, I turned at a corner where two vacant lots are diagonal from each other (houses on the other two corners.) And there, right in front of me in the middle of the street, was a roadrunner. Though roadrunners will run along in front of a slow car, or a tractor, or a pedestrian...apparently a person on a bicycle looks like a monster. Away it went into the nearer vacant lot, actually flying a few yards to get up speed. I like roadrunners, and we get them in the barn lot and out on the 80 acres, but I'd never seen one in town proper before. Here's a picture of one that hung around the barn and horse lots quite a bit in 2006. One afternoon I set up about 10 yards away with the big lens and got some great shots.
The classic roadrunner