Day 3 at Wichita Mountains: Roadrunners and White-Tailed Deer

On my third day at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge on September 10th, I started the morning listening to elk bugling in the distance while it was still dark. After sunrise, I encountered white-tailed deer along the refuge roads and later photographed a Greater Roadrunner perched and grooming in a cedar tree, behavior I do not often see. The day wrapped up with more wildlife around camp and a final running doe before heading back for the evening.

Sunrise Drive: White-Tailed Deer Galore

Just at sunrise, I decided to follow the same route as I had the previous day, driving west from the campground. Almost immediately, I encountered numerous white-tailed deer. The majority were does and fawns, and I was lucky enough to capture plenty of photos, including a few up-close shots that I’m really happy with. Their gentle presence against the soft morning light made for some beautiful moments.

The Roadrunner in the Tree

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned spotting a Greater Roadrunner stripping bark from a tree. I wrote more about that encounter in my post on elk bugling and wildlife activity at the refuge. Today, I drove by the same spot and noticed the same roadrunner, perched in a nearby cedar tree. This time, it was grooming itself, just relaxing in the tree.

This behavior puzzled me a bit because I’m used to seeing roadrunners on the ground, not hanging out in trees. So I did a little digging and found out that while they are primarily ground-dwellers, roadrunners occasionally make use of trees for specific reasons:

• Calling: Males will often perch in trees or other high spots to call and mark their territory.
• Sunbathing: Early mornings, they’ll sometimes perch to catch the sun’s warmth.
• Surveying: Trees give them a good vantage point to look for prey or potential threats.
• Nesting: Although they mostly nest on the ground, they’ll sometimes use low trees or cacti.

Even though they aren’t great fliers, they’ll use trees when they need to, but they’re much more comfortable and built for life on the ground.

Back to Camp: More Wildlife Action

After spending the morning with the deer and roadrunner, I headed back to my campsite for lunch and a bit of “rest”, though my camera was never far away! I spotted more lizards around the campsite (I can’t help but photograph every one of them), and a wild turkey passed close by, allowing me to snap a close-up shot.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and a Trip to the Visitor Center

That afternoon, I took a quick trip to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. As I was parking, a young Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on a nearby fence caught my eye. These birds will soon head south for the winter, and it’s possible this one was just getting ready for its journey.

I was actually at the Visitor Center to buy a larger water bottle, turns out, the one I brought wasn’t cutting it. With temperatures in the 90s and the dry heat, I needed to stay well-hydrated during my outings.

Wrapping Up with a Running Doe

After leaving the Visitor Center, I returned to the west side of the refuge, where I had one last wildlife encounter of the day. A white-tailed doe suddenly ran across the road in front of me, continuing her sprint after crossing. I managed to get a great shot of her in motion, another memorable moment to cap off the day.

Day 3 was a fantastic day full of wildlife and surprises. Stay tuned to hear what I encountered on Day 4!