Balsam Poplar male catkins
Visiting Wood Ducks
Balsam Poplar catkins
Least Chipmunk
Showing off his fine feathers
Food for his babies
Leaf Footed Bug (Male)
H F F
Caution - deep water
Cinnamon Teal pair
Bastian and the visitor
Cats of the hood, 5
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Starting to dance
A handsome mate
American Wigeon male, resting on a log
Yellow-headed Blackbirds in every direction
Trying to impress the females
American Wigeon pair
Sharp-tailed Grouse in the early morning sun
Perched in the sun
Ruddy Duck
Brown-headed Cowbirds
A bird of many colours
Matching colours
A little eye-catcher
01 Spic and span
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Finely iridescent
No wonder there are so many Savannah Sparrows : )
Ring-necked Pheasant at the end of the day
Showing off for the females
Haute cuisine - Frog's Legs for supper
Why did the Pheasant cross the road?
More Likely Lads ...
Strange but beautiful
The Likely Lads ...
Ring-necked Pheasant hoping to attract a mate
Camouflaged House Sparrow at cavity
Great Horned Owl, sleeping after a night of huntin…
Goldeneye on golden 'pond'
Yesterday's lucky encounter
Balsam Poplar male catkins
Tree Swallow in nest cavity
Mountain Bluebirds have no blue pigment
Least Chipmunk
Downy Woodpecker
Varied Thrush
One of my few Snowy Owls of 2016
springtailEF7A2254
01 Varied Thrush / Ixoreus naevius
A snack for his babies
Falcate Orangetip
Goberian and German Shorthaired Pointer Dogs Playi…
Four more months to wait
Beautiful bird, but grainy and blurry photo : (
In the brush (Explored)
Ramming speed
A most challenging bird
Better than coats
Varied Thrush
Male beauty
German Shorthaired Pointer and Goberian Playing -…
Varied Thrush - a lifer
Dainty little Common Redpoll
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205 visits
Mountain Bluebird
Last year, on 6 June 2015, my place was beginning to get uncomfortably warm inside. That meant I needed air-conditioning and the only place to find it was in my car. So, off I went along the backroads SW of the city. I wasn't expecting to see anything different, but there were certain birds that I was certain I would see - birds that I really enjoy photographing. This drive is just a fairly short drive and fits nicely into an afternoon or early evening. So far, this year, I have only seen a handful of Bluebirds and they have all been a long way off.
The "usual" included Mountain Bluebirds, and this male obliged, bringing food for his babies. It seemed that Dad would bring the larger, heavier insects, especially Grasshoppers, while Mom tended to choose lighter, more delicate ones. Funny how the nearby Tree Swallows would sometimes "tease" their Bluebird neighbours by flying and landing very near the Bluebird nesting box. Out of nowhere, the brilliant flash of blue of the male flew at top speed to chase the Tree Swallows away. On this particular day, I noticed the female Bluebird landed just a couple of feet from the Tree Swallow nesting box and just sat there with a Swallow on either side of her. No idea why she did this, as it annoyed the Swallows, and of course she was chased away.
In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...
Other sightings on my drive included the usual Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Terns, a pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the bright sunlight, a distant Coot feeding her little ones, a Pied-billed Grebe who was annoying an adult Coot who kept racing across the top of the water to chase the Grebe further away. My final sighting was a Coyote in a field of Dandelions. By the time I had pulled over and raised my camera, it was already heading off in the opposite direction, stopping once to look back, as Coyotes tend to do.
I almost forgot to mention the highlight of my drive! Not far from home, I noticed a Canada Goose in the distance, standing in the grasses right at the edge of the road. I thought it might just step out in front of me, so I stopped in my lane and turned on my hazard flashers. Sure enough, it did exactly what I was suspecting - and it was followed by its family of half a dozen or so goslings walking in a very disciplined single file, with Mom/Dad bringing up the rear. Fortunately, the cars coming behind me in the other lane also slowed down and stopped till everyone was safely to the other side. May sound silly, but I find it such an amazing, humbling experience when this happens : )
The "usual" included Mountain Bluebirds, and this male obliged, bringing food for his babies. It seemed that Dad would bring the larger, heavier insects, especially Grasshoppers, while Mom tended to choose lighter, more delicate ones. Funny how the nearby Tree Swallows would sometimes "tease" their Bluebird neighbours by flying and landing very near the Bluebird nesting box. Out of nowhere, the brilliant flash of blue of the male flew at top speed to chase the Tree Swallows away. On this particular day, I noticed the female Bluebird landed just a couple of feet from the Tree Swallow nesting box and just sat there with a Swallow on either side of her. No idea why she did this, as it annoyed the Swallows, and of course she was chased away.
In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...
Other sightings on my drive included the usual Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Terns, a pair of Cinnamon Teal glowing in the bright sunlight, a distant Coot feeding her little ones, a Pied-billed Grebe who was annoying an adult Coot who kept racing across the top of the water to chase the Grebe further away. My final sighting was a Coyote in a field of Dandelions. By the time I had pulled over and raised my camera, it was already heading off in the opposite direction, stopping once to look back, as Coyotes tend to do.
I almost forgot to mention the highlight of my drive! Not far from home, I noticed a Canada Goose in the distance, standing in the grasses right at the edge of the road. I thought it might just step out in front of me, so I stopped in my lane and turned on my hazard flashers. Sure enough, it did exactly what I was suspecting - and it was followed by its family of half a dozen or so goslings walking in a very disciplined single file, with Mom/Dad bringing up the rear. Fortunately, the cars coming behind me in the other lane also slowed down and stopped till everyone was safely to the other side. May sound silly, but I find it such an amazing, humbling experience when this happens : )
Daniel Palacin, Puchinpappy, Malik Raoulda have particularly liked this photo
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