Mountain Bluebird male

Most people will probably be in bed by now, or at least not on Flickr, so I've just added 12 odds and ends of photos, taken on 13th July 2018. Though most of the flower photos leave a lot to be desired, I am using photos like these to try and re-teach myself about plant IDs. This evening, I was shocked that I had forgotten so many names. I knew the plants, but found it hard to remember the correct names. I've done so little botany for at least the last three years, which doesn't help. I'll be off my computer for quite a few hours while I back up all the photo files I have on my computer hard drive to two external hard drives that are larger than my present ones.

On 13 July 2018, I more or less repeated my drive from two days earlier, except that I also called in at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park to see if there was any sign of fungi growing. It is still not the peak of the fungi season, so I was not too hopeful. I barely entered the forest, as it still gives me the creeps, - Bears, Cougar and Moose are seen there, and I have been told so many times not to go by myself. So far, I have only seen a very large Moose. I did find a cluster of very tiny mushrooms and several clumps of orange Coral Fungus in their usual location. Took a few wildflower shots, too, which I don't do very often these days, unlike a few years ago.

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...

"A female Mountain Bluebird pays more attention to good nest sites than to attractive males. She chooses her mate solely on the basis of the location and quality of the nesting cavity he offers her—disregarding his attributes as a singer, a flier, or a looker.

A male Mountain Bluebird frequently feeds his mate while she is incubating and brooding. As the male approaches with food, the female may beg fledgling-style—with open beak, quivering wings, and begging calls. More often, she waits until her mate perches nearby, then silently flicks the wing farthest from him—a signal that usually sends him off to find her a snack.

The oldest recorded Mountain Bluebird was a female, and at least 9 years old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Alberta in 2005. She had been banded in the same province in 1997." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/