Mountain Bluebird

Wasn't sure whether to post this or not - I made a real mess of the lighting here - can't remember how : ) Thought I would upload it, in the hope that Flickr might make it look a tiny bit better than the image looks on my computer, lol. The bright blue of this male still stands out. Taken three days ago when friend, Sue, very kindly invited me to go along with her while she did her Mountain Bluebird route between Calgary and Bragg Creek. The majority of the boxes had Tree Swallows nesting in them, but some were occupied by Bluebirds. A few boxes were completely empty, some had a nest, some had a nest with eggs, some had a nest with a tight little pile of babies, and a couple had an adult along with the eggs. And one box contained a nest of House Sparrow eggs. It takes quite a bit of time to check and record all these boxes, and I respect all those who volunteer to have a route of their own. Mountain Bluebirds need as much human help as possible in order to protect their numbers.