Mountain Bluebird

These baby Mountain Bluebirds are already showing some of the beautiful colours in their feathers. Saw these on Monday evening's drive to check one of the Mountain Bluebird nesting box routes south of Highway 22X. Mountain Bluebirds use grass for their nests, whereas the Tree Swallows, who take over some of the boxes, use a delightful selection of bird feathers to line their nest.

Dad on the left having a quick stretch and Mom in the background holding a larva of some kind ready to feed to her young ones in the nearby nesting box. These Mountain Bluebirds are so beautiful, especially when spring finally arrives and you catch sight of a brilliant splash of blue after months and months of snow. Seen near Priddis, southern Alberta. Me? I was sitting down in the ditch, LOL!

This little female Mountain Bluebird was very co-operative yesterday afternoon, when I headed west of the city straight after doing our Snake Monitoring. Her mate came near only once, but kept his distance the rest of the time except when three or four Tree Swallows tried to attack, hoping to get the nesting box from the Bluebirds. The bluebirds were ready to defend their box - she's a feisty little lady! Had to smile when her mate brought her two gifts - fat, juicy larvae of some sort! A nice bit of courtship behaviour : ) This image even looks OK in large size, if you happen to have time to take a peek : ) Was out on a walk at Votier's Flats in Fish Creek Park all this morning, seeing what birds were around. Nice to see a high nest containing baby Ravens, as well as seeing an American Goldfinch, Purple Finches, etc., etc. I'll be out all evening today, too, and am already almost falling asleep at my computer (it's only 1:45 p.m.), LOL! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A typical male Bluebird, sitting on the usual fence post. Took this photo whilst on a Bluebird Banding outing just south of Calgary. The gentleman who led the trip has been banding and recording the activity in Mountain Bluebird nesting boxes for many years. Some of the boxes have been taken over by Tree Swallows and these birds, too, are banded.

Not the greatest photo, especially when I managed to get a much closer and better shot (posted a few days ago), but thought I'd add it to my Mountain Bluebird Set anyway : )

A second photo of this beautiful Mountain Bluebird that flew over to near where I was standing, posed to the left, posed to the right and then off it flew. Similar to the previously posted image, but facing the opposite way. Taken south west of Calgary on April 10th, along one of the backroads. Such breathtaking little birds. 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.birds.cornell.edu/allaboutbirds/studying/feathers/col... "In Alberta, they are most readily seen along roadsides in the foothill country near Calgary where bluebird enthusiasts provide, maintain and monitor nestboxes. Autumn migration is an extended affair. Flocks assemble in mid August and most have departed by late September. Usually, however, there are some that linger to late October and sometimes into November." talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=238 I've just watched an 18-minute video on YouTube about how the Mycelium of fungi could save the planet. Perhaps a little heavy going in parts, but quite fascinating, too. The research that is going on sounds very promising. youtu.be/XI5frPV58tY

Not a good shot, but this is just about all I managed to get yesterday afternoon, when I took a short drive south west of the city. I did see several Mountain Bluebirds, but they were all far away, exxcept for this male, who sat and preened himself high up in this tree. His back is brilliant blue, unlike the pastel shade on his breast.

Managed to find a Mountain Bluebird that actually gave me a chance for a distant photo or two. No close shots, though. They are such beautiful birds. Seen south west of the city on Friday, a day finally that had blue sky!

Jim (Garnite) and Linda - a delicate little Bluebird to keep you both company at this sad, sad time (see below) .... Just after I posted these three photos for today, I went and checked to see if there was an update on how our flickr friend, Jim (Garnite) has been doing today. Late news yesterday was so positive. This is what I found, posted as usual by Greg7 at the Flickr group for Jim: "I'm sorry to have to report some not so good news right now. It looks like Jim is probably not going to make it. I just came back from the hospital. Linda told me that I could go there and see Jim and talk to him. She said he could hear what was being said, his eyes were partially open, but not actually looking at anything. He was getting 100% of his oxygen from the ventilator. Linda said that they had a meeting with the surgeon and the transplant surgeon and some others and herself to tell her the situation. They said that the pneumonia infection in his good lung was too bad and they couldn't treat it anymore, and that also he was being hit with some other infections. So I guess that basically right now he's just on life support, and they told Linda that they would have to shut that off at some point, she doesn't know when or how they decide, but it sounds like it might be later today." Such sad, sad news. May Jim spend his remaining time free of pain and at peace. Poor Linda, Jim's loving wife, how we feel for her. Our thoughts and prayers are with you both. Jim's Flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/people/garnite/ Link for group, "For Garnite": www.flickr.com/groups/1655195@N20/ This little Mountain Bluebird male flew from post to post while we were sitting having our picnic lunch on Sunday, after spending the morning recording the plants and wildlife of the Nature Conservancy of Canada location called Connop Estates. This is a beautiful area of rolling hills south of Calgary, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. For a few quick moments, this bird "posed" on a nearby post, allowing me to get several shots. Just had a long day out today, starting with an almost three hour walk along the Bow River, from Bankside to Mallard Point. From there, I dashed over to the Zoo for part of the afternoon, and then called in at a local wetland, thinking it would be another great display of birds like the other day. Well, wrong! Very quiet and so few birds : ) And now I am exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open this evening. It only got up to about 16C this afternoon, but it felt hot - not surprising after about seven months of bitterly cold winter weather, ha.