Mountain Bluebird

With lots of patience, I managed to get a pair of Mountain Bluebirds catching various caterpillars, spiders and unrecognizable insects to feed to their young ones. This beautiful lady showed off her interesting and colourful catch before it was dropped into the wide-open mouth of one of her babies in their nest box. After this catch, she seemed to only bring home a few small things - it was Dad who caught the larger morsels : ) Taken on 12 June 2013, SW of Calgary. 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... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It feels like so long since I've been out with my camera (only five days), so I've grabbed another Mountain Bluebird photo from my recent archives : ) There are still many that I'm quite pleased with and I am trying to spread them out on my photostream, so that they won't become too boring, lol. Found this pair of beautiful Mountain Bluebirds SW of Calgary on 12 June 2013. This is Mom, with some kind of Orb Weaver Spider in her beak, ready to feed her nest box full of babies. I can't help wondering if her babies are all safe, after the torrential rain we've had and the resulting flooding we are dealing with. Just hoping that the rain didn't somehow get into their nesting box and drown her little family. So many birds will have been swept off their nests, babies and all. 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... For info on the massive, destructive, horrendous flood and state of emergency that is going on in Calgary and so many parts of Southern Alberta, see yesterday's posting. I haven't yet checked on TV to hear the latest updates - third morning in a row that I've overslept so late. Last night, I just couldn't sleep, though I must have fallen asleep somewhere around 6:00 a.m.. www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9107752703/ Incredible YOUTUBE VIDEO OF CALGARY FLOODS from Global News: youtu.be/bRS8YfVlt3Y

Finally got out of the city southwestwards just a short way yesterday evening, to go with Don Stiles again on his Bluebird Route. He has been a Bluebird Monitor for about 30 years! We pass a Buffalo and Elk farm in that area and several of these maginficent animals happened to be on a hill that was near to the fence. The light was not too good, so I'm surprised that any of the photos I took came out at all. In fact, we hadn't been sure whether to go or not, because of some rather black clouds. You'd never know there had been devastating floods the past week, that have affected the whole of southern Alberta. I was expecting to see flood water everywhere, so was hugely relieved to see none! It felt SO good to get out - anywhere - though I did drive a few minutes away from home just before this evening trip, as a friend had mentioned that there were mushrooms growing in a place where they had been last year. Again, you would never know that we have been experiencing the "flood of the century" for almost a week now. Thanks for a great Bluebird evening, Don - lovely to see various other birds, too, including a Snipe, House Wren, Tree Swallows, American Goldfinch, Swainson's Hawk, a yet-unidentified Hawk with what I think was an Eastern Kingbird "piggy-backing" on it, etc., etc.. I missed getting it actually riding on the back, but did get it just a few inches above the Hawk - see my second photo posted today. Most of Don's boxes have Tree Swallow nests in them now, but the one box had these six gorgeous baby Bluebirds all huddled together. It was such a relief to see so much wildlife - I had feared the worst! Of course, many parts of the city have now started on clean-up, and what a monumental task that is going to be!!! I saw yesterday that the first billion dollars have now been made available towards this clean-up! People just amaze me, how they get to work to clear all the mud from inside their homes and get rid of all their ruined possessions. I think everyone is so impressed by the way the city has, and still is, handling the whole situation. Our Mayor, Naheed Nenshi (36th mayor, sworn in on October 25, 2010), has proved that people made the right choice when they elected him Mayor! He is working tirelessly to protect his city and get it back to as normal as possible!!

I took a drive SW of Calgary yesterday evening, wanting to check on Mountain Bluebirds. I was relieved to find that this little family seemed OK after all the rain and flooding we've had recently and especially this past week. Two of the baby Bluebirds were trying to look out on to the big wide world, so I know that at least there are two that are just fine. There was no sign of Mom anywhere, though, which was most unusual. It was only Dad who kept flying back to the nest box with food. I do hope the mother is OK. Maybe she was just taking a much-deserved nap somewhere.

Finally got out this afternoon, hoping to find and photograph a Mountain Bluebird. Thanks, Phil, for your suggestions - they worked, though of course I would still have loved to get a closer shot, LOL. I kind of liked the background colours, and of course the brilliant blue of the bird is stunning.

Ok, I know this is so laughable, but it was SO cold and SO windy yesterday when I finally found a pair of these gorgeous Mountain Bluebirds, that I had to just give up on hoping to get any closer photos. This will, however, give those of you who never see Bluebirds a slight idea of how amazing it is to see a sudden flash of brilliant blue. This little guy just kept flying from tree to tree, down to the ground and back to the next tree, and so it went on ; ) As soon as I'm ready, I am driving west of the city just a short way to see if I have any better luck this afternoon. I'm beginning to think I was pretty lucky with the photos I got of them last summer, ha.

This time, it was a green caterpillar that was going to make a tasty snack for the babies of this family : ) Seeing a brilliant blue Mountain Bluebird lifts the spirits wonderfully! What you don't see is me, sitting down in the ditch, hoping that no traffic would come along that gravel road - but of course it did!

No matter how many times I see a Mountain Bluebird, I am still in awe at the amazing colour, the males especially. This handsome male, seen SW of Calgary on 12 June 2013, was busy bringing caterpillars, spiders and winged insects to feed his babies in the nest box. In between trips into the field, he would give me a few nice poses, this time with nothing in his beak. His mate was busy doing the same thing. 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... It's another dreary, rainy day today. Everyone is getting so tired of all this rain, though as usual, we really needed it. Later: just heard that a trip to one of my favourite places has been cancelled for tomorrow. I didn't realize that the flooding in Aberta is so serious!! Just saw two photos of Cougar Creek in Canmore (near Banff), one showing before the rain and the other after. Incredible, raging river now, not a quiet creek. So many main roads/highways outside Calgary are flooded and closed. Still more rain to come, too. A strange feeling, knowing that you are stuck in your own city, and can't drive anywhere. Stay safe, everyone! I see that some of you have already transferred all your photos from Flickr to this new site, including your Sets. It's something I would like to do, but not sure just when I'll have time. Probably not before next winter, but, eventually ... www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9091579857/in/photostream

Much more delicately coloured than the male, this little female Mountain Bluebird still has a beauty of her own. She's looking up to keep her eyes on the numerous Tree Swallows that were flocking to the neighbouring nesting box, maybe 30' away. Taken SW of Calgary on 14 May 2013.