western bluebird

A detailed close-up of a Western Bluebird, a favorite of mine to shoot, they allow you to get much closer than most other birds.

A Western bluebird perched on a rusty post, catching insects. The males are one of the most colorful birds in the western United States.

Stunning male bluebird.

Sheltering from the wind on a winters day in Southern California.

Seems to have been a fairly good year for the Western Bluebirds.

My sister-in-law is in charge of a project that's monitoring breeding colonies of sea- and shorebirds. Last summer was rather catastrophic: a heat wave cooked pretty much all the eggs. Some birds renested, but the Murres simply gave up and left. Apparently woodland birds fared better, though. We...

Another young WEBL. This one had us a bit confused, what with the pale brest and reddish belly. Adult male WEBLs have the opposite - red vest over pale belly. Then we got close enough to notice the streaking on breast and back, from which we figured this was an immature male, in the process of...

or at least, the Bluebird thereof. From my evening walk at Sea Ranch today, and a bit of a crop. The birds up here are used to having plenty of space, so even though there's no hunting allowed on Sea Ranch, the birds are quite skitterish. They also have plenty of veeeery tall trees to hang out...

I keep water available for whatever bird may want a drink. While imaging birds in the yard, this male Western Bluebird came in for some refreshment.

Bug in bill ground take-off...

The male and female are working feverishly to keep 5 babies supplied with food. In 7-9 days the babies will fledge. Note how worn the feathers are in this bird. The crown of his head has small bits of pollen, and spider web on it. The male was especially diligent about bringing spiders, the...

Male with offerings for young in a near by nest box.

I've place nesting boxes about the property and a pair of Bluebirds took up residence about 2 weeks ago. There are six chicks in the box. The requirement for food (especially for protein at this stage) is a twenty-four hour per day commitment, which the male and female share. The male will take...

Just before leaving the Bosque, after a long day of birding the southern loop of the refuge, visiting the exhibit tent, seeing that ladder-backed woodpecker by the visitors' center ... as I walked back to my car I spotted a few birds in the trees around the carpark - Common Raven, Yellow-rumped...

For Saturday Fun, I've picked out a set showing three ways to hide. This one is a Western Bluebird in a rather poor disguise, pretending to be an Eagle ;) Taken at the Sonoma County Air Museum. The sign is from a display of an F15 that was one of the planes that was scrambled (eventually) on 9/11.

One last shot of Monsieur Bleu, also last shot I'll post from that day's birding. Saved this head-turner for last.

Had to turn the camera to be sure I got him in whole.

Her colors are more subtle (the better to camouflage with, my dear), but she's still quite colorful and pretty, n'est ce pas?

His lady wife was perched on another fence picket nearby. I'll post a shot of her tomorrow, along with a couple more of this gentleman.

I thought I'd lost him, but he only flew down across the driveway into the Sonoma parking lot, and landed in the crook of a shrub quite close to me.