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| Mountain Bluebird on nestbox - I hope he stays! © SB |
from the grass and bushes along the side of Route 99 east of Craven, Saskatchewan, yesterday.
A single brilliant male. A group of perhaps three pairs. A flock of 13 — that I counted. More...
Will these lovely birds nest in the many boxes on the road, or are they moving through?
I hope they stay. To see so many Mountain Bluebirds in one small stretch along the Qu'Appelle Valley, so close to Regina, was a total enchantment.
Sky blue. That's what I've read in bird books about Mountain Bluebirds.
And it's true, as long as you see the sky ranging from pale aquamarine to deepest sapphire, with glints of iridescence.
These birds are not a gentle baby blue; their feather flash, reflect the light.
Flying jewels, impossibly, brilliantly blue.
And yet, at the same time, easy to miss or to ignore.
The two cars that passed me on that (at times) quiet road buzzed by in a cloud of dust, their drivers oblivious to the tiny beauties on the valley fence posts, grasses, trees.
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| Female Mountain Bluebird on a wire - softer, grayer. © SB |
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| Fence post Mountain Bluebird, #1, male. © SB |
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| Fence post Mountain Bluebird, #2, male. © SB |
What are these? Mountain Bluebirds.
Location: Along Rte 99, not far east of Craven, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Photo date: April 3, 2013.
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