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Part 1 (below): Mountain Bluebirds.
For Part 2, Say’s Phoebe, click here.
April 15, 2007: Lots of photos here from my April 14th trip up Beaver Lake Road (out of Winfield, BC, just north of Kelowna). The goal was Mountain Bluebird (Sialia curricoides) images. Had quite a time paring down from the dozens I took. So, today, less text, more images! For more on Mountain Bluebirds, see my earlier post, here:
The pair at Nest Box 12 were still there, and on this day had some friends along. More on them in a bit! Click image below to enlarge it in a new tab. Scroll down on any enlarged cluster image, and click View Original Size to see it fully blown up!
I was quite enjoying myself. There’s some challenge in getting this close to Mountain Bluebirds; over the years, I’ve gotten to know a few secrets…. On this occasion, I witnessed something for the very first time — a bird choking and coughing up the source of its distress. Sadly, the the images didn’t start out well, as the rail is in better focus than the bird. But all’s well that ends well, right? Check it out: click any photo in any cluster below to enlarge them all.
MOBLs are my favourite bluebird. I never tire of seeing them. Photographing them is always challenging, trying to get the right pose and right bokeh. Here are some against the hillside rather than the sky.
And finally, for the male MOBLs, some Blue on blue images…. Did I say blue is my favourite colour?
I did not do so well with Moby’s mate this time out, as you can see in this pair of images:
But the trip also revealed a couple of mutual friends of MOBLs and me, like this fellow below. The other friend is found in Part 2: click here.
birds & musings 
Beautiful! Like this image the most
Female Mountain Bluebird, Beaver Lake Road near Winfield, BC. – 1
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