Saturday, April 25, 2015

Eastern Bluebird (Merlebleu de l'est)

     I just returned last night from nine days in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island on Canada's west coast. We had glorious weather there and did some great birding, taking hundreds upon hundreds of pictures in the process. Sometime this weekend I will begin the process of editing them, but in the meantime I am happy to present some images taken the week before we left for our vacation.
    We have now located three additional locations where we can reliably locate Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis and, as you can see, at least one pair was already checking out a nest box. Here is the male disappearing inside.



     The female seemed content to perch on top for a while, but it was not long before she entered also.



      While we were away there was uncommonly cold weather for the time of year, with even snow one day, so it will be interesting to see whether the inclement conditions have retarded nesting activity. The insect prey upon which these birds rely will no doubt have been in short supply and the female needs a steady diet of protein for successful egg production.
      As the following pictures show there is nothing quite so beautiful as a male bluebird on a sunny day and I am looking forward to seeing them again this weekend.






     On a small storm water management pond I also observed these Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis. This species is quite common, although it is normally associated with much larger bodies of water and I was surprised to find it on so small an area adjacent to a subdivision.





     I have a busy schedule for the next four days but I am sure that I will be able to squeeze in a little birding here and there. I can hardly wait to get out and visit my local patch and see what has arrived since I went away.
David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

16 comments:

  1. Pretty series on the Bluebirds..Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Terrific post the Eastern Bluebird is one of my favourites,
    John.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful series, David. I wish you a good weekend.
    GrJan W

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi David,
    Beautiful series of images, as always.
    I love the Bluebirds.
    Have a good weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello David,
    Very nice pics of that blue bird.
    What a nice one with his wonderful colors.

    Many greetings,
    Marco

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Bluebird is superb images, cheers David.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice!!
    I wish someone use my nest boxes too! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful that you have been there a number of days are from David. I read that you have there also a lot of birds seen and hundreds of photos have made. The photos in this blog are also very beautiful. I think this is a beautiful blue bird to see. Great beautiful color:-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely blue bird.. Nice pics.. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a beautiful picture of the blue bird, so nice to see
    Nice weekend, greetings Tinie

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello David that must have been a wonderful trip. The photos of this bluebird and his lady are stunning. Such amazing colours.
    Whissing you a nice day.
    Roos

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bluebirds really are magical. Even if we'd never heard the songs or read the stories, I think we'd still think of them as symbols of happiness!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Looking forward to seeing the west coast photos..........

    ReplyDelete
  14. There's nothing quite like an Eastern Bluebird for colour changing, David. Beautifully captured!

    Best wishes to you both - - - Richard

    ReplyDelete
  15. So you are back from your travels with birds? Just as I am leaving on my travels for birds.

    It does seem that the Northern Hemisphere has been especially cold this "Spring", so much so that I have rarely gone birding without a jacket or more. Good to see Bluebirds back - a special bird to see to confirm that summer is definitely on its way. Honest!

    ReplyDelete
  16. In the 2 and a half tears we spent in North Carolina, I never say this gorgeous little fellow!
    Beautiful set of photos, David!
    I hope they will breed in those nest boxes!

    ReplyDelete

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the land on which we are situated are the lands traditionally used by the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral People. We also acknowledge the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge, laws, and philosophies of the Indigenous Peoples with whom we share this land today. We are all treaty people with a responsibility to honour all our relations.

Followers