Bluebirds Scoring a Home

A nice photography session with this couple inspecting and accepting this house as their home! Pesky Tree Swallows tried to evict them but they held their ground and won the battles over and over and eventually won the war! Good Luck Bluebirds on your quest to start a new family this year!

Bluebird Couple

Eastern Bluebirds. Who can resist? I sat for 2 hours, waiting for them to visit their nesting box. The wait paid off with the male bringing a worm.




Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Canon 7D, Canon EF 300 f/2.8L IS USM

Click any photo for larger view.

Things I've Seen Lately

FOY Yellow-rumped Warbler (Butterbutt). I called him in closer, but he wasn't very cooperative. Oh well, FOY's are for documentation. Hopefully the "good" shots are to come later!



Brown creeper. Cute lil guy, but always in the shadows!



FOY Hermit Thrush. He was with 3 others, but they were camera shy.



FOY Eastern Towhee. He called quite a bit before we saw him. He was right in front of our eyes. I hate that. All this time I could have gotten a possibly better angle. He flew off just after this shot.



Eastern Bluebird Female- The male wasn't so cooperative. They are now in a battle with the Tree Swallows for nest box rights. The swallows always win. They have the numbers to chase them out. I hate that though, they dominate all of the boxes!



Ring-necked Pheasant- First flight shot...Ever!



Blue-winged Teals-Last week at a nice pond, as most of you know, Teals are very flighty!



FOY Eastern Phoebe- I got this one while in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, shooting the wood ducks.

Female Bluebird

A close encounter with a female Bluebird.




I never did see the male, but appreciated her beauty just the same...

The Pursuit of Spring

Yesterday held mostly sunny, 60 degree temperatures with some strong winds, but that couldn't stop me from looking for the newest signs of Spring. It was so odd, taking off my winter coat as I arrived at the park. It felt really good, but as soon as I hit the path, the soggy earth had me slipping immediately and keeping my eyes to the sky for birds wasn't going to happen. I spent the entire trek looking for the best footing along the trail. I depended on my hearing and came up with these two.





I thought I might spot some early warblers but the strong winds might have hindered that a bit.

Don't forget the Caption Contest! Enter by Monday for your chance to win! See "Deer Tracks" for more info.

Bluebird Icicles

I found these bluebirds foraging for anything they could find among the ice-laden ditches along a wooded road. There were at least 5 in the flock, but I suspect more.



I found a decent parking spot and watched them as they combed the brush for a morsel of food.








I don't know what they might find in this ice-stricken forest.








As I listened for their communication peeps, I mostly heard the branches of the trees crinkling and crunching from their mummified enclosures as the wind moved through them. What an interesting sound...








I never could get the bluebirds to land on my good side, putting me between them and the sun.








Perching on a snowball, was the chief patrolman, looking for those potentially dangerous cars to alert the flock if need be.

Since it's the 24th, and I didn't (forgot) prepare a Christmas greeting, I will just end this post with: Merry Christmas everyone!

More Bluebirds!

I had so many shots, I decided to showcase the rest of the crop:



Another grasshopper bites the dust!






Juicy!






I just liked the dark green background.







Fluffing makes for good manscaping!







Don't watch me fluff!







Shh...I'm stalking gwasshoppas!






This post is mine, from here to here!







I liked his upturned eyebrow! How you doin?







Who dat!?!







Hi! Welcome to Goose Lake Prairie, I will be your guide for today...Over here is the...

A Day Full of Bluebirds

I initially went to Goose Lake in search of anything. It has been a long slow June for me, and July wasn't looking any better, photographically speaking. Then along came these guys!



They were catching all sorts of bugs and bringing them back to this particular post. I happened to be parked right next to it.



Even the female has gorgeous markings! And what a juicy snack!



Lucky for me, this male hopped down from the post to do some prospecting.



I filled up the CF card pretty fast, and have plenty more to share, but I will end this one with another lucky shot. I had to lean way out window to focus on him for a natural setting.



It was an amazing day to watch these guys! And...to be lucky enough to be so close without disturbing them (--which is the important thing) !

Bluebird Security

Security: Everybody needs it. We all provide some of our own on different levels. Some of us have had security broken on some level, which causes more drastic measures for protection, and the bottom line is, we have property to protect. It is no different for Bluebirds. They have duties to perform for nature and life, so protecting their home is of extreme importance.


Male Eastern Bluebird on sentry duty protecting his home nearby.



Same male



Guarding territory is a Bluebird trait during breeding season. NOTE: At the house opening, a "real" conservation lady placed some wet wipes into the hole to keep a sparrow out. We felt bad for the bluebird wanting to use this box, and eventually pulled the wipes out ourselves, when the sparrow was gone.



I found 2 separate sites specific of this behavior.



Female Bluebird on sentry duty.