The lady and her jewellery

Took a short drive SW of Calgary a couple of days ago, just to get out, but without doing a long drive. I was hoping that I might just come across a Great Gray Owl - gosh, those birds are addictive, lol! No owls, though, but I did come across a pair of fairly cooperative Mountain Bluebirds, which is always a treat. This female was usually perched facing me, but every once in a while she turned so that I could see the beautiful touches of blue in her feathers. She has four bands on her legs, which I believe is the maximum given, each one meaning a different study that is carried out.

"Mountain bluebirds will not abandon a nest if human activity is detected close by or at the nest. Because of this, mountain bluebirds can be easily banded while they are still in the nest." From Wikipedia.

I was just reading this Newsletter by the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society from spring 2010. Numbers of Bluebirds up till 2010 just kep getting fewer and fewer. I don't know what the success rate has been in the last two years, but it would be so sad if we lost this beautiful species of bird! Thanks to the many dedicated Bluebird Monitors, some of whom monitor the nesting boxes on their route for many years, there is still hope.

www.bluebirdtrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Spring-...

In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id

www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...