It's that time of year .....

I was out yesterday at the Ghost River Alliance/Benchlands annual walk, which was held on Eric Butters' land and led by one of the main naturalists in Calgary. After the walk, Eric Butters and his wife provided us all with delicious baked beans and beef, and dessert. They kindly do this every year and we all enjoy it greatly. After the meal, I decided to drive a little bit extra and called in to see various owls, all of whom are doing well. Three birding friends also had the same idea, as we were not all that far away. Later, before returning home, I found this little handsome Mountain Bluebird with a grub in its beak, about to feed his hungry family.

Later: I didn't have time to add a bit of information about the Mountain Bluebird when I posted early this morning. I was in such a rush, as I had to get over to the Weaselhead for a three-hour+ walk this morning.

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...

After the morning walk, I got in my car and went "looking for birds", lol! Dull and overcast for most of the time, though the sun did come out later on. Just got home at 9:00 p.m., feeling absolutely filthy and dusty from driving backroads. When you are following behind another car, you tend to get almost a complete "white-out". You'd have a good laugh if you could see my car - I've almost forgotten what the actual colour is, it just seems to match the colour of the road for now.