We just got back from our trip to St. Louis were Linda ran the kids at the Poodle Club of America Agility Nationals. A big congratulations to Linda and Raven who qualified 2 out of the 3 runs they competed in. Not only did they qualify, they took a first and a second. His third run was just about there, but Raven decided to “improvise” a little. Ruger had two runs and he lived up to our low expectations ha. He just turned two years old and a bit ..hmmm.. let’s go with Linda’s word – scatterbrained. Absolute speed demon in the ring but, just gets distracted easily and seems to enjoy bringing comic relief to the audience. That’s to be expected and once Linda gets that worked out, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. It was also a bit nostalgic for Ruger as he was reunited with his brother (was actually running against him). We had a great chuckle as his brother (Orion) is EXACTLY the same – full of speed but prefers his own path through the obstacles. Can’t wait to see these two compete next year! Oh, and even Raven had a reunion as he got to see his mother, now 14.
With the accolades out of the way, I should get to the featured feathered friend of the day.
You might have seen this one coming if you caught some of the hints in the last post. Carrying the theme from the last post, I am pleased to bring you another Bluebird for today’s topic.
Hit the jump to learn more about our gorgeous blue tinted specimen.
Last post I brought you the Western Bluebird we found at Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Las Vegas, NV. The Western is a bit more colorful as the blues are slightly richer and have a splash of rusty orange on their bellies up through the shoulders. This Mountain variety is more sky blue that lightens as it traverses from the top down through the belly – at least for the males. The females/immatures only have a dash of the sky blue coloring highlights in their wings and slightly more on their tails. The rest of the coloring falls in the gray to a real light rusty wash.
Truthfully, I was not aware of the rusty tone the females and immatures can sport. Learned that on Cornell minutes before publishing the Western Bluebird. I had to postpone it and go with the Juniper Titmouse (link here). That new element resulted in some doubt about the females I had featured in the Western post – was it a female Western or was it a female Mountain Bluebird. Didn’t help the two species were hanging out together at Desert NWR.
By the way, I need to take a quick break and pat myself on the back. This officially makes the 4th post in a row (for me), that originate from this year – in fact, barely a month old!! My longtime readers will recognize what an accomplishment that is for me – I suspect that streak will end soon as I haven’t had time to process any of the other finds from that trip thanks to all our travels, but hey, live in moment as they say.
Enough gloating..let’s talk about this Bluebird. For starters, some of you may not be aware that these sky blue creatures are members of the Thrush family. For the record, with the exception of the Varied (which I do not have checked off yet) that collection of birds is pretty dull looking. The three Bluebirds really stand out and guessing they flaunt that at all the family gatherings. They also hunt on the wing which is also not common outside the Blues.
The point I find ironic about this particular species is their region is actually more complete in the western half of the US than the one they call the Western. There are large gaps in the Western’s range which … you probably already guessed .. include the higher elevation areas giving credence to the Mountain moniker.
Similar to our easily accessible variety here in the Midwest, they have embraced man’s encroachment and welcome our artificial nest boxes over natural tree cavities and Woodpecker remnants. Cornell states that the females choose their mates solely based on the quality of their nest – would like to see how they determined that. Most of the time you will find them in wide open areas making Desert NWR a perfect setting to find one. This one was hanging out on the farthest part of the Bighorn Loop which has plenty of open spaces to hunt.
I promised you some additional background on Desert NWR. First off, I find it a bit confusing on the naming front. Not the Desert part, I get that ha. Oftentimes you will hear Corn Creek or Corn Creek Field Station when people are discussing the Refuge – or even when you are trying to use eBird as there is a pin for the Field Station which is located at/near the entrance to the refuge. Mystery solved. A home to Native Americans for over 5,000 years, Corn Creek Springs was acquired by the US Government in 1939 to serve as Desert’s field station and eventually their visitor center. Desert was established there years earlier and encompasses 1.5 million (yes, with an ‘m’) acres of the Mojave Desert. According to Desert USA (link here). This includes 6 mountain ranges.
The prime directive of this refuge is to protect the desert Bighorn Sheep. If you want to see those, recommend you bring a 4×4 vehicle as the passage to the farther areas is a bit rough and they provide plenty of warnings. You can also hike up to those areas, but from what we can see that is probably not for the inexperienced. We stayed around the Corn Creek area which had a variety of ecosystems – lush vegetation, trees, springs, a pond and plenty of sand/scrub as you move further away from the visitor center. The very helpful volunteer recommended we avoid the Birdsong loop as there were some difficult passages there at the time. We really enjoyed the other loops which had very nice paths full of various wildlife – unfortunately, no Bighorns. They even have a Refugium where you can experience the very rare and endangered Pahrump Poolfish. You may recall them from the Spring Mountain Ranch post (link here). This time they were housed in a small building so no delicacies for the local Ducks!
I highly recommend taking a hike at Desert NWR if you can. That is tops on my list the next time we head out to Vegas as there is plenty more to explore. We will definitely bring our Jeep to go find some Bighorns!
Take care everyone, hope you enjoyed seeing one of our recent finds. So far Brad hasn’t found a Ptarmigan – hope he doesn’t have return flights booked yet haha.
Wildlife Intrigued 
Congrats to Linda and Raven! Ruger, I hope you are paying attention for the future. Pretty little bluebird, which its modifier. Nice catchlight in its eyes.
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Thanks Brad! Sending congrats to Ruger might be a bit of a reach, but Raven was the star of the event. The light was definitely cooperating with us with this Bluebird as well as the previous Western. Can’t say the same for the likely bird coming up – to increase the suspense, it is one you already have.
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So I should focus on a different bird story? Working on a non-avian missive as we “speak”. Plus a couple more about birds.
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Well done
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Thank you Kelly! Appreciate you dropping by and joining the conversation.
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Superb images on the wire covered post, a really lovely bird.
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Thanks B.! This one was quite the stunner and really stuck out among all the brown/tan tones of the desert scrub. Got back to the car and decided I wanted to go back and enjoy it a bit longer and get a few more photos (that is when the ones with the wired posts came from). We have finally made it to Spring over here – 71F out today and everything in the landscaping is starting to pop -hoping the couple days of frost we had earlier in the week didn’t get nipped too bad. Take care.
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Now that is a bluebird. Beautiful photos. Congratulations on the Poodle run quals and wins. Sounds like Ruger needs a little more powder in his behind.
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See, I set your color expectations so low with the all grey Juniper Titmouse shots making the Bluebirds look even more impressive ha. I’ll pass on the congrats to Linda and the boys.. well, Raven – he’s busy showing his ribbons to anyone that comes to the house. Ruger definitely needs something – we are actually talking about ways to slow him down to keep him focused and then let him tear up the course as a reward… that or get Linda on a sprinter training regiment hehehe. Thanks for dropping in Timothy, appreciate it.
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“Blue is blue, I see my Westies won’t do
It’s grey, it’s grey, will she come out to play, oh oh
What can I do, ’cause I, I’m seeing my blues are mostly brown”
Modified from Los Bravos “Black is Black” tune from 1966.
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Nice adaptation – had to go check out that video, was not familiar with who actually sung that song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkgyV_tTQfQ). Looks like a young (and taller) Roger Daltry. Found myself staring at the drummers left leg. Keeping time with the heel while opening the hi-hat with the toe… and then speeds up the timing after using the toe to catch up. Guessing his right is double timing on the bass as the hands are constant.
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So sixties and so campy. Just think. They were cool back in the day.
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Ha, I remember all the “cool” bands I used to listen to back in the day, now they are old, haggard, hanging on by a life thread and still trying to make a buck on the stage. Luckily my favorite indie band Concrete Blond faded gracefully.
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When bands get old. Pretty sad sometimes.
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I can’t even look at Keith Richards anymore … and what the hell happened to the lead singer of the Talking Heads…talk about sounding like crap.
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I think Keith Richards is a living taxidermy. I haven’t listened to David Byrne recently unless the TH is using another singer. I haven’t kept up with Byrne or the TH.
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Byrne did the song for the movie that won best picture this year and unfortunately saw him singing it (had it turn it off). He also did a duet with Miley Cyrus for New Year’s Eve which was absolutely atrocious…and Byrne’s was even worse ha.
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Since I don’t have a TV I miss all that stuff. Seems like I’m not missing much. I haven’t seen a movie in years. So I don’t know what’s out there in movies these days. Other than I read something about a Mario Brothers movie being a big hit without trans , bi’s and other politically correct characters that are said to be typical of movie casts these days. But then again I don’t know who the Mario brothers are.
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I only go and see one movie series – John Wick – all the rest are total crap and purely based on what my brother said of the movie of the year.. . you are definitely not missing anything..other than Wick which is pure bliss – few words, all action and more gun porn than you ever dreamed of.
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My programmer really likes Wick. I read he cut his script to a little over 300 words in the latest version.
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No need for words, they just get in the way when you have thousands and thousands of people trying to kill you ha!
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So beautiful!The colours are amazing!! I have only ever seen the mountain blue bird, and only once.
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Thank you Maggie/Richard, glad you enjoyed the post. Great to hear you have been able to see the Mountain variety – you will definitely enjoy the Western and/or the Eastern variety should one happen to make their way up there – They are actually a bit more colorful than the Mountain species and their blues are a bit deeper. Take care and really appreciate you dropping in.
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The bluebird’s coloring is very close to the colors in this room! Beautiful bird! Congratulations to Linda and Raven. Next year for Ruger! Have a good weekend, Brian!
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You have excellent taste in paint colors Cheryl! The blues look even more dazzling against the more earthly tones in the desert setting – also makes them a lot easier to find. We were alerted to one hanging out there via eBird, but were a bit concerned we wouldn’t be able to find it once we got there – unwarranted concern as we were able to spot it very quickly once we made it above the tree line. Just thinking to myself it was probably a lot easier for us as it was first spotted on the ground, might have blended in too well if it was flying against the blue sky! I’ll extend the congrats to Linda and Raven – yes, next year Ruger will hopefully redeem himself – right now there are WAAAYYYY too many distractions and he revels in the attention…as most kids do at that age ha. Take care and always enjoy reading your takes on our featured feathered friends.
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Incredible and marvellous!
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Thank you Luisella. Our Bluebirds are some the prettiest we have here in the States and always enjoy getting a chance to see and photograph them in the field. As always, appreciate you dropping by.
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We love reading your blog! Your distinctive perspective and authentic voice have an impact in the world. Keep writing, because your thoughts make a difference. Thank you for being who you are!
Thanks – TheDogGod
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So glad to hear you enjoy our posts! It is people like yourself that keep our enthusiasm up and make the efforts worthwhile.
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Kudos to Linda and the kids!
Really marvelous photographs! I’ve only seen a Mountain Bluebird once and would love to repeat the experience.
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Thanks Wally, I’ll pass that on to Linda and the kids – hoping they do not start getting big heads with all this attention ha. Best wishes you will come across another Mountain, they are definitely quite stunning. The great thing about male Bluebirds, in general, is they are fairly tolerant of people – even ones carrying big glass pointed at them as long as you approach them. Females can be a bit more standoffish. Take care Wally and appreciate you dropping in – apologies, running a bit behind on getting to everyone else’s recent posts, have one more post to get out before the end of the month and then I can hopefully get caught back up.. can’t wait to see all your new finds.
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Beautiful shots, I just love birds of blue. 🙂 I hope to see a pink bird one day. The spoonbill, such an interesting looking bird. 🙂
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Thank you Sandra. These Bluebirds are quite the stunners. Good luck on seeing the pink variety. Have you not encountered the Spoonbills on your various travels .. especially in Texas as they are quite abundant there. I don’t want to give too much away until I get the post ready, but we discovered a very famous and very pink bird during our recent trip to St. Marks Wildlife Refuge – I think you will enjoy that when I finally get the images processed. Appreciate you dropping by!
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Congrats for Raven and Ruger’s runs. Sounds like Ruger might be thinking of the old Fleetwood Mac song, “You can go your own way.” 😉 Great bluebird photos! They nest in a juniper tree on our property but they are extremely camera shy. You captured their unbelievable shade of blue well.
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Thank you – Linda was very happy with the efforts Raven put forth – Ruger.. well, as Linda says, he gets to enjoy his puppy years for a bit longer. You absolutely nailed it, I’ll have that song playing in my head now as he’s lapping the course, greeting the judge and all the pole setters while taking every obstacle he sees ha. Every once in a while we will get an Eastern pair that will nest in our woods, but they tend to prefer the state park down the street where they have placed a large number of nest boxes. Interesting about your Juniper trees, does that mean you also get our featured feathered friend from a few posts back, the Juniper Titmouse. That was only my second encounter with those. Always good to hear from you, take care.
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Yeah, Ruger still has a puppy brain. I’ve never seen an Eastern Bluebird. Maybe someday. No, I haven’t seen a titmouse here, but have seen them southeast of here, at Hart Mountain. We do get occasional “herds” of bushtits.
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He definitely does! Unfortunately we do not get Bushtits here .. well, ones that are willing to reveal themselves to me. I did manage to see my first one ever while in Vegas this year – unfortunately, horrible pictures so doubtful that series will ever make its way to a feature here. Appreciate you dropping in Siobhan.
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Great shots of a gorgeous bird! I’ve added the Desert NWR to my ‘locations’ list, it looks like it would be very productive. And I see what you mean about the Corn Creek area being such a tiny speck when compared to the overall acreage on the map. But I’ve learned that ‘tiny specks’ are great for birdwatching, because they concentrate the birds around natural habitats so that you can actually find them. Yay!
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I think you will enjoy whenever you get there. We definitely want to go back and explore the back country parts and see us some Big Horns! I think you are right, their strategically placed pond along with that oasis feel to the Corn Creek is quite a draw for those desert birds – had to take a lot closer look when I was shocked to see a Hooded Merganser and a Common Goldeneye just tooling around in that pond. As always, thanks for dropping in and can’t wait to read you report once you make it there.
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I always claim not having any favorite birds, but Mountain Bluebirds come close. They always make me gasp when they glide through space in their sky-colored vestments, like some celestial messengers from a better world.
Your photos show the males in all their splendor.
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Thank you Tanja. I keep better track of the birds I do not like (like those asshat Cowbirds) than I do of the ones I consider my favorite. I do have those I am partial to, but often times those are more a result of the effort it took to get them in the tin. These Mountains are darn cute and cleverly disguised – always lose them when they fly against the blue sky. I have an entry on the to-do list to track down a female specimen, if there was one there that day, it managed to elude me. Appreciate you dropping in!
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As you mentioned, it’s always easier for us poor, confused birders when the male and female bluebirds are paired, so we know which one of the three possible female species we are looking at. 😊
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Exactly – I’ve proposed requiring all birds to wear nametags, but so far I have not been able to get that past the bird lobby!
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