Faded Blues

I spent a few hours this morning and again in the afternoon taking pictures with the new Canon 30D. Finally figured out that I was using the wrong indicator marker for the AUTO setting--I had it on Program instead. This explains why some of my images were not as sharp as I thought they should be. Derrr!

I got decent pix of cardinals, juncos, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, Carolina chickadees, downy woodpecker, and house finch. But the stars of the show were the pair of eastern bluebirds that FINALLY came in to the perches near the suet dough. I sat perfectly still until my back ached, snapping frame after frame of our charming blue thrushes.

The quality of a bluebird's blue is so different between males and females. And it's also different from summer to winter. The winter blues in their plumage look like dusty versions of their summer feathers. These dusty-pale blues will darken as the feathers wear over the winter. By spring the pale feather edges are worn off, revealing the darker blue central portions of the feathers, making the bluebirds bluer than blue for the breeding season to come.

I love how they look at this time of year--like faded denim. They seem to blend better with the season's colors--earthtones of dark browns and grays. But that first deep-blue male bluebird of spring against the lemon-lime greens of new meadow grass--that's MY first thrush signaling spring's arrival (sorry robins).

Here are three of the frames I shot today. Don't they make a handsome couple?

She was much braver than he was. She came first to the suet dough while he scolded at her from above, perched on the dinner hook on the tower. Eventually he came in and made a big show of eating his fill at the dough dish as if to prove that he'd conquered his inner wimp.
She paid him no attention.



Thanks to The Bluebird Oracle for setting me straight on my Sialia-related facts.