Juvenile Mountain Bluebird perched on a clump of sage – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
The last time I shared a young Mountain Bluebird photo I lamented the fact that the bluebird families didn’t stay close to the road. I only had one photo to share and that Mountain Bluebird fledgling was on a human-made metal post and I typically prefer to have my subjects on natural perches.
Yesterday morning I spotted a raggedy-looking male Mountain Bluebird from a distance perched on a sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains and when I stopped to scope him out I saw that there was a juvenile near it. While observing the Mountain Bluebirds I could see that the male was still finding food to feed his young.
At that point I could hear other bluebird calls but since I was focused on the two I could see I didn’t know where the other birds were but before long they showed up and I had fun photographing the male and about 4 to 5 of his progeny. Since I was taking photos of the them I didn’t take the time to get an accurate count of the juvenile bluebirds.
Even though the young bluebird is small in the frame in this photo I liked it because it shows the sage it was perched on and because of the light.
Mountain Bluebird juvenile perched on a sagebrush stump – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
It didn’t take long for some of the bluebirds to move closer to the road where I could take the images of them that I’d been hoping for. When this juvenile flew in and landed on a sagebrush stump I was ready.
This young bluebird stayed on this perch for a minute or two and kept an eye on the adult male who was flitting around in search of food for his young and it also kept an eye on me.
Juvenile Mountain Bluebird perched on a small twig – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
When the juvenile Mountain Bluebird took off it dove to the ground for prey, missed, and then flew up to land on a twig of dead sage out in the open.
Not long after this photo was taken a vehicle came down the road at the same time as a person with their dog walked by and the bluebird family took off and were soon out of the range of my lens.
I was happy to have these juvenile Mountain Bluebirds in my viewfinder yesterday and to be able to listen to their soft calls high on the sagebrush dotted hillside.
Life is good. Stay safe.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Mountain Bluebird photos plus facts and information about this species.
These are beautiful in their subtle colors!
I always admire your tack sharp shots!
Always fun to see the littl’uns! Those blue primaries are a promise of more beauty to come. 🙂
Don’t you just love days like these when the birds cooperate and that long-awaited shot comes into play?
Your right… life is good!
Sweet youngster. Glad you got such nice open shots which show the feather patterns so nicely.