Out of the blue

What a pleasant surprise to find that the male Mountain Bluebirds have started to arrive even with a significant amount of snow covering the ground in most places. This “first of the year” bluebird does indeed signal that spring has sprung and their arrival was indeed out of the blue.

Just look at all that blue it is amazing.

Goodbye Goldeneyes

Goldeneye_1

Seems like it is time again to bid the Goldeneyes farewell for the season. We all can sense spring is in the air and they have all abruptly left the local pond this week for their annual migration to the north. We may yet get a snow storm or two but the goldeneye migration is a natural calendar I can count on to tell me middle March is here.

Nothing to see here

Hard_to_miss_1

A male Ringed Neck Pheasant struts his stuff on a sunny March afternoon. A nice large group sure did add color to the rapidly melting grain field on a late winter day.

For such big birds in open fields these guys always seem tough to photograph. Always moving and understandably a bit skittish.

Holding On.

Female_RWBB_March

When the wind blows hard it’s all about holding on.

March tends to be a windy month and this day was no exception. A female Red Winged Blackbird holding on to a somewhat smallish cattail as the March wind blows. Looking forward to those April showers.

A warming call

We could hear his gurgling call off in the distance as we approach on our XC skis. Perched high above on a dead tree covered in colorful lichen both his vocalizations as well as the colorful branch provided just the right amount of warmth to take the chill of a blustery winter ski.

Yellowstone, NP.