Welcome to Week #5 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #5 challenge is Feathers of Blue. Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.
The feature image is a close up of a Black-crowned Night Heron taken at Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa, Florida. There was no cropping of this photo. He was that close, but keep in mind, I had my 200mm lens trained on him!
Florida Scrub-Jay
One of the most elusive birds ever! The Florida Scrub-Jay can only be found in…guess where? You got it! FLORIDA! Not all of Florida either. There are certain hotspots where you can find this beautiful shy bird. This photo was taken at Canaveral National Seashore that butts up to Cape Canaveral where it meets the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. They do not migrate and almost never travel more than a few miles from where they hatched. They can be found in low-growing scrub oak in sandy soils or perched up high with their long tail hanging down like in my photo. The Florida Scrub-Jay is on the federal endangered species list.
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated blue warbler male and female are totally different in looks. The female is more of a buff colored with some light grayish blue tones in the wings and around the head. The photo above was taken in my backyard. The first time we’ve ever seen one in our yard was in April, 2020. They migrate through Florida and much of the Southeast. They breed in parts of Tennessee and northward in the United States.
Eastern Bluebird
This photo was taken 2 nights ago. It’s not a great photo as it was almost dark when this female landed on our manmade perch attached to our feeders. The male was just above on the electrical line going to the house. Did you know the male behavior seems to take on the 1950’s tradition. He chooses where they will make a home for their brood by bringing nest material to the nest cavity, wave his wings while perched above it for the female to see. That’s it! He leaves it to her to build the nest and incubate the eggs. What a guy?
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay is one of the noisiest birds there are around ones backyard. They are found in a large part of the United States and in the southern part of Canada. Afterall, Toronto named their Major League Baseball team the Blue Jays. If you are trying to attract them to your feeder, they prefer tray feeders with peanuts, sunflower seed and suet. I will watch them come to our feeder, pick out the peanut and fly off. On occasion, Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but scientist have no evidence of how common it is.
Black-crowned Night Heron
The Black-crowned night heron will brood any chick that is placed in its nest. Their young will often disgorge their stomach contents when approached…YUCK! These young will leave the nest in about a month but are unable to fly until they are 6 weeks old.
Little Blue Heron
The Little Blue Heron often appears to have gray feathers that are considered to be a dark slaty-blue. The one above posed up nicely for me and is an adult. When they are feeding, they are patient eaters and will stand and wait for their food to get closer to them. You will often see them with other herons, egrets and woodstorks, plus they will build their nests in trees where these species are building or have built a nest.
Peach-faced Lovebird
Meet Tweety! He was our beloved Lovebird. For his short life, he was quite spoiled and imprinted on Frank. He tolerated me! Isn’t he beautiful? Unfortunately, Tweety met his untimely death at the grips of a Red-shouldered Hawk shortly after I had given him a bath. It happened within a matter of seconds before I could place him back into his cage. Devastated, I was and is an understatement! I WAS DISTRAUGHT! I would never get another as I didn’t like the caged part of the lifestyle. Plus, they are a commitment. They are in the parrot family, but unlike a Macaw who will live 50 years, lovebirds will still live 12-15 years as long as you can keep them away from getting snatched by a bird of prey.
Until next week…Week #5 – Feathers of Blue.
Our Eyes Open 
Comments
46 responses to “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Feathers of Blue”
[…] To see what other Feathers of Blue people are sharing click here. […]
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You’ve three I’ve never seen! Great Blue feathered finds, Lisa!
Here are some I’ve found this year.
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Thank you very much. Which 3 have you not seen? 😊
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Make it 4. The Black Throated Warbler, Eastern Bluebird, Little Blue Heron, and your Peach Lovebird.
I had a blue Parakeet many years ago, but it didn’t last long sadly. He was pretty, and still missed.
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Well, the Little Blue Heron is here year round. Eastern Bluebirds are too but not in my neighborhood usually. I’ve only ever seen the lovebirds in a pet store. I would love to see them in the wild. 😊
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Maybe 5! I need to back through my FL images to see if I photographed your Florida Scrub Jay if not then there’s another one I have never seen!
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Well, I guess you need to be coming back to Florida. 🙂
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I love these posts!
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Thank you Angela! So glad you enjoy them. I love doing them and seeing what everyone else is seeing posting. 😊
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excellent nature photography…enjoyed your text.
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Thank you very much! It’s fun and birding is my favorite pastime! 😊
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Lovely selection of blue birds and how sad about Tweety. He’s gorgeous 💚
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Thank you. Yeah it’s been about 11 years now but there’s still great memories. He was the prettiest lovebird I’ve ever seen. 😊
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beautiful gallery of birds! awesome photography! 🙂
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Thank you so much! 😊
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[…] thought I would contribute a few photos of birds with blue feathers which is the theme for Lisa Coleman’s weekly bird challenge this […]
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Some stunning photos, Lisa. Thank you for choosing such a great topic. And thank you for all your descriptions and information. Here are some of my photos which have birds with one or more blue feathers guaranteed! See https://wp.me/p8zWGa-1Mm
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Thank you Margaret. I try to put some bit of trivia in there. I think I found my niche. 😍
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Beautiful photography, sorry you lost your pet. 🤭
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Thanks John. It’s been a long time. We’ve got Heaven a bit before this happened. I lost my granddaughter a few months later so that overshadowed losing Tweety. 😊
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[…] Posted for BIRD WEEKLY – PHOTO CHALLENGE – FEATHERS OF BLUE […]
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Awesome captures! Love the info…such a cute love bird 😍 very sad losing pets… Here’s my blue one – https://myheart2heart.blog/2020/07/10/yay-its-a-blue-jay/
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This posted a day or so early, but in the spirit of the challenge.
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So informative and beautiful 😍
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Thank you Shweta. 💜
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My kind of nature!💦
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Glad you liked it. 😊
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Do!💦
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Sorry to hear about your lovebird. Geez. That sounded awful. We have a cockatoo that flies free in our house – a compromise. It isn’t safe for him in our predator-den area and the heavy snowfalls of winter. He tolerates us, provided he flies free.
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Tweety had a large perch in the condo and was potty trained. He ran around the house and stayed when told to. He really was amazing. 😊
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Our bird doesn’t do as he’s told, but he is affectionate and a very strong flier. He’s a rescue and has really blossomed in his 10 years with us. Tweety sounds like he would have been a great role model! What wonderful memories you must have.
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Birds can be stubborn. Frank would put him in his cage when he didn’t listen and he became trained to do so. Sometimes he would still wonder in the kitchen just to be with him. He was very needy when it came to Frank. 😊
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Lovely bird images. 😊
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Thank you Irene. 😊
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[…] Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Feathers of Blue […]
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Your bird photos are so amazing! Sorry to hear about your little love bird, though. We used to have parakeets.
Here’s my entry for # 5
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Thank you very much! It’s been a long time ago now so not so painful, but I like to include him in my posts sometimes. 🙂
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[…] BIRD WEEKLY CHALLENGE, week 5-Feathers of Blue […]
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Thank you for bringing these wonderful splashes of blue to our attention, Lisa. I’m sorry to hear about your lovebird experience and can relate to your distress. Just the other day I watched a Cooper’s Hawk snatch a juvenile Robin from the ground only a few steps ahead of me. Just because nature works this way doesn’t mean we can’t be sad about some aspects of it! 😪
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[…] BIRD WEEKLY CHALLENGE, Week #5 – Feathers of Blue […]
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[…] July 12, 2020July 12, 2020 ~ Aletta – nowathome Blue crane Bird Bird Weekly Challenge https://oureyesopen.blog/2020/07/10/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-feathers-of-blue/ […]
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[…] Bird Weekly Photo Challenge – Feathers of Blue […]
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[…] is my entry for Lisa from Our Eyes Open blog, Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge with the topic of Feathers of […]
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Oh what beautiful photos of birds you have, once again. 😀 😀
Here is my entry for the week.
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[…] For Our Eyes Open, Bird Weekly challenge: Feathers of blue […]
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