It feels like so long since I've been out with my camera (only five days), so I've grabbed another Mountain Bluebird photo from my recent archives : ) There are still many that I'm quite pleased with and I am trying to spread them out on my photostream, so that they won't become too boring, lol. Found this pair of beautiful Mountain Bluebirds SW of Calgary on 12 June 2013. This is Mom, with some kind of Orb Weaver Spider in her beak, ready to feed her nest box full of babies. I can't help wondering if her babies are all safe, after the torrential rain we've had and the resulting flooding we are dealing with. Just hoping that the rain didn't somehow get into their nesting box and drown her little family. So many birds will have been swept off their nests, babies and all.

In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id

www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...

For info on the massive, destructive, horrendous flood and state of emergency that is going on in Calgary and so many parts of Southern Alberta, see yesterday's posting. I haven't yet checked on TV to hear the latest updates - third morning in a row that I've overslept so late. Last night, I just couldn't sleep, though I must have fallen asleep somewhere around 6:00 a.m..

www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/9107752703/

Incredible YOUTUBE VIDEO OF CALGARY FLOODS from Global News:

youtu.be/bRS8YfVlt3Y