On our recent trip to southwestern Colorado, I immediately began seeing western bluebirds – their plumage standing out against the greens and browns of the forest. Every evening I would do my best to get pictures of them, hiking through the pine trees and trying my best to get a clear shot.

The adult female (all blue in the images) proved to be the easiest and she tolerated me routinely. The juveniles (spotted chests) as well, were usually pretty cooperative. The male (buff colored chest), well, he was difficult to say the least.

I swear I went back and forth across their home area dozens of times, trying to get decent pics. I think other campers in the area must have thought I was nuts. 😉 On the last day I got desperate and briefly played a western bluebird call. That did the trick.

Suddenly he was friendly and curious and let me get some captures. As I say, I am not normally a “little bird” guy but these colorful creatures were well worth the effort.

It isn’t often that I take pics of smaller birds but if an easy opportunity presents itself, I will take advantage of it. My friend spotted this handsome fellow today and I of course had to snap a few pics.

These guys can be found across much of eastern North America. Here in Colorado, they are most often found during the winter although some do hang around all year.

I kind of missed the boat last month when these colorful birds migrated through the Denver area and never managed a good shot of them. This past weekend, a trip to the Colorado high country helped to make up for that.

There were quite a few around and they were extraordinarily patient, far more so than I usually experience with them. This particular one had staked out a perch on a nice boulder next to Eleven Mile Reservoir.

I always say I don’t take pics of little birds and I definitely do try to avoid ones that don’t look particularly pretty. However, this little one was so willing to pose, I couldn’t resist. I don’t know if it was just fluffed up in an odd way or perhaps molting but it wasn’t the typically pretty bluebird we expect to see. Taken in Estes Park, Colorado.