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.