Al Larson Photography

Here it is mid-July and most of the flowers in the high desert of Owyhee county have bloomed and faded away. There are several species of Indian Paintbrush. Some have already bloomed and expired. This species, however, is just now coming onto its own. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture it on camera and share it with my friends.

 Yesterday I found another photogenic Mountain Bluebird. When they come in close like this, it’s hard to control my trigger finger. So I find that I have another series of great pictures. The moral to my story is “always keep your camera at the ready.”

It’s hard for me to pass up a picturesque old building without taking a photo of it.. Here is the Ola Community Church with its adjacent cemetery. The church sets on a rise south of the village of Ola, Gem county, Idaho. A couple years ago repairs were made to the old building and a new coat of paint was applied. The church is still used for religious functions. The cemetery in the background is well kept.

One of the fascinating things in checking nest boxes on the “Bluebird Trail” is that it is full of surprises. It is like opening packages on Christmas morning. You never know exactly what you’ll find. Although my notes from previous visits may hint at what may be there an occasional extra presents itself. Will there be eggs? How many? Will there be nestlings? How old? On this occasion I opened the box to find a clutch of eggs just beginning to hatch. By the end of the day all six of the eggs will have hatched. This was perfect timing, for me, to find the first nestling just out of the egg.

Like most small birds, bluebirds delay incubating until after all of their eggs are laid. This arrangement allows all of the eggs in the clutch to have the same incubation time. Therefore, in most cases, all of the nestlings should hatch out on the same day. This gives each hatchling equal chance at the dinner table. None should be more aggressive due to size when the parents arrive with food.

In the course of monitoring my many bluebird nest boxes I occasionally come across another species. This year I have had three boxes that were home for Mountain Chickadee. They have very large clutches for their size. Two of the boxes had 8 nestlings each while the third had nine. The parents keep busy feeding so many mouths.

This tiny little bird is very trusting and comes in very close while I am checking its nest. Sometimes the adult enters the box while I am banding some of the nestlings. This gives me the opportunity to get close-up shots with the camera. My main problem is to have one pose long enough to get sharp picture.