My eyes caught a flash of bright blue yesterday as I was walking through Huntley Meadows Park, my local marsh, and I pointed my telephoto lens at the tree in the distance.
As I composed this shot, I was initially a little confused by what I saw. The reddish-brown color of the breast and the fact that there were some blue feathers made me think that it was an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), but the bird’s body didn’t seem blue enough. After doing a little research when I got home, I realized that most of the bluebirds that I had seen previously must have been adult males—as is the case with many other birds, the female Eastern Bluebird is more subdued in color than the male.
I didn’t have a lot of time to frame this shot, so I was happy that I managed to center the bird on the dark spot in the background and to surround it with some colorful fall foliage. All of the orange color in the image really helps the blue on the wing to pop, which is not too surprising since, if I remember color theory correctly, orange and blue are complementary colors.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Interesting. I don’t see too many shotd of female blue birds. I think everyone goes for the more colorful males.
I guess that I am less discriminating than others when it comes to photos–I’ll photograph what ever I can see. I am assuming that this is a female, though there is a slight chance that it is an immature male. I really like the way that this bird has an accent of color that stands out even more than if were a brighter blue.
Great shot, my folks have a couple yearround couples that live in the houses in their backyard. They have prime hunting ground and safe places to raise their young so they just stay there, its pretty cool and a perfect place for me to get good shots..:-)
Pretty nice to have your own bluebirds to photograph. I think that it had been about six months since I had seen a bluebird.
mike , what a great image, the colored leaves in the background really add to this photo.
Thanks. I tried my best to include the autumn colors when I framed the shot and was fortunate that I was able to get this kind of an image.
Beautiful!!
Lots of colour on the bird and the background – beautiful. Fall seems like a bit of a memory since I’m in the Rockies this week looking out my window at a fresh snow.
Thanks. Fresh snow? Wow. Is it time for more photos of a fox pouncing?
I only wish!!!!
She’s beautiful! She might be less colourful than the males, but I love the orange/blue contrast. Nice capture, Mike!
Thanks, Camilla. The bird wasn’t as close as I would have liked, but it’s been so long since I have seen a bluebird that I am not complaining a bit.
Not only a great shot, but perfect placement of the bird against the dark area among the glowing leaves. Really striiking!
Thanks, Gary. The placement of the bird was actually something I thought about when getting the shot. My first couple of attempts had the bird partially obscured by branches and only partly in the dark area. I made an attempt to center the bird better and the bird cooperated by lifting its head.
An awesome image, Mike. I agree to the complimentary colors, these go together really well. M
Thanks. One of the frustrations about photographing birds is that I usually have no control over the background. Sometimes, though, it works out well, like in this image.