At this time of the year pops of bright color are especially welcome, so I was thrilled on Thursday to see some Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in a sumac patch at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Sometimes when I see bluebirds their colors seem muted, but the blue color of these birds was dazzling, especially for the males in the first two shots. I think the bluebird in the final shot is a female, judging from its coloration.
As always, you can see more detail if you click on the images, which I especially recommend for the first image, because you will see that the bluebird has a tiny sumac berry in its bill.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Beautiful! Three great shots but I like the first best.
Thanks. I too like the first one best. The pose is a bit more dynamic than in the other shots and you have a better sense of the overall environment.
Love these!
Thanks, Liz. I was definitely excited to see this beautiful little birds. In theory they are in my area throughout the year, but I see them only occasionally.
Great shots, beautiful birds.
Those are amazing bluebird photos! And set against the dried plants gives great contrast. Thank you!
Gorgeous birds.. lucky man !
Absolutely beautiful, especially with the soft backgrounds.
Beautiful❤
Very nice Blue Birds, especially the first with the snack!
Thanks, Ellen. My favorite is also the first one, primarily because of the bird’s pose.
awesome
Nice Mike! Always nice to see bluebirds!
Ah, the blue beauty with the berry!
Love this series Mike. The first one is particularly sweet.
These are great, Mike. We haven’t seen the bluebirds that were coming around for a week or so, and we miss them. We put out some tasty (?) mealworms for them, but they have snubbed us. Nice to see your crystal-clear images.
Great shot’s, Mike. We have robins already back in the area. It’s like winter totally skipped us here in Pennsylvania.
We tend to have robins here in Northern Virginia most of the year. When I was growing up in Massachusetts, robins were always viewed as a harbinger of spring, but that is certainly not the case here.
Beautiful ! Nice contrast of colors !
Thanks, Alexa. One of the big challenges of wildlife shooting is that I don’t often get to compose as carefully as landscape or studio photographers. It is always nice when I can manage to get an image with a pleasing color palette–sometimes complementary color and sometimes contrasting one.
Yes, I understand that 🙂 The birds don’t pose like a fashion models. So some luck in nature photography is needed 🙂
Luck is definitely a big factor, though in my experience patience and persistence are probably the most important requirements (even more important than gear).
I agree. Lots of patience and persistence is the key! 🙂 But after all having fun of doing it makes us keep going!!!