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Thursday, August 5, 2010

Indigo Bunting

I'm always amazed at the things I find on my local trips to the nature parks near my house. Many of you know from reading here that I've been spending a lot of time at the big state parks that are a bit farther away than the usual places I go. It's something I plan to keep doing as often as possible. But lately I've felt that I've been neglecting a few things.

First, I have begun to miss my local nature parks. I hesitated going back to them though because I felt that I might have outgrown them. I thought maybe the sights and sounds of so much bigger nature parks had spoiled me for these smaller places. But as I thought about that, I decided that it might be time to come back home.

So I went to the park that is only a couple miles from home. It seemed to be the same old place as I walked all the way through. It was good to be out, but the place seemed almost empty to me now. The last time I attempted this I got caught in a huge downpour. The one thing I missed the most was the nice people that are at these smaller parks.

Click Here For More Information About Indigo Buntings.
These are places that people of all ages can go and experience nature. The bigger parks I go to are full of very rude bike riders. They get angry at any car that passes by, and they try to run down anyone on foot. So I was glad to get back home and be able to talk to a few nice people that I met at my local parks. They always ask about my camera.

But wait, the title of the post today indicates this is going to be about the lovely little Indigo Buntings that I am featuring in the pictures. Well, it is, but you all know that I love to ramble on about what is on my mind the most, so I'm going to explain a few more things after I talk about this bird.

Anyway, one particular woman I talked to told me that she met some birders the day before that explained to her that they were watching Indigo Buntings. She said they were looking up in the trees. I told her that I wasn't as good at them at finding birds up in the trees this time of year because there were too many leaves. We talked a bout a few more things and after awhile both went on our own ways.


So imagine my surprise about an hour later when I heard a group of birds noisily moving around in the tall grass at the front of the park. I began chasing them around with my camera, but it was not an easy task at all. The noise was much easier to catch than the sight of any of these birds.

But when I saw them they were the most beautiful blue I had ever seen on a bird. And now you can see that blue in my pictures today. The females were brown though. For some reason males get all the color in the bird kingdom. But the females make sounds that are just as beautiful.

This episode of Rat TV is more for sound than sight. But you can get a very good look at a female Indigo Bunting at the beginning. The males come later. You can also watch my almost futile attempts to capture these birds on video. It can be frustrating but very funny at times.

Now that we are at the end of this very long post I want to explain what else I've been missing because of my excursions to the far away state nature parks. I'm sure many of you have noticed it. I haven't been commenting nearly as much on any of your blogs as I used to be able to do.I love reading your posts, but I have had to impose a curfew of midnight on myself so I can get some sleep.

But just as I was winding down this weekend to read some wonderful blog posts my internet began to mess up very badly. My telephone also goes through the internet, so that was also not working. I like my cable and internet provider, but this happens much too often. When it finally began working I blew a fuse in my house, the only kind I didn't have. So that messed it up for tonight too. Hopefully I'll be back by tomorrow. But I'm still spoiled a bit by my far away adventures. Maybe I can come to some compromise.

Okay, that's finally the end this time. Maybe tomorrow will be a much shorter post. But I will definitely have something very good for you. Stay tuned. And I hope to be able to visit you all later today.


Nature Center Magazine - Today Copas is bringing us a tour of the state of Kentucky. This state has a lot more than I ever thought it did. Take a look and you may just be amazed at the amount of nature activities there are.

11 comments:

  1. I agree that male Indigo Buntings are extremely beautiful birds. The female is plainer but is lovely in her on right.
    Great captures of the male. You really caught the pair in action on the video!!!

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  2. I always ask myself whether I do enjoy blogging. I do hope this does not be a burden to me.

    I wish the same to you, and fly freely like the blue Indingo Buntings.

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  3. Wow, the male indigo bunting is almost iridescent! And you know how I love Bird TV. ;-)

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  4. oh, very beautiful bird, love its blue-ness. i love local nearby parks, though my hubby thinks they are local and not worth brining his camera, I always do :) i love our parks :)

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  5. Ratty, that indigo bunting is such a beautiful bird! Incredible color. We just can't improve on the colors in nature. It's seems quite a task to keep up with those little creatures, though.

    I know what you mean about getting enough sleep. I rarely go to bed before 3AM and I'm not a late sleeper. My cardiologist has a fit about this and I keep telling him I'll do better...but I don't.

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  6. Buntigs do move quick, it is a hard bird to shoot. When they perch they have a beautiful song, once you hear it , you will start looking for this great bird.I have one place I visit regularly in the spring where I have caught them arriving in mass along with some warblers.I got some good bunting pics yesterday also.

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  7. Such a pretty bird, one of my favorite colors.

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  8. They are such pretty birds. I have only seen one once and I think it was just traveling through for the winter. Great photos and video ratty!! I love hearing the sounds of birds.

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  9. Wow! That Indigo Bunting is absolutely gorgeous! Great pictures Ratty. I loved your video- I've done that so many times before and when you look at the video, you tend to have only a fraction of it on the subject- the rest is you chasing it around! Very cool post :)
    Hope you get a decent nights sleep, it is one of the most important things ever!

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  10. How pretty! I've never seen one of these. Great vid! Thanks, Ratty . . . :-)

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  11. What a beautiful blue bird! I'm glad to hear that you're more relax when out in nature..

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