Tuesday Bird Photo: Indigo Bunting


The other weekend, my husband and I walked all around the Yorktown battlefield. Battlefields are remarkably devoid of life, generally, which is, I guess, pretty ironic. One can go around with a park ranger to hear all about the battle lines and charges and retreats and such and see the movies with still pictures or re-enactments in the museum, but outside all one sees are quiet, empty fields and lumps of ground that were "earthworks" with a trench on one side.

Still, we did see some birds and butterflies in the shrubby areas around the battlefield's edges. I managed to catch this indigo bunting - a bright fluttering blue spot in an otherwise sea of stillness and green - just as it was doing one of those nanosecond landing/takeoff again maneuvers. They are lovely birds, not raucous like jays, and less flamboyant than their cousins the painted buntings. I've seen a number of the indigos here in Virginia, and so I consider them local beauties.




Comments

Ray Barnes said…
What a little beauty. I've never heard of this one .
You seem to have quite a large number of birds which are not known in Europe.
Lovely picture and post Penny.
Thanks, Ray! I guess you have birds we don't have, too. And we have birds here in Virginia that I don't see in Georgia. Makes life interesting!
stpatti said…
Lovely. I've seen an indigo maybe once in my life, and they are stunning.
Hi Patti - I feel fortunate to see them more frequently here. Even saw a painted bunting once at the beach but I didn't have my camera ready then.