170. Mountain Bluebird

(This image is from the Cornell Lab.)

I’ve always enjoyed watching birds. It’s fun to see them fly around in the trees or the bushes busily foraging for seeds and berries. In winter time there are plenty around here that come to the feeder my neighbor has so I can just sit in my living room and watch them. In the summer time it is always fun to catch a glimpse of a mountain bluebird. They seldom (if ever) come into a town, even a town as small as where I live. But you will see them near here in the meadows on a rare occasion, most likely in late spring and early summer. If you’re in southern Idaho they are a little more common most any time of year. I only mention that because of where I live and the fact that they are the state bird of Idaho. You can actually see them anywhere throughout the mountain west depending on the time of year, but you won’t see them on the coast.

I think the thing I love most about the mountain bluebird is just how blue they are. They look like a piece of the sky twittering around in the bushes, eating pesky insects here and there.Their song is that of a dewy mountain meadow sparkling in the morning sunlight. The entire presence of a mountain bluebird has a way of bestowing beauty to the earth, to me. When I see and hear one I am likely already in a place that brings me joy, but in case that wasn’t happening the presence of one of these little pieces of eternally blue sky transports me away from all annoyances or problems and reminds me that I only need to breathe. I continue to be astounded at how little things can create such darkness in my life and then I see or hear a bluebird and the beauty of a clear sky radiates into my very being and all the dark clouds of my mood can be swept away as if they were never there at all.

I don’t know if other people are so easily transported to joy by this little bird, but I am and that’s why I am grateful for the mountain bluebird.