One of the birds I spotted and photographed on my last trip to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge was this male Indigo Bunting in the shadows of the leaves.
Perched male Indigo Bunting in the shadows – Nikon D500, f8, 1/250, ISO 1600, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
The canopy of tree leaves above the bird did not dim the vibrant blue hues of his feathers. In fact, he seemed to glow all on his own.
I am missing out on photographing Lazuli Buntings by living in Oklahoma instead of Utah, but now I have Indigo and Painted Buntings to focus on. I’m okay with that!
Every time I hear and see Indigo Buntings, I am reminded of going “bunting hunting” with my sons when they were children. We would go on long back road drives, looking specifically for these buntings. I didn’t have the gear then to photograph them, but we all loved looking for these beautiful blue birds.
During the early part of their breeding season, it appeared that the males were always singing. That seems to be the case here in Oklahoma too!
I stuck around and photographed this male for several minutes, hoping that a spot of sunlight would move over toward the bird. He flew off before that could happen.
I haven’t been able to explore Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in Texas as much as I would like, but I bet there are plenty of Indigo Buntings there too.
It has been an unusual very wet spring here, and some roads at Hagerman NWR are closed due to flooding. As soon as they open though, I’ll be off exploring every one of them. You can bet the farm on that and it would be a 100% safe bet!
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Indigo Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species.
You are right about those colours – and seeing one of these beauties would be a red letter day for me.