ML637942122

Detalles de la observación

Transcription of contemporaneous field notes recorded on a tape cassette: "The Mountain Bluebird was observed at about 20 yards through the Questar at 45X and 60X power. The upper parts including the forehead, crown, nape and wings were all uniformly blue. Underparts the chin and the upper throat were a light grey. The breast was a definite blue; the lower part of the blue may have been bordered a little bit by gray. At any rate the the abdomen and vent were definitely white. The bill was all dark. The eye was all dark; no eye ring. The feet were black. About 7:10 (pm?). We were really afraid we had dipped out. But they appeared on the ...(tape cuts out to another, earlier, checklist suggesting that I taped the Mountain Bluebird sighting on top of another recording). Then at the beginning of the next tape cassette labeled on side A "July 5, 1986 to Jan 4, 1987" and on side B "Jan 4, 1987 to May 17, 1987" there is another recording of this checklist. It goes on to say: "OK. Today is Saturday, July 5th, the time is 7:20 pm. ...We pulled into a new cedar shingle like home and found a bird house just to the south of the house. Looked for about one half hour, it was getting dark (but not too dark said Martha) and it started to rain and we were really getting worried that we were going to miss this bird. Then on Martha's suggestion I played the Eastern Bluebird tape and then I turned around and looked up and there on the TV antennae of the house were a pair of bluebirds, one a female Eastern and the other the male Mountain Bluebird." A query of the Minnesota Ornithologist's Union Sightings Database found the following three observations of a Mountain Bluebird at the same location around the same time. 1. 6/20/86 Janssen #1 paired with female Eastern Rossburg Aitkin County 2. 6/22/86 Tustison #1 HW 47 and CR 5 Aitkin County 3. 7/17/86 Tustison #1 HW 47 and CR 5 Aitkin County This individual was also reported in Notes of Interest in the Loon, Winter Issue, Volume 58, Number 4, pages 194-196. Below are the URL addresses for these three pages. http://moumn.org/loon/pdf/1986/1986_194.jpg http://moumn.org/loon/pdf/1986/1986_195.jpg http://moumn.org/loon/pdf/1986/1986_196.jpg