May 20th, 2011

Even the briefest period of fair weather has revived the spring bird migration. Clouds of jays have been on the move the last few days, a dozen at a time chowing down at the Blair feeders. But yesterday a dazzling flash of blue caught my attention, and since there is little else in nature quite like it, I knew the indigo buntings were back.

Navigating by starlight during the migration, the buntings overwinter in Central America, Cuba and the Caribbean Islands.  Once back in Ontario they spurn the urban landscape in favour of fields and field edges- a favoured singing post at Blair is atop an old apple tree alongside the corn field.

The colour we see, as in other “blue” birds, is a trick of the eyes.  Since there is no blue pigment in bird feathers, the hues we see are the result of the scattering of light by tiny pockets of air among the barbs of the feathers.

The warmth of the sun today has lifted my spirits, but not so much as the sound and song of the indigo bunting.