First Spring Male Lazuli Bunting Singing in A Chokecherry Tree

First spring male Lazuli Bunting singing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

While my Mom was here visiting me the two of us spotted a female Lazuli Bunting up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, the bird was too far away to take high quality images of her but we enjoyed listening to her call and to another unseen bird that was answering her.

That sighting with my Mom made me hope that I would see more Lazuli Buntings in the canyons, yesterday morning that hope was fulfilled when I spotted a first spring male fly into a blooming Chokecherry tree. It was a true challenge to get images of the bunting because of the branches, leaves and blossoms that obscured a clear view of the bird plus the lighting made for a challenging exposure. I was never able to get a completely unobstructed view of him as he sang and most of my photos are going into my delete bin but I like this one image of the bunting singing.

Listen to a male Lazuli Bunting singing here.

A Lazuli Bunting male in breeding plumage would not show the rufous coloration on its mantle; or upper back, like this first spring male does or the spots of rufous that show on the back of its neck and head.

Seeing buntings always make me smile because when my boys were young we used to go “Bunting Hunting” which meant we’d drive back roads looking for the Indigo Buntings we had in Georgia. Most of the time I would hear them before I saw them but their songs would help me find them and point them out to my sons. Sharing time with my sons looking for those buntings created great memories for me. I didn’t have a camera back then that could takes images of them like I can today so my sightings of them were simply etched into my memory.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Lazuli Bunting photos plus facts and information about this species.