When the sky is gray...

...send in the Eastern Bluebirds! We had three this morning, This male, and perhaps a pair feeding.(In the extra).Mama, a bit wet after a dip in the bird bath and a deeper colored Papa at her side. They stayed for a bit, returned a few times, I can actually see one as I post this. 

"The bluebird is well named, for he wears a coat of the purest, richest, and most gorgeous blue on back, wings, and tail; no North American bird better deserves the name, for no other flashes before our admiring eyes so much brilliant blue." — Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds

Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast.

The vibrant colors and soft, musical warbles of the Eastern Bluebird are a welcome sight on a cold, snowy day. Bluebirds have long been considered harbingers of spring, and their willingness to nest in open, human-modified habitats makes them popular among birders and non-birders alike.


For the Record,
This day came in cold and cloudy, the gray milky sky is back.

All hands cozy.