Exact location: 45.16179, - 81.36093 (by GPS +/- 3 m), Dyer's Bay Rd., 1.0 km ENE of the intersection with Crane Lake Rd.
Behaviour: Foraging along treed edge on west side of seasonally flooded pasture. For some minutes it repeatedly flew from a perch in an apple tree to the ground, hovering in between in an AMKE-like fashion, as MOBLs do. The bird foraged over a wide area (~100 m), north and south of Dyer's Bay Road during my stay. I heard the call several times as a soft whistled 'peer'.
Identification: Compared to Eastern Bluebird this bird evidenced:
* longer wings (note primary projection in photo) and tail and more graceful flight; * a longer, thinner black bill lacking yellow at base; * a grey/buff wash over throat, breast, upper belly and flanks, pale bluish from some angles; * a pale line across forehead; * sustained hovering flight 2-3 m. over ground.
MOBL is a very familiar species as this was a backyard bird during our recent two year residency in central Alberta.
UPDATE: I and others couldn't find the bird one day later (Nov 9th).
Details
Exact location: 45.16179, - 81.36093 (by GPS +/- 3 m), Dyer's Bay Rd., 1.0 km ENE of the intersection with Crane Lake Rd.
Behaviour: Foraging along treed edge on west side of seasonally flooded pasture. For some minutes it repeatedly flew from a perch in an apple tree to the ground, hovering in between in an AMKE-like fashion, as MOBLs do. The bird foraged over a wide area (~100 m), north and south of Dyer's Bay Road during my stay. I heard the call several times as a soft whistled 'peer'.
Identification: Compared to Eastern Bluebird this bird evidenced:
* longer wings (note primary projection in photo) and tail and more graceful flight;
* a longer, thinner black bill lacking yellow at base;
* a grey/buff wash over throat, breast, upper belly and flanks, pale bluish from some angles;
* a pale line across forehead;
* sustained hovering flight 2-3 m. over ground.
MOBL is a very familiar species as this was a backyard bird during our recent two year residency in central Alberta.
UPDATE: I and others couldn't find the bird one day later (Nov 9th).