Mountain Bluebird

It's mid June, so it's time to take bluebird photos. I already have boatloads of bluebird photos but it just seems like the thing to do. I returned to that one particularly photogenic nest hole I found last year and sure enough it was active. I did manage to get a few shots of the birds. Usually they were too busy to stop and pose at the doorway.

After doing bluebirds at dawn, it was mid-morning by now so I was just out wandering around in the woods, prospecting for bird holes. Suddenly there was some motion on the ground. It turned out to be some badgers in a den hole. I came back that afternoon with my camera. At first nothing was happening. Pretty soon, two cubs came waddling up the hill to the den hole. There were three cubs and one adult there. Periodically they would come out and walk around among the grass a bit, which is darn hard to photograph. One time all three lined up, peering out over the dirt mound. I thought they were kinda cute. I probably would have a different opinion if I were a ground squirrel. After an hour or so, all three cubs came out of the hole and walked across the meadow, single file, and never came back. I have read that badgers don't bother returning to a den hole each night--they just dig a new one wherever they are. That was true here--I checked the next morning and it was abandoned.