First Mountain Bluebird - Thurston County Yelm

Along Canal Rd. there is a small stand of Oaks where I watched a
Mountain Bluebird fly across the road earlier this week. I imagine it
is the same Mountain Bluebird that was in this location last year.

See TWEETERS ARCHIVE

Western Bluebird from BirdWeb

Western Bluebirds can be found in eastern Washington at the edges where the forest meets the steppe. They are also found in open coniferous forest, especially Ponderosa pine. They are especially common in areas where nest box projects have provided them with adequate cavities. Nest boxes are in place in Kittitas, Yakima, Klickitat, Walla Walla, Columbia, and Garfield Counties. In western Washington, Mountain Bluebirds are now regular, but uncommon, in the Fort Lewis area, and rare in forest clearings in King, Pierce, Thurston, and Mason Counties, and in prairie areas near Port Townsend (Jefferson County), at the mouth of the Naselle River (Pacific County), Forks (Clallam County), and other sites on the eastern Olympic Peninsula. They can also be found year round in Skamania County.

[Yelm habitat is mostly, prairie]

Mountain Bluebird from Birdweb

Mountain Bluebirds can be found in alpine parklands in the Cascades, the Blue Mountains, and the northeast corner of Washington. They are absent as breeders from the Olympic Mountains. In western Washington, they can be found locally near Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. In eastern Washington they can be found along Umtanum Ridge (Yakima County), Elk Heights (Kittitas County), in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and at mid-elevations on the east slope of the Cascades in meadows and logged areas. There is a significant population in Klickitat County around Bickleton where an intensive nest box program has provided many nesting opportunities. The Mountain Bluebird is the only bluebird that nests in alpine parkland and high elevation open areas. In the winter they can be found in flocks in similar habitat and more open, treeless terrain, but they are very uncommon.

Description:
Blue back, wings, and head. White breast.
Earlier notes [2009] indicate, white eyering, white breast, blue wings w/small patch of black overall color blue which suggests a Western Bluebird.

Noted in S. Thurston County, Tenino: 2 - 9 Feb. 2010 on Tweet

Tweets, Monday around noon I spotted a female Mountain Bluebird near 16700
Gibson Rd in s. Thurston Co. This location is about 5 minutes from I-5 via
exit 88 (Grand Mound/Hwy 12 exit), then east on Old Hwy 99 toward Tenino.
Gibson runs north from just past the racetrack, and the bird was located
beyond the jog then north past the 3 chicken barns along the east-west
fenceline on the right that borders the tree farm. I was out searching for
kites and shrikes but also thinking it might be a good day for bluebirds to
be about. (I encountered 4 male Western Bluebirds along Gibson Rd on Feb 9
2009, evidently passing through.) This bird was well off the road but
happened to make a foray to the ground and caught my eye just as I was
driving slowly by. The last time a Mountain Bluebird was reported in
Thurston County it stuck around for several days. Good birding!
-- P. H. / Tenino, s. Thurston Co / phicks AT accessgrace DOT org