As their name implies, the mountain bluebird lives in the mountains.

The male is a intensely blue bluebird that I see at higher elevations when birding around the Tahoe Basin or in the Eastern Sierra. This is not a bluebird that is associated with the Coastal Region of California. Here you are more likely to find the western bluebird.

So when an immature male mountain bluebird was spotted at Mori Point a few days ago, I headed down to Pacifica to try and add this rare county coastal lifer.

Usually a bird like this is easy to find because of the amount of other Bay Area birders this rarity attracts. As I was heading up to the point, I passed three geared out birders head down. They confirmed the bird was still there.

When I reached the plateau just to the east of Mori Point, the intensely blue bluebird stood out against the green grass. It was an odd juxtaposition seeing this mountain bird with the Pacific Ocean in the background.

I watched the bluebird forage and took some document photos and then I heard a loud thrasher calling from the hillside. I headed up the hill and saw the singer who I had already identified as a California thrasher.