At this time of the year I often hear the distinctive singing of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (Polioptila caerulea), but I rarely get a clear view of these tiny birds. I like the way the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website describes these birds, “The nasal, wheezy, rambling song and insistent, squeaky calls are great first clues to finding them, particularly as these tiny birds can get lost in the generally taller habitats used in the eastern part of their range.” If you are interested in hearing samples of the different calls and songs of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, click this link to another part of the same website.
Once I have heard the singing, I begin to scan the foliage near the top of top of a tree and if I am lucky I will detect some motion. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers like to flick their tails from side to side to scare up insects and then the gnatcatchers chase after them. Strangely, though, gnats do not form a significant part of their diet. So, in addition to being small (about 4 inches (10 cm) in length), they are almost always moving—that makes it quite a challenge to photograph one.
I was therefore quite thrilled to capture this image last Friday of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I had been tracking this bird for a while as it moved about from one patch of leaves to another and was more or less ready when it popped out of the foliage onto this small branch.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Lovely bird. 💖
Nice Mike! Glad you can still get out to photograph where you are.
Great catcher! I mean capture!
Sweet photo!
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Your patience paid off – these are non-stop movers!
A wonderful gift on this 50th Earth Day! It has been sent on to Benjamin and he will love it! The thought occurs to me that Earth Day is not just a single day of celebration for you, but every single day…and that is at it should be for every single person. I am fortunate to enjoy the gifts that are freely given on your blog! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Thanks for your kind words, Ellen. When people get into photography, they generally are attracted to a particular niche. Some people like to photograph buildings or people. I really like nature and the deeper I get into photography, the more I am drawn to the natural world. Nature satisfies me in so many ways with its beauty, its complexity, and diversity. If one of the goals of Earth Day is to increase awareness of our natural world, then I guess I do help with that with my blog postings.
Nice capture, Mike! I’ve been tortured over the last week by one at the top of our neighbor’s Crepe Myrtle — always behind a leaf.
The little ones do seem to pose frequent problems, not only because they’re so small, but also because they tend to be so fast and flitty. There are some little rascals down here that I’d love to catch with the camera, especially our wily rifleman. I’m so happy to have had recent good luck with the silvereyes!
There is really a bird called the rifleman? I grew up watching a TV series by that name that starred Chuck Connors. Fortunately Google helped me out with info on that tiny New Zealand bird, a worthy adversary for you, it seems.
I remember the series very fondly! Without looking anything up, I can remember (I think) that his son was Marcus and the sheriff was Micah, and he had a cocking mechanism on his lever-action rifle that was very similar to (although somewhat larger than) Josh Randall’s (aka Steve McQueen’s) sawed-off Mare’s Laig on Wanted: Dead or Alive. Ah, those Saturdays!
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.