Glimpses of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
I really like blue-colored birds: Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli and Indigo Buntings, Tree Swallows, Steller's Jays, and of course the bluebird trio (Western, Mountain and Eastern Bluebirds). One day, I would love to see Black-throated Blue Warblers and Cerulean Warblers, east coast birds which only very rarely turn up in California, mostly along the coast during migration.
But my list of blue birds wouldn't be complete without a small, often overlooked insectivore, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea).
I spotted the bird in these photos while birding along the coast in Monterey recently and, in the bright sunlight, managed to get a few decent photos. (As I've said before, I'm not much of a photographer, but I do try!)
Gnatcatchers are agile and quick, almost constantly in motion as they move through trees and shrubs gleaning tiny insects from leaves and bark.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers range across much of the United States, though many populations are migratory. Here in the mild San Joaquin Valley and along our central coast, they can be found year-round in shrubby and scrubby habitat, usually near water. In Stanislaus and Merced Counties, we see them at our local wildlife refuges (San Luis, Merced and San Joaquin River), along the Tuolumne River, and in Del Puerto Canyon, but they tend to be found singly and are never abundant.
The breeding range of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher appears to be expanding, and Cornell estimates that over the last 25 years, their range has shifted approximately 200 miles north, coinciding with increasing average temperatures.
Spotting a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is always a treat, but getting a decent photo has been, for me at least, quite difficult! I never did get a shot of this little guy at just the right angle... but at least he eventually looked toward the camera!
But my list of blue birds wouldn't be complete without a small, often overlooked insectivore, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea).
I spotted the bird in these photos while birding along the coast in Monterey recently and, in the bright sunlight, managed to get a few decent photos. (As I've said before, I'm not much of a photographer, but I do try!)
Gnatcatchers are agile and quick, almost constantly in motion as they move through trees and shrubs gleaning tiny insects from leaves and bark.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers range across much of the United States, though many populations are migratory. Here in the mild San Joaquin Valley and along our central coast, they can be found year-round in shrubby and scrubby habitat, usually near water. In Stanislaus and Merced Counties, we see them at our local wildlife refuges (San Luis, Merced and San Joaquin River), along the Tuolumne River, and in Del Puerto Canyon, but they tend to be found singly and are never abundant.
The breeding range of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher appears to be expanding, and Cornell estimates that over the last 25 years, their range has shifted approximately 200 miles north, coinciding with increasing average temperatures.
Spotting a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is always a treat, but getting a decent photo has been, for me at least, quite difficult! I never did get a shot of this little guy at just the right angle... but at least he eventually looked toward the camera!
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