Scolding gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are among the smallest songbirds in our cast of avian characters, and they're one of the hardest species to photograph close-up. The energetic birds are very noisy—they have a buzzy song—but they're always on the move, so no sooner do you locate one than they've flitted somewhere else. And since they're tiny to begin with, well, let's just say that trying to capture Blue-grays can be exceedingly frustrating. But sometimes you get lucky, and today was that day. I had a half-hour without my grand-daughter shadow and I was walking in the backwoods behind the house when I heard the familiar call and got my camera ready. To my delight, the bird came within about five feet and started to scold me. The fearless male—you can tell its sex by the prominent black eyebrow; the females lack this fieldmark—read me the riot act as I shot close-up after close-up. I hope he forgave me my trespasses.