Uncooperative Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I managed to get in some field work today in preparation for a series of Earth Day outdoor classes I'm presenting at our local middle school, and while I'm of course going to get the kids enmeshed in the wetlands world, I took advantage of my time to look up as well as down. The annual bird migration in now underway, so there's a good probability of spotting new arrivals. In a lichen-encrusted and -festooned Larch, I noticed something small and energetic flitting in the branches, and even without a view through my telephoto, I had a pretty good idea of the tiny, long-tailed bird's identity. The manic mite had to be a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and, though none of the images I captured showed the bird to great advantage, I photographed enough of the relevant field marks—the eye ring, the white on the edge of the tail, the blue-gray feathering, and the white breast—to put together a composite that sealed the identification deal. The constant movement of the gnatcatcher confirmed my assessment. So another bird has returned "home," and this species, unlike many of the warblers and sandpipers that will soon arrive, is here for the breeding and kid-raising season. Time to check the local trees for nests.