{"id":129366,"date":"2024-06-10T03:02:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T08:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129366"},"modified":"2024-06-09T20:24:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T01:24:09","slug":"young-blue-gray-gnatcatcher-at-tishomingo-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/10\/young-blue-gray-gnatcatcher-at-tishomingo-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Blue-gray Gnatcatcher At Tishomingo NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

I couldn’t resist photographing this sweet young Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on my most recent trip to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge. Why would I, anyway?<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Blue-gray Gnatcatcher \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I did see, hear, and photograph Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in Utah, but not as frequently as I would have liked.<\/p>\n

Here in south central Oklahoma, I hear<\/span><\/a> them often, especially at Tishomingo NWR, far more often than I actually see them. I adore the soft calls and songs of these gnatcatchers. Like Cedar Waxwings, there are people who can’t hear them; fortunately, I can.<\/p>\n

This young gnatcatcher wasn’t calling when I spotted it moving around near the water’s edge. Once again, my keen eyesight came in handy.<\/p>\n

I didn’t have this little beauty in my viewfinder long. The young gnatcatcher perched just barely long enough for me to take a few sharp images before it took off.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, I will be able to take many more images of this species in Oklahoma and Texas this year. They are such beautiful little birds.\u00a0 My pulse speeds up whenever they are around.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Blue-gray Gnatcatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I couldn’t resist photographing this sweet young Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on my most recent trip to Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge. Why would I, anyway?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,6135,15144,13973,15021],"tags":[6134,13985,13984,9115,6147,4067,4104,6136,165,4193],"class_list":["post-129366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-blue-gray-gnatcatchers","category-johnston-county","category-oklahoma","category-tishomingo-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-blue-gray-gnatcatcher","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forests","tag-bottomlands","tag-gnatcatcher","tag-gnatcatchers","tag-immature","tag-perched","tag-polioptila-caerulea","tag-spring","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-young-tishomingo-mia-mcpherson-3094.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xEy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49199,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/30\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-american-goldfinch-american-tree-sparrow-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":129366,"position":0},"title":"Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Goldfinch & American Tree Sparrow in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent time photographing primarily small birds yesterday in northern Utah which included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow in the shadows, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":132833,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/21\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-plus-a-blue-supermoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":129366,"position":1},"title":"Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Plus A Blue Supermoon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The theme for today is blue subjects: Photos of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on a driftwood perch, along with a Blue Supermoon image from early yesterday morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blue-gray 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Gnatcatcher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to find and photograph a male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in spring breeding plumage yesterday at the edge of a juniper woodland in Tooele County.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher looking curious, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-in-spring-mia-mcpherson-3299.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-in-spring-mia-mcpherson-3299.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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