ML124924181

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Male with rich blue gray upperparts and hint of black "dash" over eye.

Observation details

California Gnatcatcher is still a rare visitor (almost all records during fall) at Harriett (it breeds, of course, on the Bolsa Chica mesa north and west of the Wintersburg Channel). This may change in the future as the Conservancy and the County continue to plant more coastal sage scrub vegetation within the boundaries of Harriett Wieder Regional Park. I did not detect this species at Harriett in 2018, but I found plenty of reports in eBird. Today I happened to capture two Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in same photos showing very different upperpart coloration - the rich blue gray bird is certainly a male, but the other may be a female or HY bird. Both birds, however, show the distinctly white edged tertials that California Gnatcatchers do not show.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot G3 X

ISO

320

Focal length

220 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

4109 pixels x 2935 pixels

Original file size

2.59 MB