Monterey Audubon - Bushtits

How to photograph Bushtits: Find a Bushtit, which generally means finding many Bushtits. (It helps to learn their subtle calls, which they make incessantly.) Get one in focus after great effort. Hit the shutter repeatedly until it's no longer in focus. Hope. Repeat.

Fortunately they're common so there are ample opportunities to try. This one was with a little flock in the willows at Laguna Grande Park last week. Those Bushtit flocks have had some distinguished friends of late, including a Lucy's Warbler (now absent for weeks), at least two wintering Yellow Warblers, and a Nashville Warbler.

But today let's make it about the Bushtit, North America's only member of the family Aegithalidae. All other species in the family are found in Eurasia! (I KNEW they were weird, said everyone.)

Here are thumbnails of their exotic relatives:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=map&taxon_id=7264&view=species

Posted on February 22, 2024 06:38 PM by billhubick