This little male Bushtit seems to be looking straight at me and thinking, “Not you again!” He would be right. I spend an inordinate amount of time watching and photographing the birds in my garden. I’ve gotten to the point where I place my Nikon Z9 and my Nikkor Z800mm f/6.3 lens, on the tripod with the Z1.4X teleconverter attached, focused through the open doorway so that it is the exact minimum focusing distance from the California Fuchsia. I do that first thing in the morning after I come downstairs, even before I feed my parrot or have my coffee. The most bird activity happens early in the morning and the light is best on my patio at this time of year before 8AM. I have my other Z9 attached to the Nikkor Z400mmf/4.5 with the Z2X teleconverter and it is setting next to me on the kitchen table. Any movement I perceive outside gets my attention and depending on where the activity is, I have a camera at the ready. The hummingbirds, of course, always get my attention. I’m still working on getting the male Anna’s Hummingbird with his gorget aglow at the fuchsia. He only appeared a couple of weeks ago. Before that, I saw only females. I would love to see a male Black-chinned but so far only females have stopped by. The Bushtits often take priority over the hummers with their delightful antics at the millstone fountain every morning. This was one of those days. Because I was ready, I was able to slowly approach the Bushtits to within 8 feet of the fountain without frightening them off.