Dateline: 20 March 2022.
Wow, so much going on in Erie, PA generally, and Presque Isle State Park in particular, don’t even know where to begin. BirdingPI.com “PI Bird Alert”(TM)? Weekend update? Wishes for a happy spring?
As a preview of sorts, the birding notables: (i) American Woodcock (WHAT???); (ii) Green-winged Teal (!); Red-breasted Merganser (also !)
But first, with spring here and the snow melted, time to get back to regular trail updates. Plus weather; always about the weather in Erie. Friday, seasonably warm, mostly sunny, spring-like, nice day; Saturday, rain, an hour-and-a-half of sunshine around 11 AM (and humid), then periodic rain the rest of the day; Sunday, colder, rain and sleet in the AM, windy. Eased up with hints of hazy sun and blue sky after noon, windy, still cold, mostly sunny by evening. Everything rather waterlogged, moderately brutal wind chill off Lake Erie. Lake Erie totally unfrozen.
Trails, locally muddy and flooded:
- Canoe Portage Trail: good shape
- Duck Pond Trail: locally very muddy
- Long Pond Trail, east trailhead: two large downed trees, but passable; swamp crossing easily passable
- Long Pond Trail, west trailhead: very muddy, flooded
- Sidewalk Trail, west trailhead: good shape
- Marsh Trail: flooded
- Sidewalk Trail, east trailhead: flooded and impassible at pond crossover
- Dead Pond Trail, west end: muddy and locally flooded
- Dead Pond Trail, east end: locally muddy
- Pine Tree Trail: good shape, except for downed tree by east trailhead
- Thompson Bay access trails: good shape
- B-Trail: flooded
- A-Trail: Muddy and slippery across swamp ‘bridge:’
Finally, on to some birds. First up, the back bay by Feather Observation Platform. Ducks on the bay, and a lovely Belted Kingfisher on the lagoon:
Of note, Red-breasted Mergansers on both the back bay and lake. Might have seem some previously, but this is the first confirmation via pictures. See ID hint below.
Next, time to hit the beach for some wind chill! By one of the rock breakwaters by Presque Isle Lighthouse (see above), startled a Red-breasted Merganser. Might have gotten better shots but for removing the lens cap, picking up the lens cap after dropping it by the water, turning on camera, focusing, etc. (Expect the unexpected!)
Time for a BirdingPI.com “bird ID” moment(TM). Red-breasted Merganser, male. Note the tufts on the back of the head (downwards-facing arrow), distinct white spots on black field on shoulder (upwards-facing arrow), and dark-ish/red coloration on breast (right-facing arrow):
Next up, Thompson Bay. Many Canada Geese out and about, including this one at Thompson Circle:
Traversing past the Thompson Bay swamp/pond by Access Trail #1 (https://birdingpi.com/872-2/), no better happy tiding of spring than amazing Green-winged Teals! Maybe a dozen in total.
Distinguishing feature from Common (Eurasian) Teals: distinctive vertical white stripe on the male’s shoulder.
The following is obscured and slightly out of focus, but shows where “green-winged” originates:
The Teals flew off north; time to head along the Duck Blind Trail towards the north end of the swamp/pond. Of all things, what flushes out of the thick underbrush but an American Woodcock! Barely out in the open for several seconds, but saw it long enough to note the buffy color and distinctively long bill, like a Snipe or Dowitcher. Heard its call soon thereafter, ID confirmed via Chirp-o-matic. (http://www.chirpomatic.com/ – no affiliation, although Chirp-o-matic is great).
Audio above is super noisy with the wind, but including it for full coverage + no pictures. Flushed the Woodcock again for a brief glimpse later, but if you can see the Woodcock, it’s seen you already and isn’t hanging around. (Time to set up camp off Thompson Circle!)
After seeing a Woodcock, pretty much the day is already an “A+,” poor weather notwithstanding. Even so, ‘icing on the cake’ to sneak up on a female (or juvenile?) Bufflehead on a log, preening and enjoying the afternoon sunshine:
Even bad Bufflehead video! (Sound is off since it was only wind noise.)
It’s like whipped-cream icing at this point (mmm….), but startled some American Coots on Thompson Bay, including a bit of water running:
Started off crummy, but wow, what a day, and what a great way to kick off spring! No better way to end the post than with another Song Sparrow, by Thompson Bay.
