Dateline: 2 April 2022
“Part 2” of the Weekend Update is a bit belated, but bird photojournalism is always timely. Plus a butterfly and some deer – a veritable nature potpourri.
Last Saturday, cool with highs in the upper 30’s to low 40’s deg F; clouds early, but sunny by 10AM. Bit of a chilly, light breeze. Still, a glorious early spring day out at Presque Isle State Park. Lots of bird activity.
Trail update: all visited trails generally the same as recently reported, e.g., mostly in good shape but locally muddy or flooded where applicable (e.g., Sidewalk Trail east end remains flooded).
First up, ducks. Mostly slept through duck migration season? No worries, still lots to see. Saturday sightings included Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Wood Duck and Blue-winged Teal (both first sightings this spring), Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, maybe Scaups and Redheads. Lots of ducks! Also Coots! And Canada Geese! And a mystery Grebe!
With the good weather, dispatched the team to Long Pond and Thompson Bay. On Long Pond:
All day Saturday, a rather amazing amount of Turkey Vulture activity, both at Presque Isle and around Erie generally. At Long Pond, witnessed 13+ Turkey Vultures wheeling overhead in the sky, plus two more in a tree. It’s a lot of Turkey Vultures!
Quick stop at the Sidewalk Trail, east end trailhead. Still flooded. But cool to see a Blue-winged Teal in close proximity to a Wood Duck. (In the shot below, Teal is in the middle of the frame – note the crescent-shaped white cheek patch – whereas the Wood Duck, in the shadow, is just to the lower left of it.)
And a Canada Goose hanging out on the trail:
Meanwhile, over by Thompson Bay:
Finally, the mystery Grebe! Definitely a Grebe, definitely a mystery. Time to break out the Nikon Z5 for some handheld nights shots to figure this out.
