Rather nice weather the day of Christmas Eve, so why not the yearly/seasonal hike out to Gull Point for (hopefully) seeing overwintering Yellow-rumped Warblers?
Outer Lake Erie remained unfrozen, with little snow on the ground other than melting chunks along Budny Beach:
Not unexpectedly, not a ton of bird activity overall, but plenty of American Tree Sparrows:
Also Downy Woodpeckers:
Didn’t actually see any Yellow-rumped Warblers until the return hike back to Budny Beach, where the ‘inland’ trail passes through a thicket of Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica):
Here’s a view of American Tree Sparrow on a Bayberry, with Bayberry fruit top center:
The Yellow-rumped Warblers love Bayberry fruit, hence this being the best location on Presque Isle for reliable winter sightings:
At one point, probably had at least a dozen Warblers flying back and forth, along with sparrows and woodpeckers. So a good/lucky day for winter Warblers!
Coming up soon, more Gull Point and more Peregrine Falcon!
Oh, the joy of hiking out to Gull Point, seeing the birds, enjoying the beautiful surroundings!
Unusually ‘warm’ + little ice/snow on that particular outing to Gull Point, which was nice considering the season. The warm spell didn’t last too long, though – freezing rain turning to snow and moderate blizzard conditions all day yesterday.