Beautiful day yesterday at Presque Isle State Park, up until 1:30PM when surprise snow squalls moved in with force. (Enough for a National Weather Service ’emergency broadcast’ over the cell network.) The following two shots were taken at Budny Beach (Beach No. 10) at approximately 1:17PM. The first is looking generally east – it’s turned into a nice, sunny day!
The second is looking generally west at a very dark line of approaching cold/snow – looks like the ‘nice, sunny’ day’s days are numbered:
After that, it was pretty much white-out. But earlier in the day, at outer Gull Point, it was time for always fun and always cute Snow Buntings! To give curious readers a sense of how hard they are to spot on the ground:
Following are all Snow Bunting (non-breeding plumage) on the ground and in the air, under cloudy conditions:
Best bet for Snow Bunting at Presque Isle: hike out Gull Point to the observation platforms (followed by walking the perimeter beach if needed), keeping an ear out for “peeping” and an eye out for groups of small birds in flight. (Other candidate for small winter flocks @ outer Gull Point = American Tree Sparrow.)