Not unexpectedly, more bad weather today in Erie County, Pennsylvania: cold, snowing, windy, with a high temperature of no more than -7 deg C (19 deg F) at 4AM falling throughout the day to a forecast low temp of -18 deg C (zero deg F) this evening. High temp tomorrow? Maybe 8 deg F.
No better (worst?) place to enjoy the bad weather in Erie than South Pier. Something about the exposed location proximate both to Presque Isle Bay and outer Lake Erie creates an almost wind tunnel effect, typically west to east in line with the orientation of the pier. “Pro” tip for birding/photography @ South Pier in windy weather: as above, hunker downwind against the (thankfully sturdy) “South Pier tree,” conveniently located fairly close to the parking lot but also with a good view of the channel across from the Coast Guard Station.
The shot immediately above is from Leo’s Landing the other week. Rest of today’s content is from a few days ago at South Pier under very windy but nicely partially sunny conditions.
Finally, a first sighting of Long-tailed Duck for 2026:
Coming up soon, lots more from South Pier! #more_duck
Thanks for the tree location! Gotta remember that the next t;ime this Team Member needs to hunker down!
Loved all the duck pics!
This post was on a windy day. Later in the week, it was even windier, like ‘can hardly stand up’ wind. The tree comes in handy, but in conditions like that, even behind the tree you can only (safely) stay outside for 10-15 minutes. But it’s always great to have some sun when taking pictures of any birds, but especially waterfowl.