Part 4 of weekend+ content, with more to come!
First up, from last week at East Ave boat launch, happy to see Bonaparte’s Gulls back in the area:
Non-breeding plumage – black bill and black ‘smudge’ behind the ear.
Back to Presque Isle State Park along the Pine Tree Trail on Saturday:
In the ‘random nature’ category, an interesting finding of a partial Woodchuck/Groundhog (Marmota monax) skull. Following shot lower mandible; two elongate teeth in the upper right are the lower incisors:
Upper mandible on left; curved teeth at bottom left are the upper incisors:
See the excellent book Anatomy of the Woodchuck for detailed reading on this topic.
Following rather dramatic shot probably two Eastern Phoebe (first sighting this spring):
More ‘random nature,’ blobby fungus on a fallen tree, probably Northern Cinnabar Polypore (Pycnoporus cinnabarinus):
American Tree Sparrow munching on invasive Common Reed aka Phragmites:
Moving on to Dead Pond Trail (east end) just before the thunderstorms:
Lots of Brown Creeper activity over the weekend, e.g.:
More Brown Creeper shots to follow, also some uncommon sightings along the Pine Tree Trail on Sunday!
Bonus Great Egret video, by Long Pond. (Sound level lowered due to road and wind noise.) Lots of heat shimmer on display, but still fun to see.