Nesting season continues in Erie County, Pennsylvania, so finally posting a few “just ok” digital photographs of immature waterfowl, namely (i) Canada Goose (at Presque Isle & Fairview Business Park) and (ii) more interestingly, a family of Common Merganser at Presque Isle:
Fair amount of rain in Erie the last couple days, but it looks sunny today (Friday) + good weather forecast for tomorrow. Happy nature/birding!
Songbird migration season this spring in Erie County, Pennsylvania seemed a bit unusual relative to recent years, with a very cold, wet, slow start, followed by a marked burst of activity maybe the second week of May, followed by 2-3 weeks of intense activity, then a sharp dropoff heading into June. Good warbler sightings included: Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May, Pine, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Bay-breasted, Black-and-white, Blackpoll, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, Wilson’s, Hooded, Palm, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Canada, Blue-winged (at Moraine State Park), Nashville, & Tennessee. Some species much more common than others, e.g., BirdingPI.com staff saw exactly 1 each of Canada Warbler and Cape May Warbler. Following shots continue from 25 May 2026 in the Duck Pond Trail/Canoe Portage Trail area, in foggy conditions:
DISCLAIMER: real maple syrup is safe for birds in small amounts, but is not recommended for general use in hummingbird feeders.
Part 2/2 of birds around the periphery of Thompson Bay, from this past weekend at Presque Isle State Park, featuring lovely Cedar Waxwing:
One more post of beautiful Red-winged Blackbirds at South Pier, Erie, Pennsylvania:
It was a beautiful weekend at Presque Isle State Park. Here’s a representative sampling of birds, etc. from around Thompson Bay:
[Editor’s note: in shot above, the ‘white stuff’ is cottonwood detritus on the beach.]
[Editor’s note: if your Merlin app has stopped recognizing Yellow Warbler and Warbling Vireo, you need to re-install or update to the latest version.]
Shaping up to be a beautiful day today in Erie County, Pennsylvania. (Earlier forecast of “maybe rain” has not materialized.) So, just a super quick post ahead of field operations, featuring an Osprey at Gull Point a couple weeks ago, exhibiting ‘carrying prey’ behavior:
No good pictures (too distant), but the Osprey have been hanging around the outer east/northeast beach side of outer Gull Point, congregating in groups of 2-3 by the driftwood, eating fish like the one above.
Today post features one of the more ubiquitous spring-fall birds in Erie County, Pennsylvania, the Red-winged Blackbird, w/ males, females, and immature at South Pier, Erie, PA:
First rain in Erie in two weeks today, but looks more like an “on/off” thing – should be ok conditions for birding – plus good for the grass.
Continuing on with Gull Point from the other weekend, but these shots are from along the hike out, featuring (unless otherwise specified) beautiful Yellow Warblers, and lots of them!
After a long spell of nice/dry weather in Erie County, Pennsylvania, supposed to be rainy tomorrow (Saturday) and unsettled on Sunday. Happy birding/nature!
Back to outer Gull Point at Presque Isle State Park from the other weekend, mostly featuring birds seen from the observation platforms, including reasonably good shorebird activity.
Back to Beach 11 at Presque Isle State Park this past Sunday, featuring a Northern Flicker in flight, exhibiting food carrying behavior (some sort of caterpillar in its beak):
The Black Locust trees (Robinia pseudoacacia) are currently in bloom, here with a male Indigo Bunting:
