Dateline: 15-17 April 2022

Let’s see. First the weather, everyone’s favorite subject. On Friday, alternating sun and clouds, with highly localized rain. Substantial rain Saturday AM, but mostly clear by 1PM; cool, windy. Sunday, unseasonably cold and windy, with a dusting of snow; partially sunny in the afternoon.

Moving on to more important topics. First up, by the Thompson Circle swamp/ponds on Friday, the Tree Swallows are back! First sighting this season.

Here’s a few nice duck shots, also at the Thompson Bay swamp/ponds:

It’s been a bit, but the Golden-crowned Kinglets are still out-and-about:

From Saturday, here’s a fun picture looking up at a male Northern Shoveler in flight:

Saturday, as mentioned, it was mostly clear at Presque Isle by early afternoon. Previous recent attempts to get the team out to Gull Point had been thwarted by foul weather. As such, even with the unsettled conditions (cold, windy), high time to saddle up (metaphorically speaking) and head out down the beach.

Of note, even with all the recent rain, the outer old Gull Point trail is in great shape – only a couple significantly muddy spots, and those easily traversable. (A loop of the outer old trail and returning via the beach, or vice versa, is a great hike.) Probably due less to precipitation and more to the overall lake level being down slightly.

Not much activity along the beach, other than scattered Mergansers (see above) and Ring-necked Ducks on the lake. Once out to the where the point opens up (by the entrance to the roped-off path to the observation platform), noticed a commotion out by Gull Point itself. Hmmm, first a juvenile Bald Eagle:

This resulted in quite a bit of gull consternation:

Swiftly swooping in were several Caspian Terns, making quite the fuss. No one messes with Caspian Terns (apparently), because that Bald Eagle wasn’t hanging around for long:

Somewhere, there was a second juvenile Bald Eagle, which was similarly chased off:

The shots above aren’t great (500mm @ very long distance), but it was amazing to see = happy to share.

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Moving on, also of note, the first sighting this season of Cormorants (presumably Double-breasted Cormorants):

Here’s where the Terns were hanging out, at the far end of Gull Point:

Soon thereafter, on the walk back, some Ring-necked Ducks in flight, looking north:

And a backlit gull, perhaps a Herring Gull:

At the edge of the Gull Point mud flats, one of a pair of Wild Turkeys foraging in the brush:

On the outer old trail, one of the outcast Eagles in a tree:

The following might be Ruby-crowned Kinglets, also on the Gull Point outer old trail:

See the “Happy Easter” post for more shots of this lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler:

A final few shots from Easter Sunday. First, by Long Pond, what may be an immature or female Common Grackle:

See the recent BirdingPI.com Bird Alert(TM) for more shots of this lovely Mute Swan, on Long Pond:

Finally, male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds in the grassy parking area by Beach 11:

Stay tuned for our forthcoming post on the Pine Tree Trail from Sunday, and also a special report with some decent close-up shots of Caspian Tern! Plus, a special post with plenty of recent “We’re building a nest!” shots in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle State Park”).

Dateline: 17 April 2022

Easter Sunday dawned cloudy and very cold, with a dusting of snow on roofs and lawns. Hints of blue sky between the clouds, though, and enough time between the human-oriented activities of the day to squeeze in a brief outing to Presque Isle State Park. And good thing, or might have missed this amazing Mute Swan!

Lots of goose, gull, and blackbird activity out at Long Pond. Plus a Bald Eagle or two, and Caspian Terns. On the far shore, noticed something large and white – very intriguing!

Hard to ID at this point, and still cloudy, so hung around with hopes of sun and more activity. Thankfully, both were soon to come.

Thought it might have been a late or lost Tundra Swan, but note the bill color – orange/pink, with that particular, black pattern. Also key, the relatively long, expressive tail. Both indicators of Mute Swan.

It’s a busy season out at Presque Isle State Park this year – can hardly keep up with the fun and unusual sightings!

Dateline: 17 April 2022

Wising everyone a Happy Easter!

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Also happy to announce the BirdingPI.com Official Start to Warbler Season(TM), 2022!

Warbler season kicks off with the first BirdingPI.com confirmed warbler sighting of the year at Presque Isle State Park. This year, the honours go to the lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler, spotted 16 April 2022 along the outer old Gull Point Trail! Such a lovely bird – such a great way to kick off spring!

The following are all male Yellow-rumped Warbler along the Gull Point trail. (Male = yellow crown stripe, among other identifying features.)

Dateline: 15 April 2022

The BirdingPI.com team was stationed at Thompson Bay (Presque Isle State Park) long enough finally to get some better pictures of the mystery Grebe. Everything at long distance, so these aren’t the greatest shots, but enough to officially call it as a molting Horned Grebe! And high time, too – the tension was getting unbearable.

About the identification, bill shape (e.g., relatively short and rounded, instead of long and pointy) eliminates things like Western Grebe and Clark’s Grebe. Red eye color eliminates Red-necked Grebe. Zeroing in on Horned Grebe or Eared Grebe, the following features indicate the former: brown neck, blond tuft (perhaps what would be technically called the supercilium – side of head above eye), and brown lore (small feathers between eye and bill).

Eventually, also spotted a second “mystery Grebe:”

Another BirdingPI.com mystery solved!

On a rainy Saturday morning (16 April 2022), sending out a quick BirdingPI.com Bird Alert(TM) to be on the lookout, when the weather’s better, for Common Loon. This one was spotted at the north end of Thompson Bay at Presque Isle State Park, in the last couple days.

Pictures were taken from the west-shore beach at a very long distance, but there’s enough detail when cropped to get the idea:

Per the annotated, cropped view above, be on the lookout for a dark/black head and bill, checkerboard black-and-white back, white breast, and double collar (second ‘collar’ is very slight).

Dateline: 10 April 2022

Just a quick update from last Saturday, ahead of Easter weekend, mainly for mentioning recent sightings of Bonaparte’s Gulls at Presque Isle State Park. Considering the number of gulls at Presque Isle generally, seeing anything other than Ring-billed and Herring Gulls is relatively uncommon and rather exciting – might be BirdingPI.com’s first sighting of Bonaparte’s Gulls since 2020.

Identification-wise, be on the lookout for the black head. Beyond that, the black bill, white eye arcs, black wing tips, and orange/pink feet distinguishes it from similar-looking gulls like the Black-headed Gull (reddish bill, less-extensive head coloring with perhaps a bit of brown, etc.)

Here’s another Bonaparte’s Gull but with a mottled grey head, presumably molting/in transition:

Moving on, other “first this season” sightings on Sunday included Caspian Tern (Graveyard Pond) and Killdeer (grassy parking area by Beach 11).

Still a number of Great Egrets on Graveyard Pond, but far fewer than Saturday:

Red-breasted Mergansers, Graveyard Pond:

Belted Kingfisher, edge of Thompson Bay:

Regarding birding conditions generally, right now it’s all about the water – lots of activity on the bay and ponds, very little on the interior, e.g., the Pine Tree Trail on Sunday was a nice walk, but yielded up just one bird sighting (Blue Jay).

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This BirdingPI.com post brought to you by Ring-billed Gulls:

It’s still out on Thompson Bay, and still a mystery! Further investigation is warranted.

Time for the GBH cage match!

Plenty of GBH on Graveyard Pond this past Saturday, in addition to the lovely Great Egrets. On the end of the pond by the canoe rental place, two GBH flew in simultaneously for landing on the same piece of floating board/wood. Enter the cage match!

(The Nikon D7500 wasn’t perfect in focusing fast enough for this amazing-to-see event, but the following shots fall into the “good enough” category, for this website at least.)

[Editor’s note: “… this website…”???]

[Editor’s Note: “Cage match” is an obviously gratuitous characterization of a normal, if confrontational, interaction between two Great Blue Herons. #Nature. Apologies for the copious/goofy anthropomorphism.]

Dateline: 9 April 2022

More unsettled weather over the weekend in the greater Erie area. Overcast and hints of light rain Saturday morning; cold and windy. Light snow and freezing rain Sunday morning; cold and windy. (Notice the multiple instances of “cold and windy.”) Still, the clouds broke long enough both Saturday and Sunday for “good enough” weather for outdoors activities including birding. And what a weekend it was – amazing bird activity at Presque Isle State Park, enough for at least two ‘Weekend Update’ posts and two special reports.

Anyway, the weather early Saturday AM was generally awful. Despite much grumbling, dispatched the team out to Presque Isle, taking (bad decision) the ‘not as good’ camera kit in case the rain picked up. (Nikon D7500 and Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 lens.)

After a brief stop at Long Pond (misc. ducks and a Great Egret off in the distance), next up was East Pier. Very windy and cold. Another Great Egret was foraging/fishing along the east shoreline. (See also above.)

Brief stop at the Perry Monument. More misc. ducks on the Back Bay. And lovely Ring-billed Gulls – great shot here of the ‘surf’ in action:

Coming up on Graveyard Pond (i.e., the Lagoon/boat launch/boat rentals), noticed another Great Egret. Then another. And another. At least thirteen Great Egrets up and down the pond, which is unprecedented (for BirdingPI.com) and rather amazing. No other humans around except a couple folks angrily launching a boat.

Following picture is overexposed, but you get the idea:

Already posted a couple nice shots in the Bird Alert. Others to follow in a special report, for a larger photo format. [Editor’s note: see https://birdingpi.com/great-egrets-on-graveyard-pond/]

One more for now for fun:

A few Hooded Mergansers (male on right, females on left) exited almost immediately:

Also lots of Gulls on Graveyard Pond, enjoying the cross-breeze and fish:

Eventually, time to head over to the Thompson Bay area. Following three shots are of Blue-winged Teal on the Thompson Circle swamp/pond (north). Note the distinctive blue-grey wing patches (hence “Blue-winged”):

Over on Thompson Bay proper, tons of Red-breasted Mergansers out on the water enjoying the (now) sunny weather. Most of the shots came out with lack of sharpness issues, perhaps due to heat shimmer. (Air temp on shore wasn’t at all warm, but the sun was out and there was definite air shimmer over the water.) Three shots that came out ok:

Back over on the swamp/pond, a pair of Northern Shovelers came in for a landing. Following isn’t the best in terms of exposure, but note the wing coloration:

Post-landing:

Coincidentally, also a pair of Blue-winged Teal (m & f):

Wrapping it up with more bad video:

That’s only part of Saturday! More to follow, including an amazing GBH cage match! (Really.)

[Editor’s note: Just to set expectations, there is no ‘cage.’]

Dateline: 9 April 2022.

Great Egrets are common enough at Presque Isle State Park to not usually warrant a BirdingPI.com Bird Alert(TM). Today (Saturday), however, it wasn’t just one or two Egrets. But lots of Great Egrets. One sighted on Long Pond, another on Marina Lake, and thirteen+ (!) at one time on Graveyard Pond, i.e., the Lagoon, mostly by the canoe/boat rental place. And with the generally bad weather, not a birder in sight.

More on this with the Weekend Update!