Dateline: 30 April 2022

National Go Birding Day brought to you by Mountain Dew Code Red(R) soft drink! A cherry burst of flavor, yet so light and refreshing! Code Red(R), how is it so good!?!

Today is National Go Birding Day, or, here at BirdingPI.com, just another day. Hazy sunshine and cool (mid-50’s deg F) in the greater Erie, Pennsylvania area, so great weather for getting out in nature and great weather for birding at Presque Isle State Park!

Way more folks out with binoculars and giant cameras than usual, so glad to see everyone’s taking advantage of the great conditions! #nature

Multiple BirdingPI.com expeditions launched to the ‘trifecta,’ namely, the Pine Tree Trail, Gull Point Trail, and the Sidewalk/Ridge Trails. A few shots from each from today while the editorial staff puts together the forthcoming Weekend Update.

First up, the Pine Tree Trail. Rather sleepy overall. Blue-winged Teals, Mallards, and Yellow Warblers spotted on the northside swamp/pond. Here’s a lovely male Mallard with transitional blue/purple/green head coloration:

Lots of interesting birds along the Gull Point Trail, including the first ‘shore birds’ of the season, two Yellowlegs! (Not sure if Lesser or Greater.) But the ‘bird of note’ was a pair of Brown Thrashers in the trees/brush just shy of the tree line on the old trail, close to the roped-off corridor to the Gull Point observation platform:

Note the long tail, russet red back coloration, long, slightly curved beak, bold chest pattern, and distinctive yellow eyes. (Yellow eyes distinguish from most thrushes.) Such a lovely bird to see on such a lovely day!

Hard to see the second Brown Thrasher here, but it’s the best shot in that regard (just above and to the right-ish of the one in the foreground):

From the Sidewalk Trail (east end), we’d be remiss if not mentioning it’s fuzzy goose baby season! So cute!

[Editor’s note: “Fuzzy goose babies?” Sincere apologies. Obviously the correct term is gosling.]

After days embedded in the Presque Isle scrub brush, finally saw the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the season! This was by the main park road along Misery Bay, by the east-end Sidewalk Trail trailhead. What a pretty bird!

Spring migration is in full swing. Recent sightings previously reported include Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Black-and-white Warbler.

Also Hermit Thrush, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and, if you can believe it, what may have been American Bittern (!)

Other recent, confirmed sightings include Barn Swallow, and, of note, Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Finally, confirmed sightings recently, for the first time this season, of the BirdingPI.com unofficial mascot, the beautiful Yellow Warbler! Pictures to follow.

Wishing everyone a nice weekend! Spend some time in nature – it’s nice.

This post brought to you in partnership with the Greater West Millcreek and Fairview Herpetological Society.

WARNING: graphic and disturbing snake-related content follows. Rating: TV MA.

[Editor’s note: above characterization potentially inaccurate. Also, this is not a television show.]

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As part of the 2022 Presque Isle snake survey, after clandestinely bivouacking in the woods between the Pine Tree Trail and Dead Pond Trail for three days, finally found a beautiful Eastern Garter Snake (believed to be Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis):

Hard to get a full length shot with a long lens, but this male or female was probably a meter long or a bit less.

Pictures off the Dead Pond Trail, between the A Trail and B Trail junctions.

Notice the three lighter/tan strips, on the sides and top. A distinctive feature of the Garter Snake.

The scales are amazing to see close up.

While the focus on this website is birds (obviously), happy to partake of all things nature-related! Except ticks, leaches, etc. – yuck. Sorry ugly parasite friends.

Dateline: 26 April 2022

Famous artist/ornithologist John Audubon was born on this day in 1785. A modern-day reckoning casts him in a deservedly negative light, but the occasion is noted here for its historical significance: John Audubon had a huge influence on avian science and popularization.

So, time for a BirdingPI.com bird ID moment, featuring the extremely cute Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Photos out at Presque Isle State Park this past week.

A small bird, very flighty; moves around very quickly. Small, dark beak, grey breast, light olive body, short tail, hints of yellow on the wings, white wing bar with a black patch next to it, white eyering.

As in the picture above, the head usually appears plain, with the red-colored feathers remaining hidden. (Contrast with the similar-looking Golden-crowned Kinglet, which has a black crown patch with a stripe of yellow/gold.)

On Saturday off the A-Trail, lucky enough to get a few shots slightly showing the red crown:

If really agitated, the crown would be raised and plainly visible. See https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet/id for some nice shots.

Wishing you a happy bird-day!

Dateline: 24 April 2022

Solid rain Saturday morning, followed by cool-but-pleasant temps and ‘mostly sunny’ in the afternoon. Sunny and very warm Sunday, perhaps a high approaching 80 deg F, although 10-15 degrees cooler by the Lake Erie shoreline.

Presque Isle State Park trail update:

• A-Trail: muddy across the swampy part, but easily passable.
• B-Trail: flooded. Not recommended.
• Dead Pond Trail: localized flooding between the A Trail and the Sidewalk Trail; not recommended. Muddy in spots and localized flooding between the A Trail and B Trail. Good condition between the B Trail and Thompson Circle.
• Pine Tree Trail: good condition.
• Marsh Trail: passable with waterproof footwear, but overall still extremely muddy and flooded in spots. Not recommended.
• Sidewalk Trail: flooded but passable on the east trailhead end, otherwise in good condition. (Update: as of 1 May 2022, muddy but easily passable.)
• Ridge Trail: good condition east of Marsh Trail. West of Marsh Trail, muddy in spots.
• Long Pond Trail: east end – good condition; west end – very wet and muddy.

Based on BirdingPI.com staff reports at key woodland/interior locations, the songbird migration seems off to a good start. Tons of bird activity especially Saturday afternoon after the rain: sparrows (multiple species), Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, warblers (multiple sightings mostly of Yellow-rumped Warbler and Palm Warbler – hang out on the Ridge Trail near where it intersects the Sidewalk Trail at their east ends to see both), chickadee, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, and an unusual amount of thrush activity, e.g., Hermit Thrush.

So much activity this weekend, for now we’re focusing just on the co-winners for BirdingPI.com’s “best bird of the weekend.” First up, a Black-and-white Warbler spotted off the Dead Pond Trail, to the east of its junction with the A Trail. Might have seen a grand total of one of these at Presque Isle in 2021.

Partially blocked by branches, but still the shot of the weekend:

Seeing a Black-and-white Warbler was amazing. Even more amazing was a ‘not close’ encounter with a Great Horned Owl, if you can believe it. Fortunately, there’s proof!

As mentioned briefly in previous posts, there’s a swampy section of the A-Trail close to the main road, in a dip between adjacent sand ridges. Old growth woods (i.e., very tall trees) in this area, quite shady. While surveying the nearby birds (kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus a pair of Mallards), a huge bird, apparently being chased by another bird, suddenly swooped down to land high up in a nearby treetop:

Lots of frantic jostling and repositioning of the camera equipment at this point.

It’s big, really big. It’s an owl, has horizontal striping on its breast, and big, tufted ears. There’s only one option at this point: a Great Horned Owl. A crazy “Wow!” moment.

Whatever was doing the chasing (couldn’t ever see it well, but it might have been the size of a small hawk or falcon) was still around, so the owl took off almost immediately, flying through the trees to the south towards Dead Pond and out of sight.

All these shots are partially obscured and a bit fuzzy, but there aren’t many situations more challenging than shooting more-or-less straight up into a dense thicket of tall trees in the shade. All Nikon D850 with the Tamron 150-600mm lens; all things considered, this kit did a decent job. (These shots have the brightness notched up and the shadow level turned way down, but otherwise are unmodified other than cropping.)

Dateline: 23 April 2022

After a rainy start to the day, Saturday turned sunny and rather beautiful by mid afternoon. Nice to have a break in the cold weather.

As if to celebrate, the BirdingPI.com team spotted a lovely Black-and-white Warbler off the Dead Pond Trail, just to the east of the junction with the A Trail. This is one you might see at Presque Isle State Park once or twice a season if you’re lucky! Be on the lookout.

More pictures to follow with the weekend update. Also an owl! Really.

Despite the generally bad weather recently in the greater Erie, PA area (e.g., wind, rain, cold, snow), the tide of spring marches on. Does spring have a tide? Anyway, doesn’t matter. The point is, with spring comes nest building, and nest building requires nest-building materials. Always fun to see our fellow earthly inhabitants, here, birds, gathering roots, twigs, etc., for secreting away in nearby shrubbery (or wherever) for doing the needful.

Here’s some very nice shots of a pair of Blue Jays taking advantage of a patch of disturbed soil to gather up some structurally sound and easily manipulable root fragments. Plus, credit where credit’s due – Blue Jays are absolutely lovely.

Moving on, here’s a male House Sparrow lending a helping hand. Or maybe taking the lead. Don’t want to stereotype.

This may be a female House Finch:

Guess it helps to have at least one image of the final product, here, a Mourning Dove nest against a building:

The male and female were very busy gathering the materials for this nest over several+ days.

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To wrap it up, we’ll move to some more general shots from recent days in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle State Park”). First, the first sighting of American Goldfinch this season! Very exciting.

Next, a lovely American Robin:

Couple nice shots of male Northern Cardinal:

And finally, the picture below is sadly partially blocked, but (if we say so ourselves), what a great shot of a pair of Northern Flicker! Amazing to see the displayed/fanned wings with that lovely yellow shaft color!

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.)