The Rim (& Beyond)

Bonus post of content from the Mogollon Rim, Arizona area (& beyond!), back in August.

View SW from Mogollon Rim (from Rim Lakes Vista)

Appropriate for pine forest, a great sighting of a beautiful male Grace’s Warbler:

Pygmy Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch (rear view)
Another view from the rim

A bit off the Rim, on another day, @ Fort Apache Historic Park:

View (generally west) from Fort Apache museum

Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay @ Fort Apache:

Phainopepla (f)

Way far away, but similar environment @ Mt. Lemmon:

Common Raven

And a very cool sighting of Zone-tailed Hawk. Dark colouration like a Turkey Vulture, but note hawk beak, white band on tail, + underwing shading: light interior (w/ barring) and black/dark edges.

Introducing…

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Meet “Sir Edward,” pet Fox Squirrel of Mr. & Mrs. James St. John-Smythe of Girard, PA:

Such a handsome lad!

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[Editor’s note: BirdingPI.com does not endorse keeping wild animals as pets.]

On Point (Sat)

ABA Warning: This post contains two pictures of a cute snake. Parental guidance is suggested.

Dateline: 2 September 2023

Gull Point, north-side beach

Partially sunny, warm, and humid this weekend in Erie County, PA. Saturday morning, nice day for a hike out to Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park; not many folks out.

Lots of Sanderling activity along the beach trail:

Everyone loves the beach!

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
More snake
Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile) + Sanderling
Sanderling I
Sanderling II
Gull Point, looking generally south
Turkey Vulture (l) + American Kestrel (r)

The star of the day, another excellent sighting of lovely Whimbrel! (All shots at a distance from the observation platform.)

Hard to see

Coming up soon, weekend warbler wonderland!

PI Bird Alert (CMW)

Multiple recent regional sightings of Cape May Warbler, including these from Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park, on Saturday. (By the mud flats just inside the tree line on the ‘outer old trail.’)

ID notes: tough to ID due to fall juvenile or non-breeding plumage. Olive crown, gray cheek patch, dark eye line, black streaking from throat down onto breast and underside, yellow on face, throat, and breast, and white undertail coverlets. In comparison to this Palm Warbler at the same location, note its yellow undertail coverlets and brown streaking:

Palm Warbler

Shorebirds

Sanderling + rock

Slow day yesterday (Saturday 2 September 2023) at Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park, people-wise at least. Also not a ton of bird activity, but still some nice sightings including one very special guest. More on that later. In the meantime, it’s shorebirds from last weekend, and lots of them, along the Gull Point ‘beach trail’/outer beach.

Mixed shorebirds I

In shot above, Sanderling on far right + left of center, Semipalmated Plover second from left, and Semipalmated Sandpiper second from right and center (bird facing left).

Semipalmated Plover
Mixed shorebirds II
Semipalmated Plover (rear) + Sanderling
Mixed shorebirds III
Plover (right), Sanderling (left)
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover
Plover x Sanderling I
Plover x Sanderling II

Semipalmated Plover running on beach:

Lots of Sanderling (juvenile plumage = black and white):

Semipalmated Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper (rear) + Sanderling
Sanderling

A-SNF/2 (In The Forest)

Another epic post from A-S NF back in August. And even if a bit blurry, can’t help but lead off with this lovely shot:

Shot above + following shots probably all Broad-tailed Hummingbird:

Black Phoebe

More hummingbird:

Say’s Phoebe

Still more hummingbird:

Several particularly-nice HIF shots:

Lesser Goldfinch (m)

Too many hummingbirds!

Broad-tailed Hummingbird + Pine Siskin on Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

Bonus/Rufous

Set out to capture some nice ‘feather pop’ on an in-flight male Rufous Hummingbird. Mission: FAIL. Came close with this shot, but still blurry even with AI sharpening:

Rufous Hummingbird (m)

OTOH, it’s a beautiful bird + decent ‘perched’ shots (see below) = win.

Location: central-eastern Arizona, August 2023.

A-SNF/1 (In The Forest)

From a few weeks ago in Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest, outside Pinetop/Lakeside, AZ @ White Mtns/Mogollon Rim area.

In the forest

First up, beautiful Mountain Chickadee:

Following hummingbirds mostly Broad-tailed Hummingbird. (For a couple, could be female Rufous Hummingbird.) Some shots somewhat grainy due to shady conditions.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (m)

[Location note: the fence/barbed wire is an artifact of cattle grazing on national forest land.]

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (f)
House Wren caught a butterfly
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (immature male)

More hummingbird:

Lesser Goldfinch (m)

Lots more Broad-tailed Hummingbird (male with magenta throat):

Pine Siskin

Still more hummingbird:

Coming up soon, more hummingbird in the forest!

Mr. Weaver, Part I (NSFW)

ABA WARNING: This post contains spider-related content and is only suitable for emotionally mature individuals. Thank you for your cooperation.

Trigger warning

It’s your friendly neighborhood spider man & BirdingPI.com’s resident/beautiful Cross Orbweaver (Araneus diadematus) @ Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). [Note: species uncertain, but some sort of orbweaver.]

So cute and furry, if only he was bigger for cuddling up!

The Osprey

Lots and lots of Osprey activity currently at Presque Isle State Park, and so much the better for it!

Osprey nest @ PI comms tower

As promised, Sunday at Gull Point, a bathing beauty:

Earlier, over by Marina Lake, Osprey x fish snack:

And that same day @ Long Pond:

Might have been 5-6+ Osprey on Long Pond at one time!

Finally back on Sunday, along the Gull Point Trail near where the ‘outer old’ trail meets the beach, 2x Osprey: