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!

Dateline: 2 April 2022

“Part 2” of the Weekend Update is a bit belated, but bird photojournalism is always timely. Plus a butterfly and some deer – a veritable nature potpourri.

Last Saturday, cool with highs in the upper 30’s to low 40’s deg F; clouds early, but sunny by 10AM. Bit of a chilly, light breeze. Still, a glorious early spring day out at Presque Isle State Park. Lots of bird activity.

Trail update: all visited trails generally the same as recently reported, e.g., mostly in good shape but locally muddy or flooded where applicable (e.g., Sidewalk Trail east end remains flooded).

First up, ducks. Mostly slept through duck migration season? No worries, still lots to see. Saturday sightings included Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Wood Duck and Blue-winged Teal (both first sightings this spring), Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, maybe Scaups and Redheads. Lots of ducks! Also Coots! And Canada Geese! And a mystery Grebe!

With the good weather, dispatched the team to Long Pond and Thompson Bay. On Long Pond:

All day Saturday, a rather amazing amount of Turkey Vulture activity, both at Presque Isle and around Erie generally. At Long Pond, witnessed 13+ Turkey Vultures wheeling overhead in the sky, plus two more in a tree. It’s a lot of Turkey Vultures!

Quick stop at the Sidewalk Trail, east end trailhead. Still flooded. But cool to see a Blue-winged Teal in close proximity to a Wood Duck. (In the shot below, Teal is in the middle of the frame – note the crescent-shaped white cheek patch – whereas the Wood Duck, in the shadow, is just to the lower left of it.)

And a Canada Goose hanging out on the trail:

Meanwhile, over by Thompson Bay:

Finally, the mystery Grebe! Definitely a Grebe, definitely a mystery. Time to break out the Nikon Z5 for some handheld nights shots to figure this out.

WARNING: Although presented with due respect to nature and science, this post is recommended for emotionally mature audiences only.

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Dateline: 2 April 2022.

It was a happy occasion Saturday to see male and female Osprey back at Presque Isle for the first time this spring, with lots of activity over Thompson Bay. First, some unremarkable but ‘nice to see’ pictures in flight:

There’s an Osprey platform located off the trail to Gull Point, viewable across Thompson Bay from the Thompson Circle access trails. It was at a disadvantageously long distance (@500mm), but the following capture male and female Ospreys apparently engaging in reproductive behavior:

Hopefully, healthy and happy Osprey chicks are on the way!

[Editor’s note: Gender identification based on assumptions of the circumstances witnessed, not on plumage or other visible markers.]

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Decorum’s pretty much abandoned at this point, but here’s a final shot of additional Osprey biologic activity:

[Editor’s note: To confirm, decorum has been completely abandoned, yes.]

Dateline: 1-3 April 2022

The Erie winter weather whiplash continued apace this past spring weekend, with a cold and snowy Friday, a cool but sunny Saturday, and a cold and snowy Sunday. Enough snow for a dusting to stick to lawns.

[Editor’s note: bonus points for triple alliteration.]

First up in the news category: lovely Brown-headed Cowbirds spotted in Millcreek Twp. https://birdingpi.com/millcreek-bird-alert-3/

Even more notable was a confirmed sighting of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (likely a female), again in Millcreek Twp! Would have warranted a Bird Alert(TM) if staff, distracted as usual with giant cameras and “birds, birds, and more birds,” had timely reviewed the memory cards in question.

Anyway, the following pictures are rather awful (long-distance shots in overcast conditions), but Sapsuckers are an uncommon sighting = still a win. Note the distinctive red crown – Red-headed Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and Pileated Woodpeckers all have red crowns, but are easily distinguished from Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, which look more like a Hairy Woodpecker with a red crown.

Next up in Millcreek Twp, some of the locals:

Three lovely photos of a lovely male House Sparrow:

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Weekend Update/Part 2, Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, is coming up soon!