Dateline: 16 January 2022

Sunday the 16th, conditions were a “go” — moderately cold but sunny — for heading back out to Presque Isle State Park for more winter birding.

Surprisingly, recent storm damage (downed trees, etc.) had already been cleared on the Pine Tree Trail. Many thanks to the PA DCNR crew! Not a lot of activity, but sightings included White-breasted Nuthatch and Downy Woodpecker.

With the back bay (Thompson Bay and Presque Isle Bay) being mostly frozen over, Lake Erie (still mostly unfrozen) seemed like a better bet for bird activity. Plus, Gull Point!

Parked at Budny Beach and headed east along the beach. Frozen conditions (baby ice dunes) along the shore, but easily passable.

Can’t be a bad day if your Gull Point hike starts with Bald Eagles. This mature pair was initially circling (more or less) very high above the lake just to the north of Budny Beach. After a while, they flew east along the shore line towards Gull Point. (Stay tuned for a return appearance of the eagles once we get to Gull Point.)

Definitely ice/slush out on the lake, but it was open and unfrozen by the lake shore. A tremendous amount of duck activity from just past the end of Budny Beach all the way to Gull Point.

First up, Common Goldeneye:

That’s not a particularly noteworthy photo, but including it for ID purposes. Note the white back, black head, eye color, and, especially, the round, white cheek patch – all indicative of breeding male Common Goldeneye:

Meanwhile, the eagles were slowly flying east:

Further along the beach, some unobstructed long views of Gull Point, just to give a sense of scale/perspective:

Soon came across a perched immature Bald Eagle along the beach:

Which took flight almost immediately:

And then alighted in a distant tree. Note the second immature Bald Eagle in the tree to the right:

While peering at ducks, very surprised to suddenly hear a loud ‘whirring’ sound overhead, like a prop plane or noisy kite (the flying device, not the bird). Turns out it was the sound of an overhead flock of ducks decelerating for a water landing. Totally amazing – never experienced anything like it before, but heard it several times throughout the day. Really gives you a sense of the air-braking aerodynamics.

[This is the end of Duckmania!, but James Bond will return in Duckmania 2!]

Dateline: 21 January 2022

Major excitement in Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) on Friday, as two amazing Pileated Woodpeckers were spotted taking advantage of the sunny, albeit cold, weather. Concurrently, lots of other winter bird activity – confirmed sightings of Crow, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Robin, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal (m & f), even a few mystery birds.

Reasonably good photography conditions. Most pictures Nikon D850 with Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 lens.

Now, let us enjoy a Pileated Woodpecker:

More Pileated Woodpecker:

Dateline: 14-17 January 2022

Leading up to the weekend, access to Presque Isle State Park remained limited, with the loop road closed for construction just past the Perry Monument area (heading counter-clockwise). Generally cold and overcast.

Quite surprised to see a lovely Belted Kingfisher out-and-about, taking advantage of a spot of open water on the Lagoon (aka Graveyard Pond) for a bit of fishing. All shots at a considerable distance from the Graveyard Pond Trail, but you get the idea.

Elsewhere, herons on ice:

Moving on to the weekend. Saturday. Saturday at Presque Isle State Park was an unmitigated birding disaster. It happens. First clue: high temperature of 15 deg F or thereabouts. Just not pleasant. Second clue: “trails in your mirror are less frozen than they appear.” (Reader advisory: despite appearances, the Marsh Trail is not frozen over. Reader advisory, part 2: damp socks in 15 deg F weather are not pleasant.) Third clue: snow-covered surfaces may obscure slippery surfaces.

Ah, yes, the “Ye ol’ Presque Isle slip-and-fall.” Fortunately, no injuries, other than the demise of a mid-level B&W UV filter and a Nikon lens hood. The takeaway: lens hood + protective filter = crumple zone.

Moving back to happier topics, Sunday dawned clear and very cold, but with a forecast of sunny skies and reasonable temps into the afternoon (ahead of the big storm) — time to break out the backup equipment (Nikon D7500, etc.) As it happens, in the category of “Presque Isle giveth and Presque Isle taketh away,” after a bad Saturday, Sunday, frankly, was rather amazing. Stay tuned for a detailed report in the next post! (Preview: Ducks. Lots of ducks. Plus lots of other Birds. Plus Gull Point. Wow!)

As NW Pennsylvania transitions to “real winter,” New Year’s Eve day (2021) seems like a dream. Just a magical day at Presque Isle State Park and Gull Point in particular, the kind of day that makes one happy to be alive, in Erie, and “into” birding/the outdoors. No hyperbole.

The day started partially cloudy but “warm,” i.e., above freezing. Keeping an eye on the lighting, and realizing another opportunity to expand the “annual BirdingPI.com New Year’s if conditions permit Gull Point informal survey,” the team was dispatched to arrive at Budny Beach just before noon. A few folks were out for a walk or picnicking, but once headed east along the beach, Gull Point was empty of humans. At least initially. (No offense to humans, but it’s good for birding.) Temps in the 40’s (deg F), and then the sun came out, fully. Even if only for an hour – wow. Mild, sunny, bright! Just like Florida, less invasive pythons and over-sized lizards. (Zing.)

First up, the lake was calm as glass. Tundra Swans spotted far offshore. (See above.) Then ducks, here and there:

Very little other bird activity until arriving at Gull Point proper. Immediately, noticed what appeared to be a small raptor flying from the beach, south towards the back bay. Trying to keep an eye on it, noticed it quickly returned back towards the beach:

It soon alighted on a driftwood branch, at which point it was clear it was last week’s Peregrine Falcon, or at least a friend or relative. But with better lighting!

Slowly, the BirdingPI.com team “snuck” across the dunes and grass, hoping for closer observation. (Snuck in quotes because no one’s fooling a Peregrine Falcon. Still, you hope for the best.)

It seemed unconcerned about the human presence, so after getting within 20-25 feet (6-8 meters) or so, it was time to just stop and enjoy. Plus take a few pictures, of course. What a lovely, amazing bird.

[Editor’s note: not sure the blog post does these photos justice, so we’ll call it quits here and post additional falcon shots via a ‘special report’ on the main page. See “Falcon Crest.”]

After some hikers arrived, the falcon flew to another spot on the beach, then further along to another spot, then off back towards the interior. Conditions were clouding up slightly anyway, so time to slowly head back to Budny Beach, mission accomplished.

Raft. (n.) Group of ducks floating on the water.

And with the geese bringing it on home, time for the official unofficial count:

Crow

Peregrine Falcon

Greater Scaup

Redhead

Downy Woodpecker (m & f)

Common Merganser

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Song Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

Northern Cardinal (m & f)

White-throated Sparrow

Tundra Swan

Canadian Geese

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Buffleheads

Red-winged Blackbird (f)

Did we forget any? In any event, looks like 17 species!

Dateline: 6-9 January 2022

First, some context with the Erie, PA weather: snow overnight Thursday and all day Friday. Saturday, clear initially, passing high clouds late AM, then clear in the afternoon; cold, in the 20’s. Beautiful day, but with a light breeze, brutally chilly for bird photography, at least in the morning. (“BirdingPI.com is here to suffer for you.”) Sunday, temps in the 30’s, rain and freezing rain. Some ice on the ponds and back bay.

It’s now cold enough for the camera equipment to act up. Nikon does not respond well to sub-freezing temps. (“Nikon!!!!” – In the Jerry Seinfeld “Newman!” voice.) Lens auto-focus seems to work ok when it’s active, but there’s typically a focus and/or shooting delay, especially in terms of multiple successive shots. Thus, you can expect one shot and then after that, it’s ‘hope for the best,’ or just wait a few seconds.

Anyway. … Highly localized but wonderful bird activity on Saturday – report to follow. In the meantime, here are some snapshots from the last week generally, all at Presque Isle State Park.

Picture above: American Widgeon in the middle/bottom, to the left is a Canadian Goose or two, Mallard (m) to the far left, Ring-necked Ducks to the right and upper.

Mostly the ducks are skittish and take flight quickly. We don’t like to disturb any birds unnecessarily, but it’s either that or don’t bother birding. (The “I come in peace” sign does not work.)

Following are two versions of the same shot on Long Pond, just after the shots above:

Finally (!), Tundra Swans on ice:

Dateline: 3 January 2022

Still going through the 31 December 2021 “Gull Point Survey Part 2” pics – lots of great stuff – hence a delay on the weekend update.

Saturday and Sunday were out of commission due to bad weather. Monday (official BirdingPI.com New Year’s Day holiday) was partly cloudy but brutally cold in the wind – big downturn in temps into the low 20’s (deg F). Still, for us Presque Isle birding stalwarts, not a bad day for being out.

On a preliminary note, all trails remain muddy/icy/flooded, where applicable. The loop road (Thompson Drive/Peninsula Drive) has been closed all week, just past the Lagoon boat launch if you’re heading counter-clockwise.

Generally, lots of waterfowl activity, as expected for this time of year – Mallards, Mergansers, Scaups, Ring-necked Ducks, Swans, Geese, and a guest star or two.

The amazing birding tidbit of the day involved sighting a huge number of GBH in coordinated flight around the Long Pond area. We’ve seen loose groups of 6-8 GBH flying in concert, generally south, apparently migrating or otherwise relocating. This, however, might have been 18-24 birds, unprecedented in our experience, taking flight from Long Pond heading north, presumably to a different spot on Presque Isle. Due to tree coverage on the Long Pond Trail, unable to get any pictures showing the full scope of this event, but here’s one showing six of the birds in question. Really amazing.

Back to ducks:

Later, back on Lake Erie, the first confirmed BirdingPI.com sighting of Common Goldeneye this season:

Dateline: 26 December 2021

With reasonably good if unspectacular weather in the Erie, PA area on Boxing Day (e.g., mostly cloudy, moderate wind, moderate temps), it was time for BirdingPI.com’s “annual New Year if conditions permit” informal survey of Gull Point! Not many folks out ‘early’ (11am-ish); contrariwise, numerous groups spotted in the afternoon for a ‘work off the Christmas calories’ hike.

Time for a Fight Club joke? First rule of ‘informal survey:’ you don’t talk about informal survey. Ok, stupid, but the real rule is counting species seen from Budny Beach to Gull Point, including lake, back bay, ground, and air.

First up, a Crow at Pine Tree Beach. Outside the hit zone; however, other Crows were later seen at the Budny Beach parking area. …

Not much activity along the beach out to the Point. (Beach trail generally in good condition.) Upon arriving closer to the observation platform, however, lo and behold, an amazing Peregrine Falcon. (Bird of the bi-month!)

Not the world’s most uncommon raptor, but not a previous sighting (at Presque Isle) for BirdingPI.com. As such, a momentous and happy event.

Unlike most local raptors (hello skittish Bald Eagles), this falcon seemed fairly mellow; as such, able to get reasonably close (20 feet?)

Briefly distracted by passing ducks:

If you’re wondering about the ID, behold the miracle of modern photography. Note the sharp contrast between very dark head and white neck.

Then, back to the falcon:

After some quality observation time, skipped going up the observation platform to leave this lovely bird in peace. (It flew away when a group with kids arrived later.)

With the entire Gull Point area open for access December – March (i.e., non-nesting season), time to walk around the outer beach for observing ducks on the bay:

We’re calling these as Greater Scaups due to the head shape (rounded, lower), but hard to say for sure, vs. Lesser Scaups, at this distance. Greater, Lesser, who are we to judge? They’re all great.

Plus at least one Redhead, since, well, it’s got a red head:

After walking the outer beach, it was time to head inland along the ‘old trail:’

Not much activity inland until crossing back over to the beach along one of the informal connector trails. There, quite surprised to see a bevy of birds, e.g., Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal (m & f), Downy Woodpeckers (m & f), various Sparrows, etc.

The following is a bad shot (obviously), but it’s included for ID purposes. Calling it as an American Tree Sparrow, based the rufous crown, rufous eyeline, grey facial coloration, and bold wing bars:

Normally it’d be time for the species count and wrap-up. Not this year! New Year’s Eve day (31 December 2021) turned out to be a gorgeous day, at least for an hour mid-day, at least for Erie. Spent another few hours out at Gull Point, with some amazing Peregrine Falcon time. Stay tuned for “Part 2!” Wow!

Dateline: 31 December 2021 – 1 January 2022

Wishing everyone a happy New Year and a great/healthy 2022!

In the “late Christmas miracle” category, had an hour of sunny weather in Erie yesterday. (Enough to launch another glorious expedition out to Gull Point – report to follow.) Otherwise, the weather continues its streak of seasonable gloom coupled with unseasonable warmth. Rain overnight, heavy fog today, no snow; other than the short days, feels like spring.

Anyway, enough about the weather! What better way to kick off 2022 than with Pileated Woodpeckers!!! Pairs were spotted in Millcreek Township (“Gateway to Presque Isle State Park”) both Friday and Saturday in different, but nearby locations.

No pictures from Saturday since it was foggy and overcast, but here’s an audio clip (captured using iPhone ChirpOMatic app) of a Pileated Woodpecker call (Millcreek Twp, 1 Jan 2022)(you’ll have to turn the volume way up):

Dateline: 24-27 December, 2021

Long weekend at BirdingPI.com, with Friday and Monday as official holidays. Friday’s covered in the Christmas post, Christmas day was rained out, Sunday’s the subject of the forthcoming Gull Point survey, which leaves Monday, 27 December 2021. Weather: overcast with periodic rain.

First, a road closure to report at Presque Isle State Park. As of mid-day Monday, the main road (aka ‘loop road,’ Peninsula Dr, or Thompson Dr) was closed between the south turnoff to the Coast Guard Station/North Pier and the turnaround just past the bay-side Sidewalk Trail trailhead, traveling counter-clockwise. Past the former, crews were spotted working on the sewer/water line installation project.

Not a great day, weather-wise, for birding or bird photography, but the rain let up long enough for a few snapshots:

Tuesday dawned partially clear and cold, turning to overcast later in the day and light snow early evening. Nevertheless, lots of interesting bird activity, e.g., a quick morning reconnoiter in Millcreek Twp included confirmed sightings of Mourning Dove, Crow, Cedar Waxwing, Pileated Woodpecker, Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, and Red-tailed Hawk.

Sunday (26 December 2021) was the BirdingPI.com “annual around New Year’s Gull Point informal survey if conditions permit,” and boy, there was a lot of excitement out at Gull Point. Some of which even involved birds. Still trying to process the information overload; in the meantime, as promised, it’s time for Swans and more!

Dabbling (noun). Re. waterfowl. Water surface feeding, or feeding by tipping headfirst into water to graze on aquatic edibles. [Source: BirdingPI.com]

(Don’t worry, just a birding joke.)

Later, between the Pine Tree Trail west trailhead and Beach No. 9, Wild Turkeys partook of fresh hay recently applied over the water/sewer line installation corridor along the road. (Pictures taken from vehicle. Photos were somewhat fuzzy due to gear acting up – temp changes? Camera settings issue?)

Back on Lake Erie, spotted what appears to be our lovely Mallard/Pekin couple, near Presque Isle Lighthouse. Glad they’re hanging in there through hunting season!

Later, on a sunnier day:

Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the cuteness/artistic symmetry of the previous picture. The management thanks you for your cooperation.

Still later, back at HQ at sunset:

Still later again, on an unsunny day:

No better way to end such a wide-ranging post than with a Brown Creeper, spotted 22 December 2021 near Beach No. 9 (Pine Tree)(for the record, along with a White-breasted Nuthatch and various Sparrows):