Recent shots of Bonaparte’s Gull by Leo’s Landing/Feather Platform, Presque Isle State Park. Adult/breeding plumage (black head) x2 + first winter bird (smudge behind eye + gray wing with black bar).

With all the bad-ish weather in Erie, PA (Monday weather: on-and-off heavy rain), hard to keep track of “what’s what.” Following’s a mixed bag of recent shots of birds + mammals from Presque Isle State Park + environs.

Red-winged Blackbird (m) @ South Pier:

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Not a great shot, but #beautiful_Purple_Martin – somewhere over Presque Isle or vicinity. Great to see these lovely birds back in the area!

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Eight Turkey Vulture @ the beach on Thompson Bay:

Unsettled weather this past weekend in western Pennsylvania – periodic overcast, rain, temperature swings, etc. Bird activity at Presque Isle State Park somewhat subdued; plenty of things to see nevertheless. These shots from Saturday along the Sidewalk Trail, east end, before the rain moved in.

Bit of Palm Warbler activity along where the Ridge Trail parallels the Sidewalk Trail at the east end:

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Good luck so far this year with Eastern Towhee, here, really nice shots of a beautiful female (brown head instead of black):

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Dateline: 29 April 2023

Cloudy, humid, moderately warm Saturday in Erie, PA. On-and-off light drizzle at Presque Isle State Park, turning to widespread rain by 1:30PM. Bird activity fairly subdued, but as always, lots of Canada Geese! These shots @ Long Pond.

Happy times are here again, with the return of BirdingPI.com’s mascot/favorite warbler, the always amazing, and curiously yellow, Yellow Warbler! All shots under rainy conditions last Saturday at Leo’s Landing/Feather Platform, Presque Isle State Park.

Song Sparrow gathering nesting material:

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Three of lovely Palm Warbler:

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A ‘grab bag’ of bird content from this past weekend at Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA.

Very uncommon occurrence of three Wood Duck (2x male @ top/bottom, 1x female in middle) on Presque Isle Bay, off Leo’s Landing:

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Following on Duck Pond as viewed from the road, Great Egret x Canada Goose:

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Following all at Gull Point on Sunday:

Closing it out with more amazing, if poorly lit, Tricolored Heron:

Finally, the final “guest roving correspondent” content from Milford Point – the “Presque Isle of Connecticut.” As promised, Piping Plover, and lots of it! Even under foggy lighting conditions, wow.

More overcast/gloomy photography from this past weekend at Presque Isle State Park. First up, a very nice shot of beautiful Palm Warbler in the woods adjacent Thompson Bay:

Mixed Mallard and Wood Ducks in the clearing off Marina Lake, sort of across from the access trail to Boat Landing #4 on Long Pond. This spot far enough away from the road to avoid spooking.

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For whatever reason, a bit more display this season of the eponymous crown of cute Ruby-crowned Kinglet, off Thompson Bay:

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More Palm Warbler:

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Duo Chipping Sparrow @ Budny Beach:

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Dateline: 26 April 2023

Another year come and gone, with today the 238th anniversary of the birth of famous ornithologist and generally bad human being John James Audubon. Time for pros/cons:

John James Audubon:

• Pros:
  • Important contributions to ornithology and popularizing the birds/nature of North America
  • Liked squirrels
• Cons:
  • Owned slaves and was anti-abolitionist
  • “Audubon developed his own methods for drawing birds. First, he killed them using fine shot. …” (Wikipedia.)

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Bird photography:

• Pros:
  • Fun and rewarding; easier than painting
  • Easier to ID birds than ‘real birding’
• Cons:
  • Expensive/heavy equipment
  • Giant cameras somewhat pretentious

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Swallow photography;

• Pros:
  • Beautiful birds
  • Fly around a lot in the same area
• Cons:
  • Small
  • Fly erratically

And with that out of the way, happy to see BirdingPI.com’s favorite swallow, the lovely Northern Rough-winged Swallow, back in Erie at Presque Isle State Park. (Also seen at this spot: Barn Swallow.) These shots adjacent the main park road by Niagara Pond, 23 April 2023.

[Nikon Z9 + Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 lens, cloudy conditions]

A reasonably epic post of more “guest roving correspondent” content at Milford Point, CT – the “Presque Isle of Connecticut.” This time, @ the beach!

View of boardwalk connecting main grounds of Audubon Center to beach:

Following shot – peninsula of Milford Pt in foreground, outer sand bar middle/left just below horizon, Stratford Point at horizon on right:

Beautiful flock of Brant, aka Brant Goose! #more_goose

Following shot – view west along the lagoon, outer sand bar on left, Milford Pt on right, flock of Brant just off center right:

Views of outer sand bar looking west:

As promised, the amazing and hard-to-see Piping Plover:

[Editor’s note: plenty more Piping Plover content to follow.]

Yay, shorebirds! (Sanderling: generally gray with shorter bill; Dunlin: generally brown with longer curved bill.)

Four of a beautiful Great Egret:

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After the beach:

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Stay tuned for reasonably nice Piping Plover photography!