With Presque Isle State Park mostly closed Sunday, it was time to dust off the BirdingPI.com “to do” list. First up, checking in on State Game Lands 314 aka the David M. Roderick Wildlife Reserve.

No. 314’s located in the very northwestern-most corner of Pennsylvania bordering Lake Erie and Ohio. Vast, flat forest and scrub land; accessible by dirt road only. Rather bleak (and waterlogged) this time of year, but fascinating habitat. Bonus points: lake views from the bluff.

Expectations were low for bird activity, but confirmed sightings included Kinglet, various Gulls, Crows, and the ‘bird of the weekend,’ a pair of mature Bald Eagles. Eagles are great.

Eagles in a tree = birding gold. These were perched at the edge of the bluff, near the parking area by “The Rock.” Noticed them first from the road, quickly parked and got in a few shots. As with other local Bald Eagles, skittish, though, with a quick departure. On the flip side, Eagles in flight over Lake Erie = more birding gold.

On the way back to Erie, it was time for a brief survey of lower Elk Creek, by the west bank fishing access (Erie Bluffs State Park). Extremely overgrown and muddy conditions. Sightings included Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Junco, a female Common Merganser (note the white chest and white chin) on the creek itself, and various human fly fisherfolk.

Dateline: 13 December 2021

As of Monday afternoon, the bulk of Presque Isle State Park remained closed due to flooding and damage from the storm the previous Saturday. Despite sunny weather on Sunday, BirdingPI.com management decided against dispatching a team, “for the sake of public safety.” Venturing forth today, our reporters witnessed localized but widespread flooding, plus several downed trees (e.g., by the bike rental place), which crews were actively working on clearing. The road and bike trail were closed at the turn for West Pier/marina.

From the parking lot by West Pier, numerous ’emergency’ vehicles (e.g., OTV’s, semi’s, front-end loaders) were witnessed along the road across the bay. (Although it could have been related to the ongoing sewer/water supply line installation project.)

Meanwhile, there’s always room for bird photography. Avian sightings on Marina Lake (i.e., by West Pier) included Ring-billed Gulls, Mallards, Mergansers, GBH, Buffleheads, etc. The highlight: a flock of Buffleheads first landing on Marina Lake and, being spooked (source undetermined), immediately departing.

Let’s hope that the park is fully re-opened soon!

Dateline: 10 December 2021

Taking advantage of the brief spell of good weather before the big storm, BirdingPI.com dispatched a team to Presque Isle State Park for an hour or two on Friday, pre-sunset. Relatively light avian activity, but conditions were pleasant and mild – a good afternoon to be outdoors, even if only briefly.

After driving past these Buffleheads initially, pulled a quick (ahem, illegal) U-turn to backtrack to approximately where the light and birds might align nicely. Timing is everything.

If you’re wondering about the ID, enlarging/cropping any of these pictures plus cranking up the brightness to max clearly shows Bufflehead markings, e.g., white cheek patches, and ‘wrap around’ white on the heads of males. Also diving behavior, and later shots against a different background:

Dateline 10 December 2021

(Erie, PA) The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR), in charge of state parks, today announced the possible early closure of Presque Isle State Park on Saturday, 11 December 2021, due to forecast rain followed by extreme (60+ MPH) gusts of high wind Saturday afternoon.

Whereas the ‘digital traffic sign’ by the entrance to Presque Isle normally announces “Welcome to your park,” visitors today were instead greeted with a repositioned sign conveying a dire, albeit misspelled warning of severe weather and a possible early park shutdown.

Due to the number of large trees on Presque Isle and their propensity to topple over in high wind, Birding, PI.com encourages everyone in Erie to “stay safe, stay sane, and stay home,” as conditions warrant. The birds will be fine.

Recent tree damage across the Pine Tree Trail shows the impending danger. This is no joke, folks!

Meanwhile, Friday turned from overcast to generally lovely, mostly sunny, and ‘warm’ (mid-50’s deg F). Bird sightings on Presque Isle, hampered by duck season/hunters, included Ducks, Gulls, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Report to follow.

Dateline: 3-5 December 2021

Lots of exciting and controversial bird photographs to share with you from this past weekend. But first, the weather and trail updates!

Weather update: the stretch of seasonally-poor weather continued over the weekend in the greater Erie, Pennsylvania area: overcast, cool, and windy on Friday; mixed sun/clouds, cool, and very windy on Saturday; mixed overcast/hazy sun, cool, and lightly windy on Sunday. (“Cool” = low 40s deg F.) Heavy rain, wind, and snow/ice on Monday; 3-4″ snow overnight Monday in the Millcreek Twp area. Still, not a bad Saturday and Sunday for being outdoors at Presque Isle State Park for birding, bird photography, hiking, etc. (Not so good for swimming or picnicking.)

Trail update: trails as expected – locally very wet and muddy:

Pine Tree Trail: good condition

Dead Pond Trail: localized wet and muddy

Sidewalk Trail: wet at the pond crossing at the bay trailhead end, but easily passable, rest in good condition

Ridge Trail (east): good condition

Long Pond Trail (west): flooded, muddy

Long Pond Trail (east): flooded, barely passable with caution

Marsh Trail: flooded and very muddy, not recommended without rubber boots

Thompson Bay access trails: good condition

Short Pond fishing access trails: good condition

Photography conditions were generally challenging due to clouds and wind. Verified sightings included Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Starling, Canadian Goose, Mallards and other ducks (Mergansers, etc.), Pigeons, Dark-eyed Juncos, Belted Kingfisher, various Gulls, various Sparrows, Winter Wren, Black-capped Chickadees, Golden-crowned Kinglets, various Woodpeckers (Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy), and so on. Fair amount of duck migration activity on the lake, mostly heading parallel to the shore from east to west.

Plenty of sun on the beach Saturday, but wind chill conditions were brutal. No beachgoers other than the diehard bird photographers of Birding, PI.com and several stalwart Gulls.

Dateline: 27 November 2021

There’d be a “Winter is coming…,” Game of Thrones joke in here somewhere, but it’s apparently too late for Erie. (Rain/cold on Thanksgiving, light snow/heavy wind/cold Friday, overcast/cold Saturday, and steady snow Sunday.) Most of the staff’s relocated to our sister site’s field station outside Oaxaca, Mexico (must be nice), leaving just a skeleton crew in Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, Birding, PI.com stands ready to marshal resources to keep you informed of birding ‘comings and goings’ at Presque Isle State Park, regardless of the season (!)

The area to the northwest of Marina Lake (Canoe Portage Trail, Duck Pond Trail, and Gas Well Trail) hadn’t been covered recently, so a team was dispatched Saturday for a comprehensive survey. Trail conditions:

Gas Well Trail: very muddy in spots, generally passable

Canoe Portage Trail: good condition

Duck Pond Trail (by Duck Pond): flooded and impassable

Duck Pond Trail (east of Canoe Portage Trail): very muddy

Duck Pond Trail (west of Canoe Portage Trail): muddy in spots but ok

Generally the area was quiet, except for an exciting sighting – and we’re going out on a limb here – of what appeared to be a Red-shouldered Hawk. It swooped across the Duck Pond Trail, perched for several minutes, then flew off to neighboring trees. Pursuit continued through the underbrush, hampered by eventually running out of land.

Factors in favor of this as a Red-shouldered Hawk:

• Banded, long tail (vs. Red-tailed Hawks having a more obviously red and shorter tail)
• Dark color with white ‘scallops’ on back
• ‘Tear drop-shaped’ (?) markings on breast (Red-tailed Hawks generally have a different pattern)
• White eyebrow
• Broad-shouldered Hawks (which may look similar) migrate south, whereas Red-shouldered Hawks are known for staying put in the Northeast; they also inhabit forests, as was the case here. In comparison, Red-tailed Hawks, for example, tend to perch above open areas, in our experience.
• Looks like pictures of Red-shouldered Hawk juveniles on the Internet, which is never wrong.

Here at BirdingPI.com we have a lot to be thankful for – friends and family, digital (as opposed to film) photography, and indoor plumbing. (Please consider donating to www.water.org – no affiliation – and/or your local food bank.) We are also thankful for birds, because birds are great. Also relatively commonplace, so birding’s not only fun but sometimes non-frustrating, relative to things like wild mammal spotting.

Another thing to be thankful for is birding surprises. Even if you’re not into numbers or focusing just on the “exotic” or “only what’s new,” let’s face it – seeing something new or unexpected is fun. Yesterday, the big surprise was a flock of Cedar Waxwing just near Birding, PI.com HQ! Wow. It’s the latest we’ve seen them through these parts, and we’ll take it.

Cedar Waxwing are distinguished from Bohemian Waxwing – which look very similar – by a yellow (instead of white) belly. Bohemian Waxwing also have reddish feathers under the tail, and white wing bars.

Today (Thanksgiving), it dawned rainy and overcast in Erie. Still, substantial avian activity including Robin, various Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing, Blue Jay, various Sparrows, and so on.

Time to head to the Birding, PI.com cafeteria for checking on how the beef roast is doing. Hope everyone has a great day!

Dateline: 20-21 November 2021

Saturday, despite decent weather, the Birding, PI.com staff attended state-mandated annual ‘workplace sensitivity’ training at the Holiday Inn Express in Grove City, Pennsylvania. At least lunch was included, e.g., the spinach Mediterranean wrap with hummus and roasted red peppers: pretty good.

Sunday dawned light overcast and chilly. Turned to heavy overcast and full-on rain by noon. Despite a fair amount of localized avian activity inland, the team was dispatched early to scour Presque Isle State Park for any and all birding/wildlife activity. Overall it was quite quiet, but confirmed sightings included: Crow, Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Mallard, GBH, Canadian Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, various Gulls, light Sparrow activity, Northern Flicker, Red-tailed Hawk, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker. Maybe Tufted Titmouse.

Trail condition varied widely, with many muddy/wet/flooded, and many in ok shape. No snow on the ground.

Sidewalk Trail (lighthouse trailhead): good condition

Sidewalk Trail (bay trailhead): flooded but passable

A-Trail: ok except for low spot with fallen log ‘bridge’

Dead Pond Trail (west, from B-Trail to Sidewalk Trail): passable but very flooded and wet/muddy in spots

Dead Pond Trail (east): muddy in spots, generally good condition

B-Trail: completely flooded and impassable

Pine Tree Trail: good condition

Thompson Bay trails: good condition

Ridge Trail (eastern end): good condition

Long Pond fishing access trails: good condition

With the trail update out of the way, and despite the poor lighting conditions generally, let us now enjoy a few bird/etc. pictures:

Dateline: 13-14 November 2021

In Erie, a week of good weather falls into the “too good to last” category. Saturday dawned overcast, with a few surprise snowflakes. By early afternoon, it had devolved to squalls of hail and frozen rain, with periodic light rain. Still, later, periods of ‘dry’ with a bit of sun towards the evening. Presque Isle State Park was a mess, but there were plenty of ducks hiding from the hunters on the back bay. Photography conditions were challenging.

Trail update: all trails wet and muddy.

Picture above – male and female Scaups to the left and right. (Lesser? Greater?) Male and female Buffleheads in the middle.

Sunday dawned overcast, but with hints of blue sky through the clouds. Not to last: light rain by afternoon, and out-and-out snow by late afternoon. (Yay snow!) Also very windy. Conditions at Presque Isle State Park were correspondingly poor. Nevertheless, more “might be birding folks” were seen than usual this time of year – perhaps a coincidence, perhaps due to the bad weather on Saturday.

The Long Pond Trail (SE trailhead) was flooded out but passable. Sparrows, GBH, Kinglets, misc. waterfowl. Light rain made for poor photography/equipment conditions.

Identity of the ducks above is a tough call. One seemed to have a yellow bill, the other olive. Perhaps American Black Ducks, or female/immature Mallards.

Another tough call with the Grebe above, especially considering the lighting conditions. The (apparently) dark eye color eliminates many species. Perhaps an immature Pied-billed Grebe?

Looks like unsettled weather this weekend here in Erie, Pennsylvania, so catching up on a few photos from last Sunday out at Presque Isle State Park. Weather was sunny but windy; light avian activity.

Of special note, a Carolina Wren was spotted/heard off the access trails near Thompson Bay. Unfortunately, its flitting about the shrubbery was too much for Nikon’s autofocus system to handle = no pictures. However, iPhone to the rescue with the ChirpOMatic app (http://www.chirpomatic.com/ – no affiliation with BirdingPI.com, but it’s a pretty good app) = reasonably nice sound clip.

Along the Sidewalk Trail (SE end) and Ridge Trail (SE end), lots of Titmouse and Kinglet activity, also Canadian Geese on the pond. A few Mallards in the swamp off the Dead Pond Trail extension.