Dateline: 24 June 2022
Turkey Vultures seem like a metaphorically apt way to start off the weekend. This pair were enjoying the morning sun out at Scott Park, Erie, PA. (Scott Park is a lovely parcel of old-growth woods, etc. on the ‘mainland’ bluff just across the back bay where Presque Isle connects. See https://millcreektownship.com/facilities/facility/details/Scott-Park-4.)
Closing with a bonus mammal:
Dateline: 21 June 2022, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”)
Has it really come down to posts with nothing but bad iPhone video and audio? On the bright side, Black-capped Chickadee!
Some mixed calls in this audio clip, but the Chickadee is predominant:
Have an excellent weekend! Get out in nature if possible – you’ll feel better.
Another early morning, beat-the-heat trek out to Gull Point at Presque Isle State Park.
First, not at Presque Isle, but a female House Finch in the grass, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
From a previous time, a female Common Grackle near Budny Beach:
Here’s a solitary sandpiper, probably a Spotted Sandpiper (<– it’s a bird joke):
Next, a couple of nice ‘profile’ shots of Red-winged Blackbird, out at the point mudflats:
Closer shot of a Spotted Sandpiper, for the record:
Nothing unusual out at the point. Blackbird, Starling, Spotted Sandpiper, gulls, sparrows, Mallard, Canada Geese, Killdeer, GBH, Green Heron, Baltimore Oriole, Gray Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, and so on. However, in plant news, the lovely Common Yucca is starting to bloom:
See Common Yucca in the sandy area close to the entrance to the Gull Point mud flats roped-off corridor (follow the old trail fifty feet or so to the west to the first Gull Point marker sign).
Closing it out with a series of cute shots of a lovely Yellow Warbler (male), along the Gull Point outer old trail:
Who doesn’t love a little Hairy Puccoon? Such a lovely plant and pretty flower.
Per the Internet (which is never wrong), Hairy Puccoon is considered endangered in Pennsylvania and only found (in Pennsylvania) at Presque Isle State Park.
Short, squat plants located in grassy areas, with hairy leaves (see above) and lovely yellow flowers in late spring/early summer.
See Hairy Puccoon (in bloom now – mid/late June 2022) on the south side of the road between Pine Tree Beach and Presque Isle Lighthouse, behind the habitat restoration line. Many of the plants are marked nearby with red flags.
A related plant is Lithospermum canescens aka Hoary Puccoon, which looks similar but would be shorter and have smaller (1/2″ vs. 1″) flowers.
Tomorrow, back to birds! Or rabbits! Or both birds and rabbits.
Back with the Green Heron from Sunday, along the Duck Pond Trail at Presque Isle State Park.
After flying in, it set up shop on a log above the duckweed swamp:
Not much action at that point, so back to watching the House Wren. In passing this spot again, however, lucked out in seeing it with a fresh catch. Some sort of fish, and a relatively sizable one at that. Let’s enjoy the food chain (#nature):
Nikon D850 with 500mm PF f5.6 lens. Rather challenging exposure conditions due to fairly deep shade.
Dateline: 19 June 2022
A long time since the last official BirdingPI.com survey of the Canoe Portage Trail area (including Duck Pond Trail and Gas Well Trail). Weather was nice Sunday, so dispatched a team for a couple quality hours in the woods. Beautiful spot, plenty of interesting bird, mammal, insect, and plant activity.
In trail news, the Duck Pond Trail east end (where it ends at the road by Duck Pond) remains flooded and impassible (see below). Other trails locally lightly muddy, but generally in good shape.
Iris season’s starting to wind down. In homage, here’s a nice shot of iris x hornet, along the Duck Pond Trail:
Common Grackle in the sun, along the Duck Pond Trail:
Lots of wren activity; looks like House Wren. This female (?) was busy procuring caterpillars for feeding the brood in a nearby nest box.
Happy to see a Little Wood Satyr butterfly (again, off the Duck Pond Trail):
“Green Heron Summer” continues. This individual flew in while on stakeout watching the nearby House Wren nest box. (It’s an area of duckweed swamp bordering the trail – see photo towards bottom.) More exciting content on this heron tomorrow! Preview: “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Also saw Baltimore Oriole (juvenile), Red-bellied Woodpecker (adult and juvenile), Robin, Gray Catbird, Mallard (female), etc. (Pics generally too shady or obscured by vegetation.) Here’s a Great Crested Flycatcher in stealth mode:
Another excellent butterfly sighting, a Red Admiral:
Here’s a shot of the swamp (off Duck Pond Trail), to (i) give a better sense of environment, and (ii) illustrate why the iPhone isn’t your first choice for bird photography:
Finally, in site news, proud to share the cover art for BirdingPI.com’s forthcoming LP (180 gm half-speed pressing vinyl only) entitled Nature: Sounds of the Earth at Love and Play. Release date 27 August 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon.
Dateline: 18 June 2022
With the impending solstice, BirdingPI.com has switched to its ‘summer schedule’ for going further afield. Today, reporting on a recent fieldtrip to Bentley Nature Preserve outside Jamestown, New York, near Lake Chautauqua. https://chautauquawatershed.org/2019/02/28/bentley-preserve/
Directions: I86 to the Strunk Rd exit, then south towards the lake/Jamestown. Right onto Route 430, then a quick right onto Bentley Road. Look for the sign and parking area on the right just before the dead end.
From the parking area, follow the path past the metal bridge that crosses the creek, to the interpretive sign, then follow the Pamela A. Westrom Wildflower Trail, which makes a long, meandering loop that ends back at the metal bridge. Or go the other direction by crossing the bridge and following the loop trail to its end at the interpretive sign. Trail conditions: mostly flat, locally muddy; allocate an hour or so.
The preserve is a lovely spot, centered around the slow-moving, serpentine stream that passes through mature, mixed eastern woodland.
Difficult photography conditions (shady with dense forest), but a fair amount of bird activity: Downy Woodpecker, Red-winged Blackbird, Starling, Eastern Wood-pewee, Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Cardinal, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Goldfinch, sparrows, Great-crested Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, etc., and plenty of interesting insects and flowers and other plants.
Highlights of the day: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly.
Landscape shots: iPhone. Nature shots: mostly Nikon D7500 with Nikon 200-500 f5.6 lens.
Dateline: 16-17 June 2022, Presque Isle State Park
Wishing everyone an excellent weekend, wherever your travels/ adventures may lead.
With the extra-warm/humid weather in Erie this week, it only made sense to hit Gull Point in the very early AM. (On a side note, the biting flies are out. Seriously, take insect repellant.) Nothing unusual to report other than turtles (see the turtles post); birds at Gull Point included gulls, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Starling, sparrows, swallows, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Canada Goose, Yellow Warbler, Double-breasted Cormorant, Red-winged Blackbird, Crow, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, GBH, and so on.
No rain; trail conditions remain good. Rip current warnings in effect recently, so more surf than usual.
Most of the BirdingPI.com team’s on post-migration season ‘summer break,’ but the core staff’s on duty (as always) for keeping track of whatever can be kept track of. Hopefully some great birds and other nature!
Kicking off the weekend with birds! Following shot is Turkey Vulture with air-born cottonwood fuzz:
Killdeer on Gull Point:
Wrapping it up with some nice shots of Barn Swallow. Such a lovely bird. All out at Gull Point.
Dateline: May-June 2022, Presque Isle State Park
Always fun to see turtles; plenty of them at Presque Isle. Skipping “turtles on logs” for this post. Instead, in keeping with the recent beach theme, it’s turtles on sand!
Usually plenty of turtles around any of the interior ponds. For a bit more diversity and close-up action (who doesn’t want close-up turtle action?), recommend the Gull Point outer old trail, and Gull Point itself. Be on the lookout for turtles on or right off the trail, in sandy areas, especially late spring. (Shots immediately above and below were both on the trail, at different locations.)
Once out at Gull Point, at the start of the roped-off corridor, the first pond immediately to the right – “Turtle Pond” – has lots and lots of turtles. Especially Spiny Softshell Turtle. See shots immediately below and at the top of the post. Usually these guys are sunning on the edge of the pond, but are skittish and retreat underwater quickly – be on the lookout.
Following turtles could be Painted Turtles or Northern Map Turtles. (There’s a reason this site isn’t TutlePI.com…) These were all along the Gull Point rope corridor, early in the morning (around 7AM). In the dunes for, presumably, burying eggs in the sand.
The fourth rule of nature journalism is “close [your story] with impact.” Kind of out of turtle shots, so going with a bunny at the Budny Beach east parking area. Makes total sense – turtles lay eggs, and the Easter bunny delivers chocolate eggs.
Dateline: 12 June 2022
Quite surprised to see a dark-colored, oddly-shaped, chicken-sized bird walking through the cattails on the Thompson Bay beach by where the Gull Point outer old trail turns from more-or-less north-south to more-or-less east-west. Not a chicken, but rather an amazing Green Heron.
Able to maneuver behind some shrubbery for some photography before it departed for a more private spot.
For the full photo-essay special report, see https://birdingpi.com/on-the-beach/.