Dateline: 21 May 2022

A rainy Friday morning aside, great conditions now for hiking out to Gull Point. You’ve got the beach, the ‘inland’ old trail, the back bay, the mud flats/point/dunes, etc. Hoping the holiday weekend weather cooperates to dispatch another BirdingPI.com expedition or two.

In the meantime, some ‘there and back again’ pics from last weekend.

First up, a lovely Warbling Vireo. Always happy to see any vireo, this one being no exception.

On the lookout for House Wrens? If so, there’s a pair nested in this dead tree off the back bay beach where the outer old trail makes a relatively sharp turn from generally N/S to more SW/NE. Note the male and female (presumably) at the two corners of each shot.

Spotted Sandpiper coming in for a landing on the mud flat:

Lots of Barn Swallow and Tree Swallow activity out by the observation deck. Here, the former:

Back of a Yellow Warbler with wild grape vines:

Last up, more mysterious birds with yellow-orange/yellow chest patches and yellow/yellow-orange side tail feathers. Not to bury the lede, these are probably American Redstart. First a juvenile, and then three shots of what appear to be a female:

Next time, getting back to warblers! Lots of warblers.

Dateline: Spring 2022

Of note is a recently-sighted Northern Flicker with an overly elongate, crossed, malformed beak. #Nature #Science.

This was along the old outer Gull Point trail at Presque Isle State Park, almost to the point/mud flat itself, at the end of the tree line.

Still hoping to secure a genetic sample for testing, but safely capturing a Northern Flicker has a low probability of success.

Despite this unusual feature, the Flicker in question had a friend, and seemed fully mature and healthy.

Apparently engaging in normal mating behavior.

Please e-mail any information of additional sightings of this bird to BirdingPI.com via “Contact Us” at https://birdingpi.com/privacy-policy/.

Dateline: 21 May 2022

Too much great content from this past weekend to reasonably contain in one, or even two, posts. Keeping things going here with Red-winged Blackbird from Saturday, at Gull Point.

Saw Osprey, gulls, swallows, Killdeer, sparrows, Spotted Sandpiper, Dunlin, Caspian Tern, and Least Sandpiper, among others. Great lineup, but no exotic shorebirds this weekend.

Spent most of the time enjoying the numerous Red-winged Blackbirds.

The true meaning of pain: Nikon D850 autofocus. Truly awful for quickly and accurately focusing on moving birds. Good thing for luck and near limitless digital exposures.

While the hit rate’s maybe 10%, only need a couple decent shots for a post to come together.

Next up, a very unusual Northern Flicker sighted near the point! Stay tuned.

Dateline: 22 May 2022

As a quick update, looks like the Spring 2022 migration season has peaked, with things at Presque Isle State Park having returned, more-or-less, to normal. The extended week of Mother’s Day (7-15 May 2022) goes down as an “A+”/excellent in terms of bird volume, bird variety, good weather, and viewing conditions (e.g., low treetop foliage levels). Plenty more photography content to come!

Meanwhile, let’s enjoy nature. From Sunday before the rain/fog landed.

A few Spotted Sandpiper seen along the beach and in the dunes across the road from the Pine Tree Trail west trailhead. Example of one individual:

Just like flying Bald Eagles, Rule 27(a) of the Bird Photography Manual (4th ed. 2017, Knopf) states “You can never have too many ‘duck takeoff’ pictures.” This appears to be a male Mallard. From the swamp/pond on the north side of the Pine Tree Trail.

Happy to see a small flock of Cedar Waxwing:

Off Budny Beach, quite an exchange between two Eastern Kingbird and one very robust dragonfly (species unknown). Despite the aerial acrobatics, couldn’t see that either bird was successful in snatching up this lower member of the food pyramid.

Lots of Green Heron this year so far. This one off the Sidewalk Trail (east end):

And finally, a lovely Red-eyed Vireo, off Misery Bay. Eye color is not easy to see in this shot, but note the strong, dark eyeline:

[Editor’s note: clearly a Mallard.]

[Editor’s note: ‘food chain,’ not ‘food pyramid.’]

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Bird!

Suspense and shock beyond anything you have seen or imagined!

Nothing you have ever witnessed before has prepared you for such sheer stabbing shock!

The Bird is coming!

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Sincere thanks (!) to our friends at River Patent Services, LLC in Connecticut for letting us share this original content.

[Editor’s note: no affiliation with the Estate of Alfred Hitchcock and/or Universal Pictures. Above taglines are considered ‘fair use’ under US Copyright Laws, as satire. Etc. etc.]

Dateline: 21-22 May 2022

Continuing with the weekend update, heavy thunderstorms Saturday evening. (Had to evacuate the BirdingPI.com Dead Pond field station due to localized flooding, but everyone is fine.) Sunday, warm, humid, and partially cloudy in the early AM. Turned overcast with fog and light rain/drizzle by 10:30AM; temperature at Presque Isle State park dropped about 15 degrees F in the span of less than an hour.

While waiting to get today’s prints back from the Fotomat, time for a minor flycatcher mystery.

Originally thought the three shots below (plus one above) were Least Flycatcher. However, in further ponderance over a cool glass of sparkly Mountain Dew(R) Code Red(R) soft drink (cherry-burst flavor = yum), this bird seems awfully yellow-olive. Or at least slightly yellow-olive. More yellow-olive than a Least Flycatcher should be, at least. Could it be Yellow-bellied Flycatcher?

Both are small flycatchers with wing bars and eye rings. However, the head, neck, and eye ring of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher have a definite yellow-olive cast, vs. gray/white of the Least Flycatcher.

Plus a slightly larger, perhaps orange-edged beak on the Yellow-bellied.

Let’s compare.

First up, from 22 May 2022, something that’s definitely not olive-yellow enough for a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

Is it a Least Flycatcher? Note the white eye ring, gray head, and white throat.

Other possibility is an Eastern Wood-pewee. However, as seen in the shot of an Eastern Wood-pewee below (from September 2021 along the Pine Tree Trail), Eastern Wood-pewee have a more obvious dusky ‘vest.’

In any event, here’s another recent shot of what’s definitely a Least Flycatcher:

Note the white eye ring, white throat, and gray head.

Crop time! First, from the shot at the top above. Note the yellow-olive back transitioning to a same-color head. Throat appears similar, if somewhat lighter. Eye ring is distinct but tinged. (Tired of typing “yellow-olive…”) Beak appears slightly larger, with the bottom distinctly orange.

From the Least Flycatcher shot just above, note the white-ish throat, gray head, and white eye ring. Smaller beak.

Based on this in-depth scientific analysis, seems like it’s time to call it as a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher!

Whew, way more work than usual around here.

[Editor’s note: Fotomat no longer exists, so someone is obviously making a ‘funny.’]

Dateline: 21 May 2022

Friday, severe thunderstorms in the morning, overcast, warm, humid later. Saturday, partially cloudy, warm, and humid in the morning, thunderstorms with rain by early evening. High around 80 deg F. Nice day Saturday for getting out to Presque Isle State Park for outdoors stuff, with an early start. Sunday: TBD.

With BirdingPI.com teams dispatched to Gull Point, Long Pond Trail, etc., plenty of exciting nature activity to share. Here, getting a start with Long Pond Trail highlights.

The frenetic Mother’s Day week warbler activity at Long Pond has subsided, but still plenty of Yellow Warbler out-and-about:

The honeysuckle is blooming/starting to bloom, pretty much everywhere. Here’s a bad shot of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird:

Another beautiful Green Heron:

Bird of the day is this lovely male Blackpoll Warbler, first BirdingPI.com sighting this season:

Note the black cap, white cheeks, and black chest markings. (BirdingPI.com bird ID tip: Black above the eyeline with a white throat. Black-and-white Warbler, in contrast, have white above the eyeline, then a strip of black above that. Black-capped Chickadee have a black throat and a much rounder overall appearance.)

Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.

There was a second bird interacting with the male Blackpoll before they both flew off. Can’t see the throat markings in this shot, but it does have the coloring of a female:

Closing it out with some fun insect activity, because everyone loves insects. Especially birds.

Next up, more Gull Point! Where the highlight may actually be the Budny Beach parking lot.

[Editor’s note: Meaning activity on or around the parking lot, not the parking lot itself.]

[Photo Editor’s note: Nice shot of that Green Frog!]

Dateline: May 2022

Just a few nice shots of Palm Warbler, along one of the little, red-sand beaches off Misery Bay (Presque Isle State Park) by the dirt parking lot/fishing access.

From earlier in the spring, finally posting these excellent shots of male and female Downy Woodpecker engaging in (presumably) mating behavior. This was off Budny Beach (Presque Isle State Park), along the Gull Point Trail just past the end of the inner old trail.

Dateline: May 2022

From ‘warbler week,’ let’s enjoy the Northern Parula!

Not many (e.g., two) BirdingPI.com sightings of this lovely bird so far this year.

Gray head with yellow throat, white eye arcs, yellow chest, white rump, gray wings with white wing bars, patch of burnt orange on the chest. (Latter feature best seen in the shots immediately above and below, but this may be a juvenile or first-year male – or perhaps molting plumage – since it’s less apparent than normal.)

Shots taken off Misery Bay near the Sidewalk Trail east end trailhead.

[Editor’s note: “Lollaparula???” Just awful.]