By The Feeder

Today on BirdingPI.com, it’s nature photographs from around the local ‘watering hole,’ featuring beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird (female):

Chipping Sparrow
Erie County sunset, 14 June 2026
Chipping Sparrow II
w/ tongue extended
Erie County sunset w/ bird, 18 June 2026

Outer Gull Point (No Plovers)

Today, it’s birds from last weekend at outer Gull Point, excluding Piping Plover but featuring Yellow Warbler and Rock Pigeon (unless otherwise noted):

Male Yellow Warbler on rope trail fencepost
Male Red-winged Blackbird on rope trail fencepost

You may see a Rock Pigeon (city/feral pigeons) or two at Gull Point, but rarely this many; something caused 5-6 to startle from the grass/brush, followed by several others:

Double-crested Cormorant
Male Red-winged Blackbird on bush

After wildly unsettled weather yesterday (Thursday) in Erie County, PA (e.g., thunderstorms, heavy wind, downed trees), looks like a nice day today + weekend ahead. Recent shorebird activity seems very muted at Presque Isle, but otherwise the birdwatching is seasonally rather nice. Happy nature!

Pre-summer Flowers/Bugs

Changing direction today to recent flowers and insects along the Gull Point Trail at Presque Isle State Park, featuring Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp (Dielis plumipes) on Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense):

Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
Summer Azure butterfly (Celastrina neglecta) (or similar species) on Oxeye Daisy
With hoverfly on right, likely from the genus Sphaerophoria
Daisy w/ unknown species of wasp or beetle
Daisy w/ unknown species of wasp or fly

This was a very lucky shot @ 600mm of the Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp briefly tangled in a spider’s web:

But it was way too big to be held up for long:

Woods w/ Cuckoo

Same woods at Presque Isle State Park (around Canoe Portage Trail), but last weekend instead of May, featuring the first BirdingPI.com sighting of Yellow-billed Cuckoo in quite a while, very high up in the trees:

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Northern House Wren w/ caterpillar
Male Eastern Towhee, rear view
Cuckoo II
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher @ flycatching
Towhee II
Cuckoo III
Gnatcatcher II
Towhee III
Cuckoo IV
Gnatcatcher III
Towhee @ preening behavior
Cuckoo @ uncropped 600mm
Male Downy Woodpecker on stump
Preening Towhee II
Cuckoo VI
Male Northern Yellow Warbler @ backlit forest
Preening Towhee III

Back in the Woods (4)

Finally closing out 25 May 2026 along the Canoe Portage and Duck Pond trails at Presque Isle State Park, under shady/foggy conditions:

Yellow Warbler w/ spring foliage
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler II
Black-and-white Warbler
Yellow Warbler III
Black-and-white Warbler II
Yellow Warbler IV
Magnolia Warbler II
Yellow Warbler V
Immature/female Bay-breasted Warbler
Female Blackpoll Warbler
Swainson’s Thrush
Female Blackpoll Warbler II
Blackburnian Warbler (m)
Female Blackpoll Warbler w/ poison ivy
Blackburnian Warbler (m) II
Swainson’s Thrush II
Blackburnian Warbler (m) III
Female American Redstart
Blackburnian Warbler (m) IV
Willow Flycatcher
Flycatcher II
Male Brown-headed Cowbird
White-breasted Nuthatch just caught a bug

Finally, a re-post of our one sighting of Canada Warbler this spring:

A Distant, Warm Welcome

Today on BirdingPI.com, celebrating the recent successful hatching of a new Piping Plover brood (4 chicks + 2 adults were spotted) at Presque Isle State Park, with bad digital photography + fun cartoons. (All shots on 13 June 2026 @ 600mm from the old observation platform at Gull Point, under windy + ‘heat shimmery’ conditions.)

Some of these shots are also provided in annotated form with adults in red and chicks in yellow:

The Erie Bird Observatory crew, observing plovers
Osprey @ center
Adults in flight at water’s edge + Osprey foreground left
Common Tern over outer Lake Erie

Back in the Woods (3)

(See Back in the Woods (1) – Birding, PI for previous cartoons in this series.)

Big bird news at Presque Isle State Park yesterday was the successful hatching of the latest generation of Piping Plover at outer Gull Point! From the old observation platform, along with the two adults, four chicks (!) were spotted on the outer beach. Stay tuned for bad (long distance) photos in tomorrow’s post. Meanwhile, more from a few weeks ago in the woods along the Canoe Portage Trail area, in on/off foggy conditions:

Female Blackpoll Warbler
Male Bay-breasted Warbler in shady conditions
Yellow Warbler (immature?)
Black-and-white Warbler
Yellow Warbler II
Black-and-white Warbler II
Bay-breasted Warbler takes flight
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler III
Immature or female Bay-breasted Warbler on branch
Northern House Wren
Female Blackpoll Warbler II
Male Blackburnian Warbler
Song Sparrow
Blackburnian Warbler @ tree hopping mode
More Blackburnian Warbler
Swainson’s Thrush
Blackburnian Warbler IV
Magnolia Warbler II
Blackburnian Warbler V
Willow Flycatcher (?)
Swainson’s Thrush II
White-breasted Nuthatch
Male Brown-headed Cowbird

Back in the Woods (2)

More birds at Presque Isle State Park on 25 May 2026, in the Canoe Portage Trail area, under foggy/mild conditions:

Northern Yellow Warbler
Willow or Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow Warbler, rear view
Black-and-white Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler (female or immature)
Magnolia Warbler
More Yellow Warbler
Another view of female or immature Bay-breasted Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swainson’s Thrush
Blackpoll Warbler (f)
Blackburnian Warbler (m)
Blackpoll Warbler taking flight
Blackburnian Warbler II
Blackburnian Warbler (immature or female)
Blackburnian Warbler IV
Swainson’s Thrush II
Blackburnian Warbler V
Northern Cardinal (f)
Swainson’s Thrush III
Wild Turkey
Swainson’s Thrush IV
White-breasted Nuthatch

Fowl Babies

Nesting season continues in Erie County, Pennsylvania, so finally posting a few “just ok” digital photographs of immature waterfowl, namely (i) Canada Goose (at Presque Isle & Fairview Business Park) and (ii) more interestingly, a family of Common Merganser at Presque Isle:

Common Merganser (female on right)
Canada Geese (adult on right)
Common Merganser @ outer Thompson Bay w/ Beach 11 in background

Fair amount of rain in Erie the last couple days, but it looks sunny today (Friday) + good weather forecast for tomorrow. Happy nature/birding!

Back in the Woods (1)

Songbird migration season this spring in Erie County, Pennsylvania seemed a bit unusual relative to recent years, with a very cold, wet, slow start, followed by a marked burst of activity maybe the second week of May, followed by 2-3 weeks of intense activity, then a sharp dropoff heading into June. Good warbler sightings included: Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May, Pine, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Bay-breasted, Black-and-white, Blackpoll, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, Wilson’s, Hooded, Palm, Blackburnian, Magnolia, Canada, Blue-winged (at Moraine State Park), Nashville, & Tennessee. Some species much more common than others, e.g., BirdingPI.com staff saw exactly 1 each of Canada Warbler and Cape May Warbler. Following shots continue from 25 May 2026 in the Duck Pond Trail/Canoe Portage Trail area, in foggy conditions:

Black-and-white Warbler
Willow (?) Flycatcher
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow Warbler II
Black-and-white Warbler II
Yellow Warbler III
Immature Bay-breasted Warbler
Tufted Titmouse
Yellow Warbler IV
Yellow Warbler V
Blackburnian Warbler (m)
Blackpoll Warbler (f)
Blackburnian Warbler (m) II
Female Blackpoll Warbler II
Blackburnian Warbler III
Female Blackpoll Warbler III
Blackburnian Warbler with nearby spider’s web
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Immature Bay-breasted Warbler II
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Male Yellow Warbler takes flight
Willow Flycatcher
White-breasted Nuthatch
Willow or Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

DISCLAIMER: real maple syrup is safe for birds in small amounts, but is not recommended for general use in hummingbird feeders.