Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and what better gift to receive than “completely unexpected and rarely seen” nature? This is part 2 of a recent, late afternoon stop at East Ave Boat Launch in Erie, Pennsylvania, featuring – of all things! – an amazingly beautiful American Mink (Neogale vison) swimming in an icy Lake Erie! Minks are semi-aquatic and adept swimmers, so this is probably foraging behaviour (trying to catch fish?)

Less than ideal photo quality due to poor lighting conditions, but still so great to see!

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[Editor’s note: updated species name from Mustela vison to Neogale vison to reflect recent changes in the taxonomy. “Following a definitive 2021 mitogenome analysis, the species was reclassified into the genus Neogale. This genus now includes the American mink, the extinct sea mink, and several New World weasel species.” Per Google.]

Back to the Christmas Bird Count this past Saturday morning at Presque Isle State Park, with nice shots of the ‘photography bird of the day’ – Pileated Woodpecker – plus Red-bellied Woodpecker and friends.

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Miscellaneous content from a week or so ago, late afternoon at East Ave Boat Launch in Erie, Pennsylvania.

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Be sure to tune in Christmas Day for ‘part 2’ of this post, with a very special ‘nature gift’ from BirdingPI.com!

More from the Christmas Bird Count this past Saturday at Presque Isle State Park. Weather: initially clear turning to light overcast, extremely cold, windy on the bay and lake. This post features three great winter birds seen in close proximity to where the Old Oil Well Trail terminates at Presque Isle Marina: Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, and Dark-eyed Junco.

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Celebrating today’s winter solstice the best way possible, with pictures from yesterday’s Christmas Squirrel Count at Presque Isle State Park. Total count: 2. A very cute and very red Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) at the Beach 8 parking lot.

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Part 2/2 of Bufflehead ducks at Presque Isle State Park, from the archive:

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On this penultimate day of fall 2025, let’s go back several months to the penultimate day of summer, with warmer/sunnier bird content at Leo’s Landing at Presque Isle State Park. Also, more Cooper’s Hawk!

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Reminder that tomorrow (Saturday) is the Erie County Christmas Bird Count – convene by 7:45AM at shelter 2 at Presque Isle State Park, @ The Waterworks. Here’s hoping for better weather!

Today, it’s recent shots of a beautiful Cooper’s Hawk in Millcreek Twp, Pennsylvania (“Since 1800”):

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Weather update: temperatures increased significantly the last couple days in Erie County, Pennsylvania, slightly above freezing + dry/windy. As of yesterday, while portions of Presque Isle Bay were lightly frozen over, it looked insufficient for ice fishing. Both the entrance channel (between North Pier and South Pier) and outer Lake Erie remained unfrozen. Conditions generally good for viewing gulls and migratory waterfowl.

Today’s post on BirdingPI.com features recent digital photographs of a great year-round bird: White-breasted Nuthatch in Millcreek Twp, Pennsylvania (“Since 1800”).

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Coming up soon, a pre-Christmas nature miracle!

With field operations cancelled this past weekend due to snow and unsafe temperatures, today’s post features Bufflehead ducks from the archive, back in 2024 at Presque Isle State Park. This is springtime mating behavior, with several males (large white patch on sides/back of head) vying for the attention of a female (black head with small white patch behind eye). Lots of flapping and chasing around.

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