Nice day this past Sunday afternoon for hitting the beach – Beach 11, that is – at Presque Isle State Park, especially for late season butterflies:

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Back to a lovely weekend at Presque Isle State Park and more from October Big Day, featuring the “uncommon bird of the (big) day,” a beautiful, seldom seen Blue-headed Vireo high in the trees along the Pine Tree Trail:

Also, from Sunday (generally the same location), a much more common and very cute Chipping Sparrow:

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While waiting on photo editing from October Big Day, etc., today it’s recent nature shots along Elk Creek and Walnut Creek, both significant constituents of the Erie County watershed. Featuring Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) in the woods by Elk Creek:

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Dateline: 11 October 2025

First up, folks visiting Presque Isle State Park should be forewarned: fall tick season is in full swing. Yesterday along the Pine Tree Trail, 7-8+ small, black ticks (species unknown) were found on BirdingPI.com staff clothing. Tip: avoid entanglements in grass/brush.

After overnight clouds burned off, it was a glorious October Big Day in Erie County, PA; mostly sunny and mild.

Lots and lots of great seasonal bird activity at Presque Isle, with the “everyday bird of the day” being this beautiful Blue Jay along the Pine Tree Trail:

Blue Jays are generally photographically uncooperative (high in trees, deep in brush, fly away immediately), so these were lucky shots. And even as such, there’s always the peril of shooting 600mm in close quarters:

[Editor’s PSA: Today – October 11th – is October Big Day. Happy nature, happy birding! Weather in Erie County, PA: cloudy.]

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Dateline: 22 September 2025

In today’s post, reporting on a quick stop at Big Pool and Fort Frederick State Park in western Maryland, part of the historic C&O Canal complex. Lots of interesting history, lots of interesting nature.

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Celebrating what appears to be a sunny fall Friday with more nice fall birds at Presque Isle State Park around the Marina Lake area (Duck Pond Trail, Canoe Portage Trail, etc.)

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From Saturday @ view of Gull Point from Beach 11 at Presque Isle State Park, looks like someone was having a bad weekend and/or didn’t get the memo about not running aground during April-October nesting season. Hopefully they realized it’s just a 30-minute hike to Budny Beach & the main park road. #no_coconuts

Moving on to a quick/anecdotal Erie County migration update, looks like Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, etc. (that’s a lot of colour-encoded birds!) are all passing through the area. Mostly already gone for the season: Red-headed Woodpecker, Green Heron, & Yellow Warbler.

Moving on, following’s a mix of beautiful Turkey Vulture (at Beach 11 + ‘head shots’ from elsewhere in Erie County) and other Beach 11 content:

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Dateline: 4 October 2025

Seems like folks are always clamouring for more gull photographs, so today it’s a nice medley of gulls @ Beach No. 11 (Presque Isle State Park) plus “not that often easily photographed together” male and female Northern Cardinal same date/location (just within the tree line):

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Coming up soon, spider vs. chipmunk!

From May at Presque Isle State Park, a two-parter. First up, part 1, with American Crow harassed by a Red-winged Blackbird:

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In part 2, it’s an American Crow w/ fish scrap vs. Ring-billed Gull:

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Looks like a nice weekend ahead in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the BirdingPI.com staff SUV was “t-boned” by a reckless Erie driver yesterday (no injuries, thankfully, to either persons or camera equipment), which may put a damper on field operations. Nevertheless, happy nature! #more_bird

What else to do on a hot/humid Saturday in July in Erie County, Pennsylvania than to hit the beach at Presque Isle State Park? A muddy, bayside beach for nature photography, of course. All photos (i) Least Sandpiper; (ii) Killdeer; & (iii) probably Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly.

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