Return To Lake Melvin

Well, the beautiful fall weather in Erie County, Pennsylvania finally broke today, with heavy rain for the first time in a couple weeks; lower temps expected tomorrow.

Canada Geese at Lake Melvin

Today’s post hearkens back to warmer/drier times at Fairview Business Park and Lake Melvin, starting with unfortunately (fortunately?) situated Greater Yellowlegs:

Dual duel
Head duo
Rump duo
Killdeer in grass
KIF
Separated Yellowlegs
Palm Warbler
Yellowlegs portrait
Posing in sync
Palm Warbler II
Portrait II
Palm Warbler III
Portrait III
Posing in sync II
Palm Warbler IV
More separated Yellowlegs
Scratching behaviour
Palm Warbler V
Portrait IV
Scratching II
Palm Warbler VI
Nap?

Gulls/N. Card/No. 11

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):

Northern Cardinal (male – foreground, female – background)
Herring Gulls (right) + Ring-billed Gulls (left)
Ring-billed Gulls
Herring Gulls (upper right) + Ring-billed Gulls
Ring-billed Gulls II
Ring-billed Gulls III
Ring-billed Gulls IV
R-bGIF
Final gulls

Coming up soon, spider vs. chipmunk!

A Nice Day In The Woods

Beautiful weather recently in Erie County, Pennsylvania, including a lovely, sunny warm Sunday afternoon last weekend at Presque Isle State Park, w/ pictures here mostly along the shady/pleasant Canoe Portage Trail:

Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Song Sparrow @ rocky shore of Marina Lake
Titmouse takes flight
Chickadee w/ snack
White-throated Sparrow II
Chickadee – hangin’ in there
Shady but lovely Swamp Sparrow
Chickadee w/ snack II
Hangin’ in there II
Swamp Sparrow II
W/ snack III
Droppin’ down
Sunny White-throated Sparrow
Shady Chickadee
Sunny sparrow II
Out on a limb
More shady Chickadee
Still out of on a limb
Foraging behaviour
More sunny sparrow
1
… and 2

Fall Day/Elk Creek

Today on BirdingPI.com, celebrating lovely fall birds in Erie County, Pennsylvania from this last Saturday, near Elk Creek in McKean Twp:

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (f)
Nashville Warbler
Palm Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow II
Cedar Waxwing II
Nashville Warbler II
Palm Warbler II
Nashville Warbler III
Red-breasted Grosbeak II
Palm Warbler III
Nashville Warbler IV
Palm Warbler IV
Rose-breasted Grosbeak III
Palm Warbler V
Lincoln’s Sparrow III
Cedar Waxwing III
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler II
Cedar Waxwing IV
Cedar Waxwing V
Lincoln’s Sparrow IV
Fall vegetation
Yellow-rumped Warbler III
Yellow-rumped Warbler IV
Lincoln’s Sparrow V

This was a nice sighting of the relatively reclusive and “not seen that often” Lincoln’s Sparrow. ID: finely streaked breast with buffy wash, as shown quite nicely in the shots above and below.

Lincoln’s Sparrow VI
Yellow-rumped Warbler V
Lincoln’s Sparrow VII
Cedar Waxwing VI
Yellow-rumped Warbler VI
Saying ‘adios’ to today’s post w/ Lincoln’s Sparrow (rear view)

Monumental Mallards

Guess the National Mall ducks are all on unpaid furlough this week, so lucky timing with these shots of beautiful Mallards a week ago Friday morning in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln Memorial w/ Reflecting Pool @ sunrise
Mallard (m)
Mallard (f)
Washington Monument + WWII Memorial (foreground)

These shots mostly at the one end of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool adjacent the WWII Memorial (above). More Mallards unless otherwise indicated:

European Starlings flying by Lincoln Memorial
WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, & US Capitol

Royalty

From the Long Pond Trail at Presque Isle State Park a while back, digital photographs of lovely Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) x Monarch (Danaus plexippus):

Viceroy
Monarch

ID tips: Monarch has copious white spotting on the head and thorax (front part of main body) that Viceroy lacks; Monarch larger in size.

Invasion

[Editor’s note: another surprise dropbox submission from BirdingPI.com’s national affairs correspondent in Washington, D.C. Unedited text and photos follow.]

Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) “leaping to attack”

“Day 7 on the National Mall. The squirrels are everywhere, in the grass, flying through the air; their beady little eyes follow you unnaturally. The National Guard seems powerless against this force; they watch passively, as if letting the world burn. Even with pockets devoid of acorns, I fear for my safety.”

“Give us your acorns and maybe we won’t have a problem. Maybe.”
Combatting a squirrely menace

So… many… squirrels:

[Editor’s note: ?!?]

Wilson Warbler

With the AOS project to rename honorific bird species (birds named after people/places) taking so long no one remembers why, the AOS recently announced it would instead sell naming rights, with proceeds allocated to bird conservation, e.g., “Rocket Mortgage Vireo” and “Capital One Warbler” – What warbler’s in your wallet?TM As a pilot, inside sources indicated that Finnish multinational company Amer Sports, Inc. was in discussions to purchase re-naming rights for Wilson’s Warbler, on behalf of its U.S. division Wilson Sporting Goods.

Introducing the Wilson Warbler!
Hello, our real name is [edit: untranslatable into English]

All shots Wilson Warbler at Asbury Woods, Millcreek Twp, PA (“Since 1800”), late summer 2025.