Dateline: 5 May 2024

Generally speaking, currently lots and lots (!) of bird activity at Presque Isle State Park, esp. warblers and vireos. Last couple years, seemed like more activity earlier relative to the tree foliage, e.g., more species seen when the trees were still relatively bare. This year, it’s hitting closer to full leaf coverage = more difficult to see + lots of staring up into tall/leafy trees + not much hope for Bay-breasted Warbler. OTOH, anecdotally, more Nashville, Tennessee, Northern Parula, & Cape May Warbler activity = great.

Shots above & below along the Sidewalk Trail & Ridge Trail on Sunday, under overcast/warm/humid conditions; bad for bird photography, but still plenty to see.

Really great (& not that common) to see this lovely Blue-winged Warbler. Note the eyeline, blue-ish wings, and wing bars:

This is is blurry even after sharpening, but still great to see a Blue-headed Vireo (usually too far up in the trees to see well or at all):

Even @ 400mm, still pretty far away:

Bonus Yellow Warbler on a sunny day at Headwaters Park:

South Pier: the City of Erie’s best spot for (i) eating lunch in your car in a parking lot with a view; (ii) hanging out in your car for other, unknown reasons; (iii) pier fishing; (iv) littering; (v) smoking/vaping/etc.; (vi) watching the happenings at North Pier; (vii) boat watching; and (viii) birding and other nature observation. Plus, chemical toilets!

Moving on to “recent South Pier news,” it’s repairs to North Pier w/ giant crane (Coast Guard Station on left):

Not unexpectedly (see any Osprey nest), the Osprey were very intrigued with this new neighbourhood high spot:

Even more exciting news, great sighting of a Common Raven (!):

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“Mashup” of Common Loon & mostly Caspian Tern:

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Barely possible to contain all the nature at Presque Isle State Park. In the “not seen every day” category, it’s White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) running on Budny Beach (east end), on Saturday:

Dateline: 5 May 2024

Despite excellent conditions, seemingly very few folks out birding yesterday or today. (Anecdotally speaking.) For the avoidance of doubt, the time to be birding at Presque Isle State Park is now. Not next week, not two weeks from now, literally now. Or maybe tomorrow. Anyway, tremendous warbler activity, as good as it ever gets, e.g., along the Sidewalk Trail, both yesterday (east end) and today (west end), + lots of other amazing birds. (Spoiler alert: male & female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, + male Scarlet Tanager, + Sandhill Cranes.)

Dateline: 4 May 2024

Lots of bird activity at Presque Isle State Park yesterday. (Weather: mostly cloudy, warm/humid; generally bad for photography.) Notable activity: Oriole in multiple locations (definitely Baltimore, maybe Orchard); Thrush (Veery, Wood, & Hermit @ Sidewalk Trail); Great Crested Flycatcher & Least Flycatcher; & Warbler, esp. along east end of Sidewalk Trail (American Redstart, Palm, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-and-white, Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, etc.) Here’s some content from a very quick walk (20+ min.) along the Pine Tree Trail, starting with Great Crested Flycatcher, first for 2024:

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Also two lovely male Magnolia Warbler:

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And finally, finally a couple decent shots of Gray Catbird!

Finally back from today’s Presque Isle field operations. LOTS of bird activity, including a Gull Point rarity and tons of new warbler activity. More on that in tomorrow’s post. Here, it’s (probably) Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) on Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), in Erie County:

And a fascinating sequence (in chronological order) of Common Grackle (m & f) exhibiting (presumably) mating behavior, from earlier this week on the west beach at Leo’s Landing:

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Drink recipe for Mating Behavior On The Beach (non-alcoholic):

2 oz orange juice

2 oz cranberry juice

1 oz peach nectar

Ice

Plain sparkling water or club soda

Directions: mix juices and peach nectar in large glass/tumbler. Add sufficient ice to chill. Fill rest of glass with soda water.

A lot of debate in the BirdingPI.com break room about how best to present this recent happenstance at South Pier, Erie, PA (“Erie’s favorite pier!”) Perhaps the story of Elmo the Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger), who despite the other squirrels’ warnings just had to see South Pier for himself. Or maybe not. Anyway, considering the lack of cover + local hawk population (e.g., Red-tailed Hawk seen regularly at this location – see below), not a safe place for rodents.

A happy ending, however – “Elmo” made it back safely into the underbrush:

[Editor’s note: a Red-tailed Hawk would have a very different sense of a ‘happy ending’ to this tail (pun intended). Just sayin’.]

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Edit: A Red-tailed Hawk @ South Pier, the next day or thereabouts.

By popular demand, a couple quickly-edited photographs of beautiful Yellow Warbler (m) early yesterday morning @ Leo’s Landing, Presque Isle State Park:

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Plenty more Yellow Warbler to come, but for now, back to last Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, starting with more shots of Spotted Sandpiper @ Leo’s Landing:

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Following also at Leo’s Landing:

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Checking in on nests by Long Pond:

Finally, along the Sidewalk Trail:

Happy May Day! Early reports from BirdingPI.com field staff this morning indicate a substantial increase in Yellow Warbler activity at Presque Isle State Park = happy times. More on this in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, more shots of spring migration, etc. from this past Saturday, mostly at Leo’s Landing:

Great to see the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher of the year:

Alternating with Caspian Tern:

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Nice gull size comparison, Ring-billed (right), American Pixie (middle left), & Herring (left):

Great to see Spotted Sandpiper, also “new for 2024:”

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Another ‘first of 2024’ sighting @ Baltimore Oriole (m):

Relatively rare to run across an active nest; not sure where all those amazing shots (e.g., of baby birds) originate on teh internets. (Generally assuming folks are climbing trees, or running drones, or in helicopters, or giant ladders, or shrub diving, perhaps trained monkeys + GoPro^TM cameras.) Here, @ Presque Isle State Park, happenstance proximity this last Sunday to American Robin + very young chicks. Per BirdingPI.com policy, “Upon encountering an active nest, quickly take a few shots if safely possible then calmly and speedily evacuate the area.”

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