Dateline: 26-28 April 2024

Despite periods of considerable rain, looks like spring “high season” kicked into gear over the weekend, with warm/humid conditions and a substantial uptick (anecdotally) in warbler, etc. activity. “New for 2024” sightings at Presque Isle State Park included Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, Baltimore Oriole, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, even an early Veery. Here’s a nice sequence of alternating Pine Warbler (appropriately enough @ Pine Tree Beach picnic area) & Palm Warbler @ Long Pond Trail:

Pine Warbler usually not seen this low to the ground for this long (10-15 minutes) = good for bird photography.

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Recent misc. shots at Asbury Woods x female Northern Cardinal @ Presque Isle State Park:

Despite a bit of wind/chill, beautiful sunny day yesterday in Erie County, PA. Turned rainy/windy/thunderstorms overnight, remaining unsettled this morning; good luck to everyone heading out for birds/nature. Recent sightings of note: Common Raven (!) @ South Pier; & Palm Warbler @ interior Gull Point Trail, Pine Warbler @ Pine Tree Beach picnic area & Pine Tree Trail, & Piping Plover @ outer Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park. More on all that later. In the meantime, nice recent shots of American Coot, etc. at South Pier:

Another year gone, & once again the birthday anniversary of “He Who Must Not Be Named,” pro-slavery advocate & generally awful human. Glad to see they finally changed the name, as suggested, to National Birding & Bird Conservation Society. [<– irony]

And with that out of the way, time for something even more amazing than a total solar eclipse: a classic Canada Goose kerfuffle! (“Kerfuffle” = exhibiting seasonal mating aggressiveness/territoriality behavior.) These recent shots on a cloudy day @ Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve, Mentor, OH. Please enjoy responsibly.

Despite cloudy/cold conditions (+ hint snow) last Sunday, it’s reasonably nice ‘Swallow trifecta’ content from State Game Lands Number 109 outside Waterford Twp, PA, in southern Erie County. Swallow trifecta: Northern Rough-winged (brown), Tree (blue/white), & Barn (blue/russet).

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Stay tuned for tomorrow’s special post of amazing bird photos! (Really. Well, maybe.)

Lots of controversy at BirdingPI.com over characterizing Mallard as the “world’s most beautiful duck.” In the spirit of avoiding intractable staff conflict, time for a hint of nuance: (i) Mallard: “the most beautiful duck regularly seen relatively close at Presque Isle State Park all year long;” (ii) Wood Duck: “the most beautiful duck occasionally seen relatively close, even if only briefly, at Presque Isle State Park part of the year;” (iii) Northern Shoveler: “the most beautiful duck occasionally seen at a distance at Presque Isle State Park part of the year;” & (vi) Harlequin Duck: “the most beautiful duck almost never seen at Presque Isle State Park, but still possible.” Anyway, after all that tortured exposition, some rather amazing* shots of Wood Duck, taken recently close to the head of Presque Isle Bay. [*Editor’s note: these ducks much less skittish than usual, perhaps due to proximity of road traffic.]

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Bonus shots of “rarely seen out of water” Lesser Scaup (probably):

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Celebrating the first dragonfly of the year, Green Darner (Anax junius) spotted Saturday along the Pine Tree Trail @ Presque Isle State Park:

Flowing tree along the Dead Pond Trail, probably in the Malus genus, e.g., crabapple:

Wild daffodil or other plant in the Narcissus genus:

Following yellow flowers are Yellow Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum):

Finally, two shots of Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta):

Very interesting/amusing to see this European Starling, perched on the side of a building in Lawrence Park Twp, PA (“Since 1926”), suddenly start vocalizing + flapping its wings in a circular motion a la “the windmill.” (Would have been better w/ video, but flew off just after switching to video mode.)

Dateline: 14 April 2024

Highly erratic weather yesterday at Presque Isle State Park as a low pressure system moved through Erie County, PA: clouds, sun, heavy wind, hail, rain, etc. Bad day for Gull Point due to the wind; report forthcoming nevertheless. … In the meantime, more-or-less wrapping it up from last Sunday:

Nice sequence of Chipping Sparrow @ Pine Tree Meadows x Yellow-rumped Warbler @ Gull Point Trail:

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More along the Gull Point Trail + outer Gull Point. Unless otherwise noted, Greater Yellowlegs.

Interesting to see several Northern Flicker @ outer Gull Point. In the following shot, Northern Flicker in flight upper right, + four probably Purple Sandpiper:

No better way to get an early start on the weekend than with lots and lots of well-lit photos of the world’s most beautiful duck, the Mallard, in the swamp at Presque Isle State Park, on the beach and in the surf at East Ave boat launch, & in the air at South Pier:

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Landing sequence: