It’s a rainy, rainy Saturday morning here in Erie County, Pennsylvania = all BirdingPI.com field operations on ‘weather hold.’ But that’s fine – there’s always a backlog of bird photos, e.g., here, recently, at South Pier. All Red-winged Blackbird (male – black w/ red shoulders, female – mottled brown/buff) unless otherwise noted.
More tardy photo editing, featuring 27 April 2025 at Presque Isle State Park (various locations):
Wrapping it up with Palm Warbler exhibiting flycatching behaviour, etc.:
Out on a late-spring walk in Millcreek Twp, Pennsylvania (“Since 1800”), with toss offs of flowers & friends, either 50mm standard or 50mm macro. Mostly cloudy conditions. (Species ID at end of post.)
Photo IDs: (i) Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare); (ii) Probably Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris); (iii) Field of daisies; (iv) Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora); (v) Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare); (vi) Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus); (vii) More daisies; (viii) Ragged-robin (Silene flos-cuculi); (ix) Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus); (x) Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare); (xi) Ragged-robin (Silene flos-cuculi); (xii) White Philadelphia Fleabane w/ probably Tarnished Plant Bug (TPB)(Lygus lineolaris), nymph form; (xiii) Multiflora Rose w/ a hoverfly, perhaps Margined Calligrapher Fly (Toxomerus marginatus); (xiv) Fleabane w/ TPB; (xv) Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense) bud; (xvi) Multiflora Rose w/ hoverfly; (xvii) species of Taraxacum (dandelion), seed pod detail w/ morning dew; (xviii) Multiflora Rose w/ hoverfly; (xix) Fleabane w/ TPB; (xx) dandelion, seed pod detail w/ morning dew; (xxi) Multiflora Rose w/ hoverfly; (xxii) Ox-eye Daisy detail; (xxiii) Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense) bloom; &(xxiv) Ox-eye Daisy.
[Editor’s note: ID on Ox-eye Daisy based on bloom size, petal count, and leaf pattern (e.g., Common Daisy would be smaller with fewer petals and a rounder leaf):
From much earlier in the spring (end-April) in Erie County, Pennsylvania, it’s a celebration of beautiful Palm Warbler @ Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa):
High-angle, close-cropped photographs of Barn Swallow, taken at outer Gull Point from the old observation platform, @ 1200mm:
“Fundamentally, the key to a proper deer-related title for any print work is to replace ‘dear’ (the adjective) with its homophone ‘deer,’ referring of course to the animal.” Smythe, Arthur. A Giant Book of Animal Pun Titles. 3rd ed, A. Knopf, 1978.
This is a brief but fascinating video clip, taken in Millcreek Twp (“Since 1800”), of the female White-tailed Deer shown above/below, exhibiting (i) “hoof stomping” warning/defensive behavior, then (ii), as it runs away, a warning “deer screech:”
Same location earlier in the spring, a fawn has been temporarily left alone to hide in the grass:
Finally, on a different date at Presque Isle State Park, two young, male White-tailed Deer along the Duck Pond Trail:
Coming up soon, probably birds. Maybe flowers.
As the spring 2025 migration season winds down, here’s some nice, mostly warbler activity along the Gull Point Trail @ Presque Isle State Park.
This is male (immature male?) Bay-breasted Warbler:
Two of female Blackpoll Warbler:
Lots more shots of beautiful female Orange Flame (a.k.a. Blackburnian) Warbler:
Very nice sighting of female Common Yellowthroat:
Finally, back at the Budny Beach parking lot, a male Eastern Bluebird bids us adieu!
Before continuing coverage of Gull Point, we’re back in the ‘deep south’ of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, on June 1st, with nice portraiture of “birds not seen every day.” First up, beautiful Acadian Flycatcher in random woods:
‘Random woods’ = state game lands, i.e., multi-use public property mostly used for (i) nature and (ii) seasonal hunting:
Following the “follow the bird sounds” tracking method, a great, high-up-in-a-tree sighting of Ovenbird:
More Acadian Flycatcher x Ovenbird:
Elsewhere, in another section of dense woodlands, a brief but nice sighting of Wood Thrush. Note the rufous crown and back + distinctive dark spots down the entire torso:
Finally, in yet another section of woodlands, this is either Eastern Wood-Pewee or Willow Flycatcher. (Really close in terms of ID, and both were heard at this location. More on this ID later…)
Before heading into part 3 of last week’s early AM outing to Gull Point, it’s bonus Wild Turkey video from that same morning. Despite being blocked a bit (eventually), this clip is still fun w/ a nice turkey vocalization:
This next clip is fascinating (especially at the beginning) for showing this turkey moving its snood. (What is a Wild Turkey snood?)
Fun times. Now, back to outer Gull Point:
Finally, back along the Gull Point Trail in the woods, some nice shots of House Wren:
Part 2 of an early day last week at Presque Isle State Park, heading out to Gull Point. When we last left off, you’ll recall sunrise at Leo’s Landing + Wild Turkeys.
Now it’s over to Budny Beach w/ Sanderling (l) and Killdeer (r):
Very happy the Piping Plovers are back. All long distance shots from the old observation platform:
