Today, we celebrate our Phalarope Day! (All shots Wilson’s Phalarope at Gull Point, unless noted otherwise.)

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Back a month+ to spring birds at West Road access to Elk Creek in McKean, Pennsylvania, featuring beautiful male Indigo Bunting & friends:

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It’s been a joy having several Wilson’s Phalarope (male and 2+ chicks) present at Gull Point for an extended period this summer. As a rare species for Erie County, for lots of folks it’s the first time ever seeing this species (“lifer”) = a happy occasion. These shots are from last Saturday afternoon under sunny conditions.

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Wishing everyone in the American colonies a happy Independence (from the Kingdom of Great Britain) Day!

Today, it’s another great Erie County summer bird (i.e., seen most often late spring/summer), the lovely Cedar Waxwing. Plus a few friends. From a couple weeks ago at Leo’s Landing at Presque Isle State Park, under cloudy conditions.

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Coming up tomorrow for the Independence Day holiday in the United States of America, lots and lots of Wilson’s Phalarope (a.k.a. Tricolored Phalarope) at Gull Point! Or maybe more insect macros. Probably Phalarope.

More from this past Saturday at Gull Point @ Presque Isle State Park, this time mostly along the inland/official trail.

This is right at the trailhead, a medley of probably Willow Flycatcher x definitely Yellow Warbler:

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At the far east end of Budny Beach, a medley of Northern Mockingbird x Killdeer chick:

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At that same location, Barn Swallows (bottom) were tussling with nesting Tree Swallows (top):

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Coming up soon, more outer Gull Point including more Wilson’s Phalarope (on the ground and in flight) + bonus video! Wow.

Nice weather in Erie County, Pennsylvania over the weekend, which means one thing: time to head out to Gull Point. And good thing, too, since there was a lovely (and rarely seen at Presque Isle) pair of American Avocet, e.g., as seen in the distance here from the old observation platform:

Two shots of Spotted Sandpiper. Been a good year for S.S. at Gull Point and elsewhere.

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Distant (and poorly lit) Short-billed Dowitcher:

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Not the best photography conditions (distant + backlit), but here’s more of the American Avocets, unless otherwise indicated:

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Coming up soon, more Gull Point!

Attentive readers will recall recent news about several notices posted at Gull Point around crow effigies. See, e.g., above. In a recent trip out to the point, BirdingPI.com staff finally encountered one or two of the effigies. (Perhaps it’s a work in progress?) For example, along the outer Gull Point rope trail:

Suffice to say, anecdotally, during the 2-3 hours recently spent at the point, no predators were spotted = seems to be working! Stay safe, little plovers!

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Thankfully it’s not blackbird effigies, since that would be upsetting (presumably) to the many Red-winged Blackbirds at outer Gull Point, like this female exhibiting flycatching behavior:

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Beautiful weather yesterday (Saturday, 28 June 2025) in Erie County, Pennsylvania, plus lots of great bird activity at Gull Point (including American Avocets!). While waiting on photo editing, digging into the ‘draft posts’ folder with part 2 of 2 of mostly Green Herons at Leo’s Landing, Presque Isle State Park, from back in the spring:

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Before heading out to Presque Isle State Park for Saturday field operations, it’s back to insect/flower photographs, this time @ 100mm macro (i.e., a 1:1 macro lens) at the West Road Elk Creek access in McKean, PA. Here’s Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) on Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense):

Also on Creeping Thistle, this is some species of skipper butterfly in the family Hesperiidae, e.g., Zabulon Skipper or Hobomok Skipper:

This is a closeup of what’s probably Chinese Catalpa (Catalpa ovata), a medium-sized ornamental tree probably planted decades ago at this location when it was a farm. (Possibly it could be Catalpa speciosa, but it seems too small for that native American species.)

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is currently in bloom, as in the following shot. These flower stalks will eventually seed out and then dry out = an important food source for many birds in the winter.

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Finally had some thunderstorms roll through Erie County, Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon. Today, Saturday, looks like it might be a nice day. Happy birding/nature!

Going back a few weeks, today’s post features nature at South Pier, Erie, Pennsylvania.

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Finally, always fun to see an unexpected bird on South Pier, such as this Least Sandpiper foraging in the weeds:

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