Part 2/2 of San Diego Botanic Gardens back in March, featuring (unless otherwise noted) Allen’s Hummingbird (maybe also Rufous Hummingbird):
All in all, a great visit to SDBG! Highly recommended.
SDBG 2
SDBG 1
With NE spring warbler migration mostly (entirely?) over, it’s time to head back in time a few months to a great outing in March to the rather amazing San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas, California. Lots of plants, & lots of birds enjoying the plants!
What’s great about San Diego Botanic Garden is the (i) variety/diversity of plants and (ii) it’s been around (first private and then public) for 80+ years = many magnificent mature specimens.
Bonus section (re-post?) of Orange-crowned Warbler at a nearby location in San Diego County, same date, better showing the orange crown:
Coming up next time, more at SDBG, including lots of hummingbirds! (Yay!)
Mostly Hangin’ In There
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.
PI, 27 April
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.:
Casual Spring Flowers
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):
Palm Spring
From much earlier in the spring (end-April) in Erie County, Pennsylvania, it’s a celebration of beautiful Palm Warbler @ Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa):
Barn Crops
High-angle, close-cropped photographs of Barn Swallow, taken at outer Gull Point from the old observation platform, @ 1200mm:
Hello, My Deer
“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.
Season Finale
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!
Deep South
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…)
