Beautiful day Friday (after noon-ish) in Erie County, PA, then hazy Saturday morning turning to rain this afternoon. (Generally chilly both days.) Lots of great bird sightings to report, but while waiting on photo editing, here’s Ring-billed Gulls at the Liberty Park marina area (Erie, PA), just before sunset the other evening:
Re-purposed some ‘subject out of frame‘ shots for artistic/abstract effect:
Reminder that with ‘nesting season’ starting Monday, 1 April 2024, this is the last weekend for unrestricted access to Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park. And now, time for more Turkey Vulture at Thompson Bay!
Some nice shots of a lovely Red-winged Blackbird (male) exhibiting preening behavior + lots of shaking/flapping. Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA.
[Photo Editor’s note: tough to capture both black feather detail + ‘stop motion.’ These shots mostly @ 1/2500 sec in spot metering mode + exposure compensation +0.3-+0.7, + auto adjustment in Adobe Lightroom then manual contrast adjustment.]
Nothing more enjoyable in bird observation than waterfowl aerobraking for a water landing, like this beautiful male Red-breasted Merganser at Leo’s Landing, Presque Isle State Park.
Stay tuned for more Turkey Vulture content!
Lots of amazing Turkey Vulture activity in Erie County, PA currently. E.g., 60-70 counted flying near Presque Isle State Park in a 15-20 minute period Saturday, w/ similar numbers Sunday. These shots from Sunday on/above the beach at Thompson Bay:
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming, featuring Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) at Asbury Woods, Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
We interrupt our normally scheduled “squirrels eating pine cones” coverage for a PI Bird Alert. … Gorgeous afternoon yesterday at Presque Isle State Park, cold but mostly sunny. (Of note: lots of duck activity including Wood Ducks, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, etc.) Spotted on outer Thompson Bay by Beach No. 11, an unusually large number of amazing Surf Scoter. (Based on BirdingPI.com’s experience, ‘unusually large’ = more than one.) In this case, at least 20+ including both male & female:
More Surf Scoter:
More pictures of this amazing duck coming ASAP!
Part II of late-winter birds at Asbury Woods last weekend, Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), under mostly overcast/light snow conditions:
Coming up next time, cute squirrels eating pine cones!
Finally, Red-tailed Hawk content, and lots of it! All from Erie County, PA.
Probably a breeding pair (see further below):
A pair of beautiful Red-tailed Hawks apparently engaging in mating behavior:
This pair also seen gathering nesting material (nest location unknown); hopefully plenty of hawk chicks on the way for later in the spring!
More hawk @ sunset:
Erie weather: very cold/overcast Friday; forecast calls for rain/snow overnight with partially clearing skies Saturday, then sunny but cold on Sunday. (Warmer temps expected mid-week next week.) Happy birding/nature!
Leave it to Erie County, PA: first full day of spring, some of the worst weather of the season – overcast, brutal wind/windchill, blowing cold/wet snow, etc. Bird activity very erratic based on variable conditions, but plenty of American Robins around despite the snow:
Guess we have to return to winter for spring-like conditions, here, BirdingPI.com’s final winter expedition to Gull Point this past Saturday:
“Bird of the day,” a trio of uncommon (for Erie) Sandhill Cranes heard and spotted flying overhead along the ‘official outer’ Gull Point Trail, generally east-to-west:
Lots of Song Sparrow activity currently both w/i the treeline & on outer Gull Point itself:
Lots of Killdeer activity on the outer point, spotted at least six:
Another winter spotting of presumably overwintering Yellow-rumped Warbler by ‘big bend‘ along the Gull Point Trail. (Also spotted late December & early/mid. February at this location.)
