It’s mid-August in Erie County, Pennsylvania, meaning “shorebird season” is fully underway at Presque Isle State Park, e.g., Semipalmated Plover, Gray Plover, Sanderling, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, etc. – all seen recently plus plenty of others. With no post yesterday due to extended BirdingPI.com field operations, today’s a “double wide” featuring beautiful Lesser Yellowlegs at Beach 11 x Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on milkweed at Leo’s Landing:

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[Editor’s note: bird in the foreground in two of the Yellowlegs shots above = Semipalmated Plover.]

First up, recent casual astrophotography. What else to do at 5AM other than brisk calisthenics followed by a few pre-dawn snapshots?

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Next up, Thompson Bay (@ Presque Isle State Park), the “nature gift that keeps on giving,” like this recent, rather amazing sighting of a family of beautiful Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor), + special guests:

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[Editor’s note: Ha! An obligate piscivore joke!]

Recent shots of mostly older juvenile Wild Turkeys along the road @ Presque Isle State Park:

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Back to a nice day in July at Beach 11 at Presque Isle State Park, featuring (unless otherwise noted) juvenile Piping Plover (left) & Ruddy Turnstone (right):

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On/off highly localized rain yesterday (thunderstorms) in Erie County, Pennsylvania, w/ moderate, wide-area thunderstorms and a soaking rain overnight last night. (Good for the grass/plants.) And no better way to celebrate rain than with wet birds, well, one wet American Robin, plus a lovely, non-wet American Goldfinch (m) for good measure, both recently seen at Leo’s Landing at Presque Isle State Park.

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Nothing strange or fancy in today’s post, just good ol’ fashioned summer birds and trees @ Presque Isle State Park, along the North Pier Trail. Featuring, unless otherwise noted, Yellow Warbler (next shot down) & Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (2 shots down):

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Dateline: 10 August 2025

“WTF” = “well, that’s fun!” (of course), but whatever the case, just out for some pleasant mid-day bird photography on Thompson Bay, then out of the blue sky this is flapping around:

Perhaps a rhetorical question, but do birds have sharp, pointy teeth?

Obviously it’s a bat, but quite unusually, out in the daytime. Species uncertain, probably a Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus).

Amazingly, there was even a dip down to the bay, presumably for a drink (important to stay hydrated in warm weather!):

After several (alarmingly close) passes, this beautiful flying mammal departed into the nearby woods, hopefully for a nap. #Nature

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[Editor’s note: alternate titles – “B-attack”; “Bat, Mobile”; “Strange Bird”; “What’s Happening Here?!?”; “Siri, Google ‘rabies treatment'”; “Something Batty.”]

[Editor’s note 2: “Little Brown Bat” – who comes up with these genius names?]

[Editor’s note 3: pretty sure Bald Eagles have sharp, pointy teeth, but you won’t know until it’s on you and then it’s too late. #no_witnesses]

Looks like another beautiful summer day here in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Should be warm and sunny; field operations are “a go.” Pending photo editing of more recent shorebird content (stay tuned for Yellowlegs!), slowly getting through the spring picture backlog, with more shots mostly at Leo’s Landing at Presque Isle State Park, featuring Green Heron and Yellow Warbler:

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Back to last Sunday at Gull Point, with more bird activity on the interior bayside beaches/mud flats/lagoons:

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Following shots all in chronological order, all of Semipalmated Plover engaging in some sort of fascinating behaviour, perhaps mating related. Breeding season extends into August, so speculation is it’s some sort of mating dance/ritual:

After this, most of the birds startled and flew to other locations down the beach, so uncertain where this ended up.

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… to go back in the water, it’s a Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon) at State Game Lands 109 in Erie County, Pennsylvania, 10 May 2025:

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Also, same date/location, some nice spring birds:

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Should be a nice weekend (sunny, warm) here in NW Pennsylvania. Happy birding/nature! #more_bird