Another year gone, & once again the birthday anniversary of “He Who Must Not Be Named,” pro-slavery advocate & generally awful human. Glad to see they finally changed the name, as suggested, to National Birding & Bird Conservation Society. [<– irony]

And with that out of the way, time for something even more amazing than a total solar eclipse: a classic Canada Goose kerfuffle! (“Kerfuffle” = exhibiting seasonal mating aggressiveness/territoriality behavior.) These recent shots on a cloudy day @ Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve, Mentor, OH. Please enjoy responsibly.

Despite cloudy/cold conditions (+ hint snow) last Sunday, it’s reasonably nice ‘Swallow trifecta’ content from State Game Lands Number 109 outside Waterford Twp, PA, in southern Erie County. Swallow trifecta: Northern Rough-winged (brown), Tree (blue/white), & Barn (blue/russet).

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Stay tuned for tomorrow’s special post of amazing bird photos! (Really. Well, maybe.)

Lots of controversy at BirdingPI.com over characterizing Mallard as the “world’s most beautiful duck.” In the spirit of avoiding intractable staff conflict, time for a hint of nuance: (i) Mallard: “the most beautiful duck regularly seen relatively close at Presque Isle State Park all year long;” (ii) Wood Duck: “the most beautiful duck occasionally seen relatively close, even if only briefly, at Presque Isle State Park part of the year;” (iii) Northern Shoveler: “the most beautiful duck occasionally seen at a distance at Presque Isle State Park part of the year;” & (vi) Harlequin Duck: “the most beautiful duck almost never seen at Presque Isle State Park, but still possible.” Anyway, after all that tortured exposition, some rather amazing* shots of Wood Duck, taken recently close to the head of Presque Isle Bay. [*Editor’s note: these ducks much less skittish than usual, perhaps due to proximity of road traffic.]

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Bonus shots of “rarely seen out of water” Lesser Scaup (probably):

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Celebrating the first dragonfly of the year, Green Darner (Anax junius) spotted Saturday along the Pine Tree Trail @ Presque Isle State Park:

Flowing tree along the Dead Pond Trail, probably in the Malus genus, e.g., crabapple:

Wild daffodil or other plant in the Narcissus genus:

Following yellow flowers are Yellow Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum):

Finally, two shots of Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta):

Very interesting/amusing to see this European Starling, perched on the side of a building in Lawrence Park Twp, PA (“Since 1926”), suddenly start vocalizing + flapping its wings in a circular motion a la “the windmill.” (Would have been better w/ video, but flew off just after switching to video mode.)

Dateline: 14 April 2024

Highly erratic weather yesterday at Presque Isle State Park as a low pressure system moved through Erie County, PA: clouds, sun, heavy wind, hail, rain, etc. Bad day for Gull Point due to the wind; report forthcoming nevertheless. … In the meantime, more-or-less wrapping it up from last Sunday:

Nice sequence of Chipping Sparrow @ Pine Tree Meadows x Yellow-rumped Warbler @ Gull Point Trail:

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More along the Gull Point Trail + outer Gull Point. Unless otherwise noted, Greater Yellowlegs.

Interesting to see several Northern Flicker @ outer Gull Point. In the following shot, Northern Flicker in flight upper right, + four probably Purple Sandpiper:

No better way to get an early start on the weekend than with lots and lots of well-lit photos of the world’s most beautiful duck, the Mallard, in the swamp at Presque Isle State Park, on the beach and in the surf at East Ave boat launch, & in the air at South Pier:

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Landing sequence:

Heading into the woods at Presque Isle State Park from last Sunday, @ Fox Trail, across the road from Presque Isle Lighthouse. Starting off with a great “first time 2024” sighting of lovely Brown Thrasher:

(Also lots of Brown Thrasher, relatively speaking – e.g., x4 – along the Gull Point Trail.)

Alternating with beautiful Hermit Thrush; note the rufous tail, slight eye-ring, and fairly heavy spotting:

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Finishing up with a nice sequence of Hermit Thrush bathing @ rain/runoff pond in the woods:

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Coming up eventually, Pileated Woodpecker, and lots of ’em!

Part 2 of “birds from this past Saturday” at Presque Isle State Park, starting with more Golden-crowned Kinglet along the Sidewalk Trail:

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Lovely Great Egrets in one of the ponds/swamp near Beach No. 11:

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Finally, first sighting this year of Ruby-crowned Kinglet, by Pine Tree Beach:

Lots more bird photos coming up from this past weekend at Presque Isle State Park, starting with these from Saturday:

Sometimes it all comes together, even at a long distance, like this amazing Northern Flicker (yellow shaft) along the Sidewalk Trail:

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It’s the first warbler of spring “that isn’t a Yellow-rumped Warbler along the Gull Point Trail because those were around all winter.” Of course, still Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2x sighted along the Sidewalk Trail:

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Two of Brown Creeper:

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Wrapping it up with lovely Golden-crowned Kinglet:

(Kinglet above seemed to be engaging in some sort of ‘tree creeping’ foraging behavior, flitting from branch to branch then along the tree trunk.)

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Coming up soon, more weekend! Plus special highlights featuring great shots of Horned Grebe, American Coot, and more sunny Mallards! #more_bird