Lots of rabbits at Presque Isle State Park. This Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) spotted the other morning along the Gull Point Trail.

Most often, rabbits will startle rather quickly. This lovely/cute individual seemed rather unconcerned with human presence, to a point.

Best time/place to see rabbits at Presque Isle: early morning on any grassy area.

Fascinating to see the individual/swiveling ear control:

---

This individual seemed quite healthy (as do the rabbits generally at Presque Isle), but did have an engorged tick on its face. Not surprising considering the substantial local tick population.

---

Finally, in ongoing bird news, the pair of beautiful Mute Swans were sighted again yesterday on Thompson Bay. Pretty far away when viewed from the Thompson Circle access (in the lagoon to the east of the Osprey platform), but even so, here’s a fairly well formed “Swan heart” (cropped @ 600mm):

Another quick post today to mention beautiful (and uncommon at Presque Isle) Mute Swans have been sighted recently on Thompson Bay. These (long distance) shots from early yesterday morning:

Used to seeing adults where the bills are very orange & have a very pronounced “front bulge.” With lighter-coloured bills, these are probably juveniles/1st year.

ASIH Warning: This post contains images of dead fish.

Sadly, in the last few+ days the lovely fragrance of Multiflora Rose at Leo’s Landing has been supplanted by a pronounced (and surprisingly widespread) dead fish odour. The culprit: dead fish.

“Dead fish on the beach” is a regular occurrence at Presque Isle State Park, but usually only in the singular, or maybe two. Spotted the other morning at Leo’s Landing: 8+ dead fish along one small section of the westside beach on Presque Isle Bay.

Coincidence? Environmental factors? Lake level is good/high, & weather has been normal (e.g., not overly warm). Be interesting to check water temp levels and algae loads; further investigation required.

---

Moving on to a more pleasant topic, it’s a ‘mashup’ of Spotted Sandpiper in flight x other birds (as indicated) at Leo’s Landing:

Big thunderstorms in Erie County, PA Wednesday evening into Thursday. Not sure if it was the rain or just a coincidence, but there was an amazing Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) out in the open in a patch of sidewalk-adjacent grass in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). Seen digging in the dirt, but couldn’t tell if it was for laying eggs, foraging, or some other purpose.

A bevy of bird photos in Erie County, PA from late May and early June. Following is the view north from East Ave boat launch, with Canada Geese, North Pier (North Pier sand pile is on the left), Thompson Bay, inner Gull Point (the trees), & billowing clouds over Lake Erie:

Beautiful Red-tailed Hawks in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):

---

Song Sparrows w/ and w/o food, @ woods by East Ave boat launch:

---

Couple shots of cute Eastern Wood-Pewee:

ID tip: note the vested look.

---

And beautiful female and male Brown-headed Cowbirds, somewhere along the Gull Point Trail:

---

Lost distance shots, but nevertheless, here’s a Willow Flycatcher by Long Pond:

Note the overall olive/yellow colouration + wing bars + white throat:

Generally, Willow Flycatcher and Alder Flycatcher look almost identical; this one was positively identified as Willow based on voice/call using Merlin.

---

Short medley of Northern Cardinal & Yellow Warbler (in a blackberry bush):

---

Finally, it’s Chipping Sparrow exhibiting nest material gathering behavior at Pine Tree Meadows (across the road from Pine Tree Trail west trailhead @ Presque Isle State Park):

More recent shots on a couple different days at West Road Access Area along upper Elk Creek, in McKean Township, PA.

As elsewhere, the Red-winged Blackbirds here are fairly aggressive during nesting season. (See picture above.) Recent incidents at various locations include Red-winged Blackbird harassing: Great Blue Heron (x2); Common Tern (shots forthcoming); Green Heron in a tree (true story); Bald Eagle; Osprey; & BirdingPI.com staff member at Leo’s Landing (x2 – true story; “No photographers were injured”).

Coming up soon, unusual fish die-off in Presque Isle Bay?

As always, since sensibilities vary even in the context of ‘G-rated’ nature content, ‘NSFW‘ = snakes, ticks, bird-on-fish violence (or blood generally), & certain avian copulation behavior. Here, it’s the latter (beautiful Bank Swallows) x lovely Barn Swallows, along the Gull Point ‘rope trail.’

(For more information (TMI?), see Copulation (zoology) – Wikipedia & Cloaca – Wikipedia.)

Part 1 of a special report from a great, under-the-radar “nature spot” in Erie County, PA: West Road Access Area along upper Elk Creek in McKean Twp. Close to the junction of Interstates 90 and 79 on the southwest side, this is 18+ hectares of old farmland bordering the south side of Elk Creek, one of the important riparian corridors of the Erie-area watershed.

The shot below shows the main access + main gravel trail leading along the tree line and eventually down to Elk Creek. (The creek – really a small river – is to the right of the mature trees on the right-hand side of this shot, down a steep embankment.)

Mixed open field, brush, & scattered young trees, bordered by a line of mature forest along Elk Creek – great for Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, & probably the most reliable spot around (seasonally) for amazing Indigo Bunting:

Directions: Take I79 to the McKean, PA exit. Turn left or right westwards onto West Road. Drive 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) to the parking lot on the right.

It’s part 2 of ‘prime warbler migration’ @ Presque Isle State Park, along the Pine Tree Trail a few weeks ago.

Nice shots of shady Chestnut-sided Warbler:

---

Not a warbler, but Red-eyed Vireo (not the best pics., but no luck with anything better so far this year):

---

Beautiful Magnolia Warbler:

---

Here’s more Bay-breasted Warbler:

---

These are Cape May Warbler x Bay-breasted Warbler:

---

No post yesterday due to site maintenance. Today, it’s back to the height of warbler migration at Presque Isle State Park with shots from on and near the Pine Tree Trail.