What better way to celebrate winter solstice 2023 than with more gull content? Here, a special focus on Lesser Black-backed Gulls, seen multiple times recently at Beach No. 11 @ Presque Isle State Park.

First, as part of BirdingPI.com’s DEI initiative, proposing a more inviting name for this lovely gull, relative to Great Black-backed Gull, such as:

• “Great Black-backed Gull” & “Slightly Smaller Black-backed Gull”
• “Great Black-backed Gull” & “Also Great Black-backed Gull,” etc.

Stay tuned for more on this front, along with further “no birds named after racist/bad humans” re-naming announcements.

Moving on to substantive matters, for comparison purposes, a Great Black-backed Gull on the breakwater off Budny Beach:

ID tips – large gull, pink legs, black or dark slate wings/back, white chest/head, and yellow bill with red spot:

Fun fact: Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull species in the world!

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Now on to Beach No. 11. Amongst mixed gulls, gull in upper left corner standing on one leg = Lesser Black-backed Gull. ID tips: smaller than Great Black-backed Gull + Herring Gull; larger than Ring-billed Gull; yellow legs; wings/back may be lighter than Great Black-backed Gull, but even if so, much darker than Herring Gull; yellow beak with red spot.

Comparison to Herring Gull on left:

More views:

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Now back to Great Black-backed Gull @ same date/location (hint – it has a black back):

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Bonus beautiful Ring-billed Gulls:

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Finally, even if birds aren’t government drones, clearly this gull is trained for tactical operations:

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[Editor’s note: “clearly” should be in quotes. Please revise before publishing.]

Generally bad weather (rainy, snowy, cold, windy, cloudy) the last few days in Erie County, PA; difficult birding conditions & reduced bird activity generally. As such, good a time as any for more Arizona content, back at Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ, in August.

First up, a Western Kingbird perched on a fence, roadside, at the nearby water processing plant. Relative to Tropical Kingbird = white side tail feathers (not well shown in these shots) + yellow doesn’t extend as far up on the chest:

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Probably Willow Flycatcher:

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Two of lovely Common Gallinule:

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And two of probably female Broad-billed Hummingbird:

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A great aspect of Sweetwater is the numerous mesquite and other trees = good chance to see raptors at eye level, like this amazing Cooper’s Hawk:

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Probably Tropical Kingbird:

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Recent fun shots of birds + “human stuff,” Presque Isle State Park and close vicinity.

After a lovely Saturday for the Christmas Bird Count, rained all day Sunday in Erie County, PA; on-and-off moderate rain continues into Monday morning, with a winter storm warning in effect for Monday evening/night.

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Waterfowl migration is in full swing at/around Presque Isle State Park, so time to check in (again) on the ducks. Lake Erie remains ice-free = many ducks regularly seen far out of the lake. These long-distance shots generally N/NW from Beach Nos. 3/4 area, probably mostly Scaup (greater/lesser) and Merganser:

See below for sample duck count analysis.

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Several of Red-breasted Merganser @ Lake Erie breakwater:

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Ruddy Duck pictures above (at Beach No. 11) are from a Sunday, hence no duck hunters. Otherwise flocks of ducks wouldn’t be seen this close to shore at this location this time of year; Thompson Bay (inc. Beach No. 11) = popular for duck hunting. (The Bufflehead was startled by someone arriving to beach fish.)

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While many American Black Duck look quite Mallard-like, the following on Niagara Pond are nicely dark/black-ish:

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Back to “ducks on the lake”/duck counting on Lake Erie. Recent eBird reports indicate regular passings of multiple species of ducks in the tens-of-thousands per “counting period” (e.g., a person counting for a given period of time). Following is one example of the magnitude; shots taken recently off Sunset Point/Budny Beach area, probably mostly Scaup:

Crop/detail from that same shot:

In the first shot above, software analysis = 2974 ducks +/- 100. So figure 3000 ducks in that one shot alone. “Squiggle trace” view showing counted duck locations:

Dateline: 16 December 2023

Overall a nice day at Presque Isle State Park for the Great Christmas Bird Count. Too cloudy/dark for ideal photography, but mild/dry and plenty of birds to be counted. Great to see the ‘regulars’ (“One Ring-billed Gull, two Ring-billed Gulls, three Ring-billed Gulls, …”), but also fun to encounter something exotic, like here on Lake Erie near Beach 4:

And…, it’s a loose decoy calmly floating by real ducks, nowhere near any duck hunters. Ack. Move “1” from the ‘bird count’ column to the ‘birding fail’ column.

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Soon thereafter at that same location, nothing better than incoming/landing waterfowl. Here, poorly lit but fun shots of (mostly) Red-breasted Merganser:

It’s a quick mashup of “pictures including one Ring-billed Gull in focus and another in bokeh” x Bufflehead (female) in flight. All recent (December) shots from at/near Presque Isle State Park.

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Saturday, 16 December 2023, is Presque Isle Audubon’s designated day for the Erie County Great Christmas Bird Count. Any folks interested in participating in the Presque Isle State Park count should convene at Shelter #2 @ 8:00AM. Always a great event, + bonus: supposed to be sunny and mild with a high around 10 deg C! (50 deg f.)

Helpful hint – watch out for ‘gull duty:’

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Time for more content of every right-thinking person’s favourite gull, the lovely Ring-billed Gull! Recent ‘feeding behavior’ shots from South Pier, Erie, PA.

This post brought to you by Kroger^(R) Whole Kernel Sweet Golden Corn^(R) – Good for a grackle, good for you! ^(TM)

These shots from August at Christopher Columbus Park on the NW side of Tucson, AZ. First up, a spotlight on Great-tailed Grackle (f) x tinned corn:

[Editor’s note: the tin above = in situ/existing litter; “No grackles were harmed.” ^(TM)]

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All these shots around dawn; park gates open @ 6AM.

Christopher Columbus Park – an oasis in the scrub desert w/ grass, trees, picnic areas, artificial ponds, etc. Popular (apparently) for fishing & dog walking. Great for seeing grackle, heron, waterfowl, etc.

Duck feeding time, with Mallard, probably Mexican Duck or Mexican/Mallard hybrid, Great-tailed Grackle, various domestic escapees (e.g., Swan Goose to left of person in picture), + even a wild Snow Goose (white bird @ middle bottom left):

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Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron (bottom middle) + Snowy Egret (top left)(note the dark bill and yellow feet):

Next up, a medley of Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile) + female Anna’s Hummingbird (maybe immature male):

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Hopefully it’s clear – lots of Great-tailed Grackle at C.C. Park!

[Editor’s note: “snack” = shorthand for ‘exhibiting feeding behavior.’]

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Here’s a nice series of lovely Lucy’s Warbler:

[Editor’s note: forthcoming new name = “Desert Gray Warbler”]

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Fun fact: “V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America.“

BirdingPI.com Rule No. #2 of successful nature photography: check (and re-check) the camera settings. (Rule No. #1: remember the batteries and memory cards.) Here’s a “Horned Grebe in flight” shot @ 1/60 sec when it should have been 1/2500 second:

OTOH, still possible to luck out with a few pretty cool “Grebe in motion” shots. (Rule No. #3: stay calm & keep shooting.)

Anecdotally at Presque Isle, grebes usually seen floating and not flying; these were startled by a passing boat in the channel between North & South Piers.

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Bonus shots:

Two of Red-breasted Merganser in flight on cloudy day:

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Red-breasted Merganser landing at East Ave boat launch + gulls:

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Finally, Common Loon usually seen individually or in pairs. Here’s a very interesting flotilla of 10+ congregated off the east end of South Pier:

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[Editor’s note: ‘OTOH’ = on the other hand.]