Dateline: 11 October 2025

First up, folks visiting Presque Isle State Park should be forewarned: fall tick season is in full swing. Yesterday along the Pine Tree Trail, 7-8+ small, black ticks (species unknown) were found on BirdingPI.com staff clothing. Tip: avoid entanglements in grass/brush.

After overnight clouds burned off, it was a glorious October Big Day in Erie County, PA; mostly sunny and mild.

Lots and lots of great seasonal bird activity at Presque Isle, with the “everyday bird of the day” being this beautiful Blue Jay along the Pine Tree Trail:

Blue Jays are generally photographically uncooperative (high in trees, deep in brush, fly away immediately), so these were lucky shots. And even as such, there’s always the peril of shooting 600mm in close quarters:

[Editor’s PSA: Today – October 11th – is October Big Day. Happy nature, happy birding! Weather in Erie County, PA: cloudy.]

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Dateline: 22 September 2025

In today’s post, reporting on a quick stop at Big Pool and Fort Frederick State Park in western Maryland, part of the historic C&O Canal complex. Lots of interesting history, lots of interesting nature.

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Celebrating what appears to be a sunny fall Friday with more nice fall birds at Presque Isle State Park around the Marina Lake area (Duck Pond Trail, Canoe Portage Trail, etc.)

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From Saturday @ view of Gull Point from Beach 11 at Presque Isle State Park, looks like someone was having a bad weekend and/or didn’t get the memo about not running aground during April-October nesting season. Hopefully they realized it’s just a 30-minute hike to Budny Beach & the main park road. #no_coconuts

Moving on to a quick/anecdotal Erie County migration update, looks like Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, etc. (that’s a lot of colour-encoded birds!) are all passing through the area. Mostly already gone for the season: Red-headed Woodpecker, Green Heron, & Yellow Warbler.

Moving on, following’s a mix of beautiful Turkey Vulture (at Beach 11 + ‘head shots’ from elsewhere in Erie County) and other Beach 11 content:

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Dateline: 4 October 2025

Seems like folks are always clamouring for more gull photographs, so today it’s a nice medley of gulls @ Beach No. 11 (Presque Isle State Park) plus “not that often easily photographed together” male and female Northern Cardinal same date/location (just within the tree line):

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Coming up soon, spider vs. chipmunk!

From May at Presque Isle State Park, a two-parter. First up, part 1, with American Crow harassed by a Red-winged Blackbird:

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In part 2, it’s an American Crow w/ fish scrap vs. Ring-billed Gull:

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Looks like a nice weekend ahead in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the BirdingPI.com staff SUV was “t-boned” by a reckless Erie driver yesterday (no injuries, thankfully, to either persons or camera equipment), which may put a damper on field operations. Nevertheless, happy nature! #more_bird

What else to do on a hot/humid Saturday in July in Erie County, Pennsylvania than to hit the beach at Presque Isle State Park? A muddy, bayside beach for nature photography, of course. All photos (i) Least Sandpiper; (ii) Killdeer; & (iii) probably Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly.

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Today, it’s recent shots of one of Erie County’s most beautiful summer birds, the lovely Red-headed Woodpecker, including some nice aerial flycatching behaviour + a less commonly seen juvenile/immature (w/ mottled brown/black colouration):

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From June, an “unusual for lazy/uncooperative BirdingPI.com staff to get up that early” morning at Leo’s Landing and vicinity at Presque Isle State Park. (Perhaps awakened by vociferously vocalizing “donut birds?”)

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[Editor’s note – “real” photo IDS: (i) sun over Presque Isle Bay; (ii) Caspian Tern over Presque Isle Bay; (iii) male American Goldfinch in morning sunlight; (iv) Song Sparrow; (v) Caspian Tern II; (vi) American Goldfinch II; (vii) Red-headed Woodpecker; (viii) Bald Eagles; (ix) left-to-right: GBH, Mallard (m), Canada Goose @ head of Presque Isle Bay; (x) GBH; (xi) Song Sparrow II; (xii) American Goldfinch III; (xiii) Osprey; (xiv) Bald Eagles; (xv) Song Sparrow III; (xvi) male Red-winged Blackbird; (xvii) Bald Eagles on left, Belted Kingfisher “hover flying” on right; (xviii) Red-headed Woodpecker; & (xvix) probably American Robin.]

Situated on Lake Erie to the east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, on an old, 32+ hectare catch basin used until 1999 for dumping harbour dredgings (e.g., mud), is the rather amazing Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve. Diverse flora of trees and grassy/brushy areas, + lots of fauna. These shots from a nice visit in June.

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Coming up soon/eventually, parts 2 and 3 of Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve!