With the recent bad/cold weather and ice forming on Presque Isle Bay, lots of duck/waterfowl activity on the lake around Presque Isle State Park: Gadwall, Mallard, American Black Duck, Redhead, Canvasback, Greater/Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, the Merganser ‘trio,’ Canada Geese, Tundra Swan, American Coot, etc., even a few tardy Green-winged Teal and Northern Shoveler. Lots of content to come, but the following shots alternate between (i) a beautiful male Common Merganser by South Pier & (ii) misc. duck:
Common Merganser (m)Red-breasted MergansersGreater Scaup (f)Common Goldeneye (f)MallardsRedheads @ outer Thompson Bay
Recent raptors in trees under overcast/wintry conditions, in Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). First up, Red-tailed Hawk. Kind of hard to see, but exhibiting feeding behavior, namely, this beautiful bird was successful in hunting some sort of unlucky critter:
Happy to report Presque Isle State Park was back open for business as of Monday morning. Thanks to all the work crews for getting things back in good shape!
Erie weekend in a nutshell
Saturday, cold and snowy in Erie County, PA. Sunday, very windy and very cold with alternating clouds and hazy sunshine. Monday, beautiful, sunny day, but extremely cold (-12 deg C / 10 deg F) + windchill. (Photo immediately above: iced-in picnic table at West Pier.) Following shots, American Robin and European Starling in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) on Monday:
American RobinEuropean Starling @ Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)European Starling @ Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
NSFW = nice snake for winter. Here, temps in Erie County, PA were overall high enough end-December for an active mature Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) off the Canoe Portage Trail:
And now, ‘bonus’ reptile, etc. content from Arizona! Here, beautiful Spiny Lizards in the Sceloporus genus, probably either Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magisteror) or Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus):
Pleasant lizard video – please enjoyWestern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)Possibly Common Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana)
As of around noon on Sunday, Presque Isle State Park is totally closed (at the main gate) due to storm damage and downed power lines, for both vehicle and pedestrian access.
Dateline: 12 January 2024
Presque Isle State Park remained mostly closed Friday, due to storm damage from the recent high winds. All vehicle and pedestrian access was closed past Stull Interpretive Center, although the beach was open. (Presumably one could walk east along the beach further into the park proper.)
The ‘excitement’ continues with more winter gulls from in and near Presque Isle State Park!
Portrait of Ring-billed GullGulls and Tundra Swans on Presque Isle BayAmerican Pixie Gulls @ head of Presque Isle BayAPGIF (a.k.a. Bonaparte’s Gulls)American Pixie Gulls flying by Leo’s LandingMore APGIFGull in flightHerring Gull w/ dead fish in snowMore gulls in flightIce & snow on Thompson Bay. Also gulls.#more_gullSwans, gulls, & ducksStill more gulls in flightMore Tundra Swans and gullsCalling the clean-up crewGull fishing IMore gull fishingGull fishing III
In line with these shots (ice, overcast, snow, etc.), the Erie County forecast calls for bad weather pretty much the rest of January. Stay tuned to BirdingPI.com for plenty more gloomy winter content!
Generally bad weather over the weekend in Erie County, PA – overcast, light rain/snow, etc. – but temps remained around freezing = not much snow accumulation + highly variable ice conditions at Presque Isle State Park. (E.g., Long Pond significantly frozen on Saturday, but mostly unfrozen Sunday.) Lots of gull activity generally; here, from Sunday, lots of beautiful American Pixie Gull (a.k.a. Bonaparte’s Gull) off Leo’s Landing:
While waiting on the Presque Isle ‘Weekend Update’ (spoiler: ducks and gulls), time to revert back to warmer climes in Arizona back in August. These shots from a SE Arizona Birding Festival field 1/2-day trip to Florida Canyon and Box Canyon, both northeast of world-famous Madera Canyon outside the town of Green Valley.
Loggerhead Shrike in front of Elephant Head at dawn
Sound like the locals: “Florida” is the Spanish pronunciation = flo-REE-dah.
Canyon TowheeHepatic Tanager (m)In flightProbably White-throated SwiftAcorn WoodpeckerBox Canyon looking towards Green ValleyPIF (Phainopepla in flight)Phainopepla (f)Box Canyon ‘waterfall’Red-tailed HawkCassin’s KingbirdMore Cassin’s Kingbird
ID tip on Cassin’s Kingbird: strongly gray head and chest with starkly delineated white throat.
Even more Cassin’s KingbirdBridled Titmouse
Bird of the day, a lovely Thick-billed Kingbird, mostly found in Mexico:
ID tip: similar colouration to other ‘western’/tropical kingbirds, with brown-ish wings, gray head, yellow underside, gray breast, and white-ish throat. but relatively large sized + chunky bill. This location (upper Box Canyon) has typical vegetation for this bird = mature sycamore + streamside.
Here, a beautiful Scott’s Oriole (f) on probably Century Plant (Agave americana):
Rock WrenNashville WarblerProbably Brown-crested Flycatcher
