The hot spot this weekend (figuratively speaking) was North Pier/South Pier, all centered around a small patch of open water at the east end of South Pier. Shot immediately above is the view from North Pier (@ Presque Isle State Park) towards South Pier; open water is at very center of shot. With nowhere else to go at this location, waterfowl activity was quite concentrated + things flying in/out.

Saturday afternoon, a brief appearance from a BirdingPI.com “first sighting ever” (!), a beautiful male Black Scoter. Key field markings: black colour & distinctive orange knob at base of bill. Shot above, it’s flying in with Redheads. Following wide-angle shot, Scoter is left of center:

More distant views of Black Scoter w/ mixed waterfowl:

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It took flight at one point, soon returning to the same spot:

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More Black Scoter, etc.:

Finally, along with a lot of other ducks, the Scoter startled and left the scene:

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Then Sunday afternoon, at this same location, great sighting of more Surf Scoters! Males black w/ knobby black/white/orange bills, females dark brown w/ two white spots on face:

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Species seen at this location Sat/Sun: Canada Goose, American Coot, Redhead, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Horned Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Ring-necked Duck, Common Merganser, Tundra Swan, Red-breasted Merganser, maybe a Mallard or two!

Continuing on with recent waterfowl coverage at South Pier, Erie, Pennsylvania, from the last couple/few weeks. Following shots are female Bufflehead (in flight) x Lesser Scaup (takeoff mode):

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Coming up soon, reporting from yesterday at Presque Isle State Park, including a BirdingPI.com “first ever” (!), & carcasses and carnivorous Coots!

Dateline: 22 February 2025

Well, it’s Saturday morning here in Erie County, Pennsylvania and – gasp! — it’s actually sunny! After seemingly a week of constant snowfall, almost a miracle. (Temps low but not super low.) Time for a quick, “partially almost real-time” post for BirdingPI.com staff to get out to Presque Isle State Park ASAP!

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Good as place as any for finishing up McClelland Park the other day, esp. fun shots of cute Red-bellied Woodpecker:

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Wishing everyone a “Happy Friday.” Unless you’re in Australia (for example), in which case “Hope you’re enjoying the weekend!” It’s lunchtime here in Erie County, Pennsylvania, and looks like seafood’s on the menu:

Unless indicated otherwise, all shots female (or immature) Red-breasted Merganser, as above and immediately below, including a tasty crustacean, @ South Pier.

(Shot above mostly Redhead, Mallard, & Lesser Scaup ducks.)

(Shot above mostly Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Canvasback, & Lesser Scaup ducks w/ an American Coot or two.)

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It’s the third or fourth day today of a mid-week “deep freeze” here in Erie County, Pennsylvania, with snowy conditions and temps around -9 degrees C. In bird news, the PI Bay entrance channel between North Pier and South Pier re-froze as of yesterday; still lots of duck activity in flight between open pockets of water @ outer Lake Erie and unfrozen portions of outer Misery Bay. More South Pier/duck pictures forthcoming, but here’s the final installment of snowy photography from this past Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, with a brief/cold stop at Thompson Bay/ Beach 11:

Shot above (+ similar shot at top of post) is from Beach 11, looking east-ish towards outer Thompson Bay (foreground) + Gull Point (horizon). The tree line is ‘inner’ Gull Point, with outer Gull Point (mud flats, dunes, observation platforms, etc.) on the right horizon and mostly obscured by snow.

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In today’s post, more snowy/gloomy bird photography this past Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, moving on to North Pier. Following’s the view southeast from North Pier, with the east end of South Pier on the right and the Hammermill smoke stacks middle horizon; East Ave Boat Launch would be on the right horizon:

Male Common Goldeneye landing in snowfall:

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Coming up soon, more snow, more cold!

Recent weather in Erie County, Pennsylvania = wintery. Rain, snow, more snow, wind, cold, even worse cold, etc. These shots from Presque Isle State Park this past Saturday morning, w/ snow and very dark/gloomy lighting conditions:

The GBH below is in the shot above, left of center below the horizon.

Unless otherwise indicated, following shots are American Tree Sparrow @ snowy conditions, by Long Pond – maybe a flock of 20+:

Lots of ducks assembled in this interesting spot of open water on Long Pond. These include Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Mallard, & American Black Duck:

Unfortunately, even though BirdingPI.com’s staff photographer was by the road (& thereby fairly far away from this pocket of duck activity), startled fairly quickly:

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No BirdingPI.com field operations yesterday (Sunday) due to inclement weather (rain then heavy snow), except for random “snowy forest” meandering in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), for fresh air/outside suffering:

While waiting on photo editing of snowy/gloomy Presque Isle content from Saturday, it’s more ducks at South Pier, Erie, Pennsylvania:

Male (right) and female (left) Ring-necked Ducks in flight:

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Can’t get enough Common Goldeneye (males):

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Finally, a nice sequence of female/immature Red-breasted Merganser in flight/escape/takeoff mode:

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Coming up soon, yes, more duck!

“Interior” bird activity at Presque Isle State Park remains highly localized/sporadic, but there’s lots and lots of waterfowl action wherever there’s open water, e.g., as in these recent shots, in the entrance channel to Presque Isle Bay, between North Pier and South Pier. (So much activity, this outing resulted in 500+ digital photographs in the span of about 1/2 hour! Yikes – it’s a lot of photo editing.)

Always fun to see cute Common Goldeneye flying and landing; these are males:

Male @ middle, females left and right:

Female Common Goldeneye landing:

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Finally, more shots of a male Redhead and several Lesser Scaups:

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Water conditions at Presque Isle Bay remain highly variable, e.g., head of Presque Isle Bay mostly completely frozen yesterday (Saturday), but PI Bay entrance channel into outer Misery Bay completely unfrozen. Rain overnight last night = likely more open water today (Sunday). However, temps are expected to plunge later in the week. Best places for duck viewing: North Pier & South Pier, also Perry Monument (sometimes), but check places like Thompson Bay, Long Pond, Marina Lake, & head of PI Bay for spots of open water.

Due to bandwidth/other issues, there are many draft/unpublished posts in the BirdingPI.com database. Since everyone’s busy today anyway with snowy Presque Isle State Park field operations (snowy photographs forthcoming), it’s time for the draft post grab bag! Without further ado, from an indeterminate time/date/location in the past…

It’s a Herring Gull. On a pole.

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