Pinecones should be afraid. Very afraid.

[Editor’s note: worst Halloween post ever!]

Cloudy and unsettled weather this past weekend in Erie County, PA.; full Gull Point report forthcoming. (Spoiler alert: amazing/surprise Dunlin, and lots of them!) Meanwhile, a veritable potpourri of misc. bird from (mostly) recent sunnier days.

Wrapping it up with beautiful Mallard ducks on Marina Lake, Presque Isle State Park:

All these shots at fairly long distance, but still great to see Magnificent Frigatebird @ Crandon Park Marina, Key Biscayne, FL. Male: all black with red throat sac; female: white head/chest.

Small, uninhabited key/islet off the marina = known rookery. Thanks again to the kind folks at the Nature Center for mentioning it.

With another wet weekend in Erie County, PA, time for a brief diversion back to Florida @ Crandon Park, Key Biscayne. From the Nature Center, head north-ish on the Osprey Beach Trail. At the bike path, keep heading north on the Fossilized Reef Trail until the mangrove boardwalk:

This ends at the fossilized reef observation platform, with very nice views of, yes, the fossilized reef + Bear Cut (channel between Virginia Key and Key Biscayne) + Miami Beach + Atlantic Ocean.

Also birds! Here, one adult and several juvenile Black-bellied Plover:

RTIF (Royal Tern in flight):

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Now it’s back to the beach adjacent the Osprey Beach Trail:

Great to see several American Avocet:

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Mixed Sanderling (l) & Dowitcher (r):

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Dateline: 25 October 2023

After several reports on eBird, great to finally see a Surf Scoter (female) Wednesday evening off East Ave boat launch:

ID tips: dark appearance, distinctive/’chunky’ bill, two white spots (fore and rear of eye), very dark top of head, + lacks white wing patch of White-winged Scoter.

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Dozens and dozens of Double-crested Cormorant relocating further out in the bay:

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Bonus shots of what’s probably “1st winter”/juvenile Ring-billed Gull:

It’s more October birds at Presque Isle State Park!

Always great to see Presque Isle State Park’s resident/beautiful ‘Snow Mallard’ (a.k.a. Pekin a.k.a. domestic escapee):

Few minutes of sunshine at Presque Isle State Park = fall foliage pics, here, Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) along the Canoe Portage Trail, + Ruby-crowned Kinglet & Golden-crowned Kinglet (both currently very active) at other locations.

Nature shows no mercy in this, the fiercest of battles at Presque Isle State Park: Wild Turkey v. passenger car!

In the struggle for survival, the car is no match – Wild Turkey always wins!

Continuing to keep a ‘close’ eye on the recent infrastructure improvements at Gull Point. This first shot last week from East Ave boat launch of what looks like repairs to the old observation platform (on right); new observation platform on left:

Another view of the old and new platforms, from Cranch Park:

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Meanwhile, mostly windy/cloudy/cool conditions again this Sunday. Following shots from a sunnier Sunday three weeks ago (1 October 2023), on the Gull Point Trail:

Finally, some nice ‘open wing’ shots of Orange Sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme):

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