Recent fun shots of birds + “human stuff,” Presque Isle State Park and close vicinity.
Infrastructure
Duck Update
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.
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.
Several of Red-breasted Merganser @ Lake Erie breakwater:
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.)
While many American Black Duck look quite Mallard-like, the following on Niagara Pond are nicely dark/black-ish:
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:
GCBC “Bird” Of The Day
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.
Soon thereafter at that same location, nothing better than incoming/landing waterfowl. Here, poorly lit but fun shots of (mostly) Red-breasted Merganser:
BIF vs. Gull ‘Shadows’
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.
GCBC
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:’
More Gull Snack
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.
At The Park (III)
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)]
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):
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):
Hopefully it’s clear – lots of Great-tailed Grackle at C.C. Park!
[Editor’s note: “snack” = shorthand for ‘exhibiting feeding behavior.’]
Here’s a nice series of lovely Lucy’s Warbler:
[Editor’s note: forthcoming new name = “Desert Gray Warbler”]
Rule #2
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.
Bonus shots:
Two of Red-breasted Merganser in flight on cloudy day:
Red-breasted Merganser landing at East Ave boat launch + gulls:
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:
[Editor’s note: ‘OTOH’ = on the other hand.]
Strange Birds
A mixed weekend at Presque Isle State Park: partially sunny & extremely mild Friday, windy/cloudy but very mild Saturday, & windy/cloudy + much colder Sunday. Some rain Saturday overnight and Sunday overnight.
Lots of bird activity on the lake. Despite the mostly mediocre photography (poor lighting and/or long distance), here’s a “Top 4” of recent strange (as in uncommon) sightings. At #4, it’s recurring Long-tailed Duck off Pine Tree Beach and other ‘outer beach’ locations:
At #3, it’s White-winged Scoter off Sunset Point, flying westerly. Even long distance, still beautiful.
Re. ID, here’s an extreme crop; note the very dark colouration – black (male) on right and dark brown (female) on left, with distinctive white wing patches & white facial patches:
At #2, what’s probably Harlequin Duck (f), again off Sunset Point. Distinctive white dot behind the eye + white patch by the bill. Unusual for Presque Isle; these these were hanging around for a few days at least.
And finally at #1, highly unusual for December, amazing juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron @ South Pier. Only the second ever BirdingPI.com sighting of this species in Erie Co.!
Coming up soon, more juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, this time back in Arizona! Also, spotlight on canned corn!
#more_(king)bird
It’s more Tropical Kingbird at Sweetwater Wetlands (Tucson, AZ) back in August.
ID note relative to the more common Western Kingbird: similar looking, but Tropical Kingbird = yellow further up the chest (see above), + lacks white side tail feathers which would be seen in flight on a Western Kingbird.
Looks like dragonflies are a desired food source. (Plenty of “Eastern Kingbird vs. dragonfly” activity at Presque Isle State Park in the summer.)
A successful catch, but perhaps stealing another bird’s food is easier:
Coming up soon, Western Kingbird! Plus unusual/fun bird activity at Presque Isle State Park! Also grackles!