Normally a ‘cooperative’ bird at short range is a happy occasion, but not after standing around on South Pier in the extreme cold (e.g., wind chill) for 1/2 hour+. (So bad the camera equipment eventually stopped working.) Nevertheless, enough time for a few shots of this lovely American Tree Sparrow before completely losing feeling in the extremities:
Pictures from last week off East Ave boat launch, Erie, PA, under cold & snowy conditions:
Give a screech, clean a beach!
Finally posting some photos of Presque Isle State Park’s ‘resident’/famous/amazingly camouflaged Eastern Screech-Owl, in its burrow/nest just up from the west Fisher Drive bridge, in conjunction with the announcement of BirdingPI.com’s 2024 Presque Isle beach/Gull Point cleanup initiative.
Considering the current state of the Presque Isle beaches …
… details of the initiative will be forthcoming, say, sometime in June or July. Stay tuned!
[Editor’s note: “Give a screech, clean a beach.” Rolls right off the tongue.]
More winter fun, with American Crows engaging in carrion scavenging behavior in the snow @ South Pier, Erie, PA:
A very cold and snowy Saturday in Erie County, PA. Nevertheless, great content from Presque Isle State Park forthcoming, including a special guest owl! Meanwhile, here’s a recent, wintery PFIF (Peregrine Falcon in flight) @ South Pier:
Last Sunday, Presque Isle State Park remained closed at the main gate due to downed power lines, etc. Conditions: hazy/partial sunshine, extremely windy and amazingly cold (e.g., windchill @ -18 deg C). These shots looking mostly east/north from a very brief stop at “Beach Zero” (beach access before the park entrance) = much “photography staff suffering & complaining:”
A beautiful Great Black-backed Gull enjoying the wind:
More gulls also enjoying the wind and surf conditions, mostly Herring Gull:
More winter content from Presque Isle State Park, this past Monday morning under sunny but extremely cold conditions (e.g., -12 deg C). Great to catch a beautiful male Northern Cardinal in the open, x lovely Tundra Swans, + icicles. (ID tip: the Cardinal is red.)
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:
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:
Alternating with probably lovely Cooper’s Hawk:
And a different Red-tailed Hawk perched treetop:
Coming up next, ducks!
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!
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:
