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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Not ideal lighting on some of these shots, but still great to see three relatively uncommon (for Presque Isle State Park) species of sea duck, on three different, recent days in the channel between North Pier and South Pier. (See yesterday’s post for more duck activity at this location.) First up, a beautiful male White-winged Scoter:

The Scoter, of course, has the knobby bill and distinctive white “comma” mark by the eye; @ lower right in picture above, & far left in following picture. The other ducks are mostly Lesser Scaup and Red-breasted Merganser. (The Scoter was in one of the shots yesterday of the landing Lesser Scaup.)

This is a BirdingPI.com “first time ever” for seeing a White-winged Scoter close to shore. More commonly seen flying far in the distance over outer Lake Erie.

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Next up, same location, different day, great to see a female Surf Scoter, first floating, then flying. Distinctive field markings: two white patches on the face, one by the bill and one behind the eye, + chunky bill. (Always pays to pay attention for any duck with two white markings on the face, e.g., another possible species is the rarely seen Harlequin Duck (female), which would have a more elegant/curved bill + rear white marking less ‘smudgy.’)

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Finally, same location on yet another day, a super cute Long-tailed Duck (immature/non-breeding plumage):

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Wishing everyone a nice weekend! Forecast in Erie County, Pennsylvania: cold, snow.

Recent weather in Erie County, Pennsylvania: cold, frequently overcast/gloomy, & windy. Just like last Saturday here at Presque Isle State Park:

Ice/water conditions highly variable/localized, e.g., ice (& ice fisherfolk, as above) in one spot, open water in others, like here at head of PI Bay, w/ Tundra Swans and misc. duck:

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Now on to ducks, etc. as seen from North Pier:

Male Lesser Scaup landing sequence:

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Finally, beautiful Tundra Swans @ partially frozen Thompson Bay:

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[Editor’s note: Somewhere in one of these shots is an unidentified waterfowl in the ‘not terribly common at Presque Isle’ category. ‘Where’s Waldo?’ More on this ‘mystery bird’ coming up soon, along with other recent uncommon sightings!]

Today’s post, recent shots of miscellaneous winter birds in Millcreek Twp, Pennsylvania (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):

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Celebrating another Erie County “winter bird” with a beautiful male Hairy Woodpecker at McClelland Park:

Mostly distinguished from Downy Woodpecker in the field based on call, larger size, and much larger beak.

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Quick, cloudy/cold mid-day stop at McClelland Park the other day = a nice encounter with another great Erie County ‘winter bird:’ noisy Blue Jays!

Location note: McClelland Park is a square, 60-acre park on the east side of Erie, w/ a large dog park, playground, and walking trails through a tract of suburban/unimproved (i.e., natural) scrub woodland.

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Enjoying recent sunshine/dodging traffic along the main entrance road at Presque Isle State Park, featuring a nice look/comparison of male and female American Robin:

Following five shots, male on left (also above) & female (or possibly immature male) on right, male w/ darker face and redder/rustier breast, female with lighter face and white streaking on breast.

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