It’s more October birds at Presque Isle State Park!
Wild Turkey Vulture
Snow Mallard
Always great to see Presque Isle State Park’s resident/beautiful ‘Snow Mallard’ (a.k.a. Pekin a.k.a. domestic escapee):
Fall Colour/2023
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.
Turkey v. Car
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!
Point/Redux
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:
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):
Birds @ Sunset
Another cold/windy/rainy weekend here in Erie County, Pennsylvania. These shots from mid-week of sunset over clouds over the South Pier area (+ birds) taken at Cranch Park.
[Editor’s note: Cranch Park is next to Lakeside Cemetery on the ‘mainland’ bluff across outer Thompson Bay from Gull Point.]
[Editor’s note: birds = Double-crested Cormorant, GBH, and misc. gulls.]
Varmints In Trees
A medley of mammals – Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) and Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) – in trees, Erie County, Pennsylvania:
Big Wet Day
Dateline: 14 October 2023
Nothing to do on a rainy “Big Day 2023” but get outside and suffer in the cold/wet. These shots mid-day at Presque Isle State Park before conditions turned even worse.
Lots of Wood Duck activity on and above Long Pond:
Sequence of Wood Duck (m) takeoff shots from Thompson Bay swamp/pond:
Stay tuned for the next BirdingPI.com post, featuring varmints!
@ Paton II
Second/final part of select birds @ Paton Center for Hummingbirds, Patagonia, AZ, August 2023:
More Broad-tailed and other hummingbirds:
Not a Brown Creeper, but rather a great sighting of Bewick’s Wren:
Lovely Lucy’s Warbler:
@ Paton I
With cold temps + rain in Erie County, PA, time to head back to southern Arizona in August, this time at the amazing Tucson Audubon Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia. A ‘must stop’ spot for easy birding, featuring, yes, lots of hummingbirds.
Just outside Patagonia, beautiful Blue Grosbeak (m):
This is probably female Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Note the speckled throat and tail with rufous, black, and white tip:
Nice shots of male Anna’s Hummingbird:
Coming up soon, the cavalcade of generally acceptable bird content continues with more from Florida, Arizona, and, of course, Presque Isle State Park! (With ducks, and lots of them!)