Quite a challenging weekend at Presque Isle State Park: Saturday, overcast, on-and-off light-to-moderate rain, & localized ground fog; Sunday, at first overcast but dry with a hint of sun, then thunderstorms by 2:30PM or so with on-and-off heavy rain into evening/overnight. Nevertheless, lots of gull, grebe, & waterfowl activity + the “fall usuals” (sparrows, Northern Cardinal, Golden-crowned Kinglet, etc.) Here’s a reasonably dramatic iPhone shot Sunday afternoon generally southwest towards downtown Erie with thunderstorms moving in (on right):

While waiting on weekend photo editing, these shots from earlier in the week and before:

Shot above mostly Herring Gull + a couple Great Black-backed Gulls, e.g., on left.

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Here’s several of Black-headed American Pixie Gull in flight by North Pier:

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More beautiful Horned Grebe:

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More American Pixie Gull in flight over Presque Isle Bay at dawn:

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Ah, nature. Never know what will show up next. These ‘fishy’ shots of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) – an introduced species – at Pymatuning Reservoir spillway. This is the ‘protected hatchery’ side of the lake; the carp congregate by the spillway for handouts. DCNR rules prohibit feeding birds – although that doesn’t stop anyone – but not fish.  

Happy things in bird/nature photography: (1) good lighting; and (2) reasonably close subjects. These recent shots are mostly both, from a nice day at East Ave boat launch, Erie, Pennsylvania.

Relatively speaking, lots of Horned Grebe activity this year on Lake Erie at Presque Isle State Park. Good places to see: East Ave, North/South Piers, Thompson Bay, & Presque Isle Bay generally.

[Editor’s note: in light of the forthcoming ‘bird re-naming’ project, BirdingPI.com is officially renaming the former “Bonaparte’s Gull” as ‘Black-headed American Pixie Gull’ (B-hAPG). Although no evidence Charles Lucien Bonaparte was a particularly bad person. ‘Pixie’ because it’s one of the smaller North American gulls and “little” is taken already.]

Please enjoy new ‘special report’ here: Multitudes.

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Switching back to the singular, it’s bonus content of a beautiful Red-breasted Merganser in flight/landing @ East Ave boat launch in Erie, Pennsylvania:

[Editor’s note: recommended soundtrack for this post: Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68.]

The variable weather continues apace in Erie County, Pennsylvania. After the snow Tuesday/Wednesday, it was sunny w/ a high temperature around 10 deg C (50 °F) on Thursday, and rainy on Friday; snow mostly melted. Time to revert back to sunny conditions, from last Saturday in western New York state, late afternoon at the lovely/bucolic Jamestown Audubon Community Nature Center. Lots of Mallard ducks and lots of Canada Geese! Plus a few surprises.

Series of shots featuring beautiful American Goldfinch + feeding behavior:

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Rather awful/long distance shots, but the ‘bird of the day’ = Northern Pintail (m):

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Finally, a very cool & furry sighting of amazing Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus):

Challenging bird shots both old and new from Millcreek Twp, Pennsylvania (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). First, a recent Cooper’s Hawk fighting the wind for landing in a tree; photographs taken at a very low angle against an overcast sky during the recent storm. Then an amazing Merlin (falcon) from back in the summer, from a very low angle.

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It was an abrupt turn to winter Monday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, with 15+ cm snow (6+ inches) by Tuesday morning, plus temps below freezing and ongoing light snow. From Sunday late morning at Presque Isle State Park, here’s a southeast view of Presque Isle Bay with the storm moving in from the southwest:

At the same day & location, it’s a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk (adjacent Presque Isle Bay by the park entrance) vs. lovely American Tree Sparrow at nearby Leo’s Landing. (The hawk’s the one in a tree 🙂

From the BirdingPI.com team in western New York state, it’s Bufflehead (ducks) on Lake Chautauqua. With some nice lighting effects from facing into the late fall sunshine (+ calm lake conditions):

Dateline: 26 November 2023

In the ‘highly unusual’ category Sunday at Presque Isle State Park (alternative characterization: “completely bonkers”), what appears to be a flock of nineteen Sand Hill Crane was spotted roughly west of Thompson Circle, approximately @ 1:00PM. Slow moving and obviously fighting against a strong headwind at altitude. Appeared to land somewhere in the interior, but uncertain due to the distance and tree line. Subsequent efforts to spot the flock (e.g., along the loop road, + Dead Pond Trail) were unsuccessful.

BirdingPI.com’s ornithological science department speculates this flock may have been diverted east (from more westerly north/south migratory passages) due to the storm currently moving from the plains into the Great Lakes region.

A quick stop at the Canoe Portage Trail on Friday for owls or hawks turned into a woodpecker, sparrow, etc. bonanza. Cold/cloudy conditions at Presque Isle State Park (even a few snowflakes); nevertheless, lots of great bird activity, including this lovely Tufted Titmouse:

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Canoe Portage Trail = very short trail between Marina Lake on the south and outer Lake Erie (or at least the main park roads adjacent the lake) on the north; skirts mature forest on one side and swamp on the other. (Marina Lake, of course, exits to Presque Isle Bay between East Pier & West Pier.)

‘Bird of the day,’ great to see this absolutely gorgeous Fox Sparrow. Russet/rufous colouration (esp. tail), strong streaking, gray upper face, & yellow + black beak. These are around, but not a very common sighting at Presque Isle relative to other sparrow species.

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More male Downy Woodpecker:

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Finally, always fun to see a perched GBH: