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.

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Soon thereafter at that same location, nothing better than incoming/landing waterfowl. Here, poorly lit but fun shots of (mostly) Red-breasted Merganser:

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.

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:’

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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.

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)]

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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):

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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):

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Hopefully it’s clear – lots of Great-tailed Grackle at C.C. Park!

[Editor’s note: “snack” = shorthand for ‘exhibiting feeding behavior.’]

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Here’s a nice series of lovely Lucy’s Warbler:

[Editor’s note: forthcoming new name = “Desert Gray Warbler”]

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Fun fact: “V. cardui is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica and South America.“

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.

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Bonus shots:

Two of Red-breasted Merganser in flight on cloudy day:

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Red-breasted Merganser landing at East Ave boat launch + gulls:

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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:

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[Editor’s note: ‘OTOH’ = on the other hand.]

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:

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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:

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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.

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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.!

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Coming up soon, more juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, this time back in Arizona! Also, spotlight on canned corn!

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:

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Coming up soon, Western Kingbird! Plus unusual/fun bird activity at Presque Isle State Park! Also grackles!

It’s Downy Woodpecker @ Leo’s Landing bookended by landscape & Northern Cardinal shots. (Because why not?)

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Coming up soon, strange birds!

It may have been gloomy/rainy last weekend, but everything’s better with birds. These shots from Saturday and Sunday at Presque Isle State Park.

Hard to tell from this lighting, but these are Redhead over Lake Erie (bottom flock) + mixed Mergansers (Common Merganser & probably Red-breasted Merganser) on top:

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Two shots of the irascible Belted Kingfisher in flight over Presque Isle Bay:

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Ring-billed Gulls on Presque Isle Bay:

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[Editor’s note: characterizations of any birds as “irascible” constitute unnecessary anthropomorphism, with apologies. However, Belted Kingfisher are notoriously skittish + their harsh ‘chittering’ vocalizations may sound angry to human ears.]