It’s day 4 of the current ‘winter weather event’ here in Erie County, PA. Conditions at Presque Isle State Park yesterday: awful, w/ very cold temps, gusty wind, & on/off lake-effect snow. Here’s Long Pond a week ago yesterday, looking towards the maintenance yard:

And ‘after,’ a similar view yesterday:

Before, boat landing #4 a week ago yesterday:

And yesterday, the ‘after‘ shot:

Anyway, time to move on to interesting ducks in flight (DIF) and ducks not in flight, from last Saturday @ Long Pond. First up, nice view of female or immature Hooded Merganser; note the distinctive merganser beak & sharp contrast between neck & breast:

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From a distance, at the center of each shot, American Black Duck; note the overall dark colour & olive-toned bill compared to the neighboring Mallards:

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Three shots of mixed ducks. Birds on far left and upper right = Gadwall; note the distinctive wing patches of white with black and dark brown:

Other birds (e.g., pair @ lower center left) are American Black Ducks:

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Here’s two shots of a Duclair duck (w/ white breast patch) w/ wild female Mallard, w/ male and female Mallards in background:

Duclair duck is another type of domesticated Mallard (same scientific name/species), bred for fairly larger size. (See previous posts w/ the white Pekin also @ Long Pond.)

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Mallards in flight:

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Mixed waterfowl, e.g., Tundra Swan (right), Mallards (center), & Gadwall (left):

Duck @ center rear = male Northern Pintail:

Northern Pintail @ upper left:

Extreme crop/closeup of the Pintail; note the dark-brown head + distinctive white stripe extending from upper breast to rear of head:

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Finally, it’s Mallards & American Black Ducks in ‘takeoff mode’ & flight:

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This just about sums up conditions the last couple days in Erie County, Pennsylvania. All shots male Northern Cardinal.

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It’s day 2 of the current ‘snow event’ here in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Probably a solid 30 cm (1 foot) of snow, maybe more, in the last 30 hours. Temps expected to drop into the -6 deg C range (low 20s F) next week + remain cold. Bird activity very subdued yesterday, but here’s some lovely Red-tailed Hawk from a week ago in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):

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Bad weather yesterday (New Year’s Day) at Presque Isle State Park – cold and rainy/snowy. Nevertheless, lots of great bird activity for early winter, including Common Raven, Peregrine Falcon, & Golden-crowned Kinglet. More on all that later. Here, it’s more shots of Tundra Swan from the other day over Long Pond:

Here’s a fun example of bad photo editing :), or maybe it’s like a scrolling video game:

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Wishing everyone on the Gregorian calendar a very Happy New Year and a great forthcoming 2025! Celebrating the holiday here with recent shots of Great Black-backed Gulls at Beach No. 11 @ Presque Isle State Park.

Unusually, there were at least seven Great Black-backed Gulls along the waterline, e.g., 5 are shown in the lovely shot above, along w/ Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. (More typically it’s one or two, frequently way out on the water or perched on a buoy.)

ID tips: black wings, very large (larger than Herring Gull), and light pink legs.

This shot is just American Coots & Ring-billed Gulls:

Dark bird with outstretched wings could be juvenile Herring Gull:

Mixed gulls including Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls:

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[Editor’s note: “In 2024, ornithologists split the Herring Gull, found across much of the Northern Hemisphere, into four species: American Herring Gull, European Herring Gull, Mongolian Gull, and Vega Gull. The American Herring Gull breeds in Canada and the United States and spends the nonbreeding season as far south as Central America.” Good to know!]

No better way to close out 2024 than with Tundra Swan takeoff/flight pictures from this past Saturday at Presque Isle State Park. Following mostly in chronological order, @ Long Pond:

Finally, can’t have a Long Pond post without Mallards – a male (left) and female (right) in flight:

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Highly variable conditions in Erie County, PA over the weekend – unusually warm + hazy sunshine Saturday, rain Sunday. Conditions this Monday morning: “wintery mix.” While waiting on photo editing from Saturday (‘stay tuned’ for Tundra Swans in flight – yay!), it’s more from this past August, this time back at wonderful Madera Canyon outside Green Valley, Arizona:

Among other species, Madera Canyon is great for Mexican Jay, Bridled Titmouse, & Acorn Woodpecker:

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Part 1 of “finally getting through some old memory cards” from this past August, here at Leo’s Landing @ Presque Isle State Park; all photos preening/bathing immature male Mallard unless otherwise indicated:

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The weather rollercoaster (see-saw? yo-yo?) continues this weekend in Erie County, PA, with unseasonal temperatures (e.g., high yesterday of approximately 7.8 deg C = 46 deg F) and most of the snow melted. While waiting on new content from recent BirdingPI.com field operations, these shots ‘part 2’ of Christmas Day at Presque Isle State Park.

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Guess it’d be difficult to fit a GBH into a stocking. Kinglet, maybe. Purely in a metaphorical sense, of course. All shots from Christmas Day at Long Pond @ Presque Isle State Park.

With Long Pond partially unfrozen, lots and lots of GBH activity, including this individual fishing by Fisher Drive bridge:

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