Looks like unsettled (e.g., rainy, cool) weather is forecast for Erie County, Pennsylvania today and through the weekend. Wishing everyone “happy birding!” nevertheless. Here’s a quick post of amazingly cute Chipping Sparrow chipping in for nest building, in south Millcreek Twp (“Since 1800”):
Celebrating May 1st & the return of Scarlet Tanager to Erie County, Pennsylvania the other day with photos of, well, male Scarlet Tanager. Somehow, it’s always a surprise to see this beautiful bird – they’re really, really red!
And another, more common ‘really red’ bird, the male Northern Cardinal:
Things (e.g., plants) are greening up in Erie County, Pennsylvania, and migration season’s in full swing, with “new for 2025” sightings every day, e.g., Scarlet Tanager yesterday. While waiting on photo editing, here’s warbler content from along the Sidewalk Trail at Presque Isle State Park from the other weekend, first up with the always beautiful Palm Warbler:
And Yellow-rumped Warbler:
Finally, lots and lots of Pine Warbler; fairly unusual, concentrated activity this close to the ground. These are probably mostly females and immature. (Breeding plumage male = much yellower.)
Today, bird photos from this past Saturday under relatively awful weather conditions – cold, overcast/gloomy, damp/mud, and lots of grumbling from BirdingPI.com staff. Nevertheless, it’s a great time of year to visit Brown’s Farm at the south end of the Asbury Woods complex, esp. for American Goldfinch, Eastern Bluebird, & flowering ‘feral’ apple trees.
Three shots of NFIF (Northern Flicker in flight):
Briefly, lots of American Crows in a group of distant trees:
Been seeing/hearing the amazingly yellow Yellow Warbler – BirdingPI.com’s unofficial mascot – for a week-and-a-half now, but finally got some good (e.g., sunny, reasonably close) shots yesterday on the Long Pond Trail at Presque Isle State Park. Male: red streaks on breast; female: plain yellow breast.
Looks like a nice day today in Erie County, Pennsylvania (e.g., chilly but sunny). Ahead of heading out for field operations, here’s recently seen Erie-area sparrows, starting with long distance – but still fun – shots of a male House Sparrow collecting nesting material:
Alternating with close-ups of lovely adult Chipping Sparrow (males and females look alike):
Coming up soon, more White-throated Sparrow, plus more “birds with flowers!”
Another rainy/gloomy day here in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, celebrating the last weekend in April with exciting nature content “not at Presque Isle State Park.” First up, a great sighting of beautiful Brown Thrasher at Chatauqua Park (at the very northeast corner of the City of Erie) in a flowering apple tree:
Even more exciting, after weeks [*] of forest surveillance in McKean, PA, Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), Summit, PA, etc., finally spotted a legendary black-variant Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), or “Devil Squirrel” as the locals call it [**], at LERC West Road Property:
Per Wikipedia, “The black coloration is caused by an incomplete dominant mutation of MC1R, where E+/E+ is a wild type squirrel, E+/EB is brown-black, and EB/EB is black.”
Please enjoy a happy weekend and also more Brown Thrasher x mutant squirrel:
[*Editor’s note: perhaps more like twenty minutes.]
[** Editor’s note: may not reflect an actual term that locals use.]
Back at/near the same parking lot as yesterday’s post. Conveniently adjacent the San Luis Rey River just before it empties into the Pacific Ocean:
More around the parking lot & nearby areas:
Exiting the parking lot w/ some nice shots of an adult Black-crowned Night Heron in flight. Along the San Luis Rey River.
Back to Oceanside, California in early March, at the periphery of one of the parking lots @ Oceanside Harbor. Featuring (unless otherwise noted) female House Finch foraging on Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia):
Today, mostly highlighting another vernal herald, the briefly appearing but lovely Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum), blooming this week in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Plus a few “spring foliage backlit by setting sun” shots.
Finally, ‘squirrel in flight’ along the Pine Tree Trail at Presque Isle State Park, probably juvenile Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger):
Very high up + moving very quickly, so lucky to get even this not-quite-correctly-centered shot.