Hmmm… Here’s a picture of Gull Point from the bluff at Chautauqua Park, Erie, PA, taken last Thursday. The outer beach is closed for the season, so either it’s the Bird Observatory or DCNR folks out on a survey, or someone’s being very bad. Shame!

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More nature from this past weekend at Presque Isle State Park:

Much excitement seeing a deer baby on the Pine Tree Trail (these shots taken at a long distance):

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Wild Turkeys enjoying a hike:

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Two nice shots of what’s probably juvenile Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) dragonfly:

And, on Thompson Bay, the beautiful America White Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata):

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The Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) are currently in bloom:

Very cool to see a Grayish Zanclognatha (Zanclognatha pedipilalis) moth:

More/better shots of this fascinating moth on the way!

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Heavy rain again this Wednesday morning in Erie County. A return to sunny weather forecast for Saturday, so “fingers crossed” for a nice birding weekend.

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Back to last weekend, a nice surprise to see a pair of lovely Eastern Bluebird enjoying the substantial insect population at the east end of the Pine Tree Trail on Saturday, Presque Isle State Park. Didn’t see much of the female (third photograph below), so mostly shots of the male:

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Next time, deer babies! Or maybe one deer baby.

Dateline: 10-11 June 2023

Pleasant weekend weather at Presque Isle State Park. Rain started Sunday evening and continued into Monday for a good 18+ hours – first substantial rain in a while. Great for the grass/other plants/birds.

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On the subject of American Woodcock. Typical scenario involves a bird startling from the underbrush and flying away AFAP (as fast as possible). Maybe there’s enough time for an ID.

Saw two like this the other weekend along the Gull Point ‘inner old trail.’ Dispatched a BirdingPI.com team this week in a coordinated effort for obtaining photo evidence. The result – world’s worst American Woodcock photographs:

Note the very short tail, and on the second shot, curved/long beak. These shots taken by the Thompson Bay swamp/pond.

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Time for BirdingPI.com’s annual Hairy Puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense) coverage. Currently blooming at Presque Isle in the ‘habitat restoration’ area on the south side of the main park road between Beach No. 8 (by the lighthouse) and Beach No. 9 (Pine Tree):

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Always happy to see cute Field Sparrow, near the Pine Tree Trail west trailhead:

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Amazing amount of Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela) activity (e.g., dozens) on the Pine Tree Trail and nearby areas like ‘Pine Tree Meadows:’

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More on the Pine Tree Trail, probably Zabulon skipper (Lon zabulon):

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Ending it here with the beautiful Cedar Waxwing; 4-5 individuals spotted Saturday on the Pine Tree Trail:

Almost as exciting as spring migration, it’s turtle season at Presque Isle State Park! All these shots at Gull Point or along the Gull Point ‘outer old trail,’ on 29 May 2023.

First up, what looks like a beautiful Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) in the sand at Gull Point:

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Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) + friend out-and-about at ‘turtle pond’ (lagoon at entrance of roped-off trail to observation platform):  

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Finally, what might be a Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) along the Gull Point Trail. Note the top shell “contour lines,” + serrated shell rear:

Still getting caught up with May content. #more_bird. These shots from along the Long Pond Trail, Pine Tree Trail, etc., Presque Isle State Park.

Nice bokeh on this shot of a lovely Common Yellowthroat (m):

More nice bokeh, this time Least Flycatcher:

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Finally (!), decently-lit shots of beautiful Red-eyed Vireo:

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Song Sparrow w/ snack:

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Northern Flicker @ nest hole:

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Even more lovely Common Yellowthroat (m):

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More misc. nature from last Saturday at Presque Isle State Park. All shots from along the Dead Pond Trail east of B Trail.

Can’t resist Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) x Lupine. These shots extra interesting for showing orange-coloured pollen sacs (a.k.a. pollen basket or corbicula):

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Possibly female or juvenile Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) dragonfly:

Lovely Little Wood Satyr (Megisto cymela) butterfly:

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Couple shots of Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon) butterfly:

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This is probably White Spring Moth (Lomographa vestaliata):

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Finally, a very interesting sighting of a well-camouflaged moth, probably Kent’s Geometer (Selenia kentaria):

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Coming up soon, more birds! More insects! #more_nature

Plenty of House Wren at Presque Isle State Park; these recent shots from different times along the Long Pond Trail:

Misc. nature from last Saturday morning at Presque Isle State Park. (Birds covered in previous post.)

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) enjoying the traffic-free road. Or something.

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Took a long time to deploy these deer decoys on the Pine Tree Trail:

Invasive/beautiful Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus) along the Gull Point Trail:

Probably Northern Blue Flag Iris (Iris veriscolor) near Thompson Circle:

Plenty of beautiful Lupine (Lupinus perennis) along the Dead Pond Trail, in the sandy/open area between B Trail and Thompson Circle. More Lupine shots in the next post.

Invasive Yellow Hawkweed (Hieracium caespitosum) (+ unknown insect) along the Dead Pond Trail:

And, invasive Orange Hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) also along the Dead Pond Trail:

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Next time, more Lupine, and lots of butterflies!

Lots of beautiful Eastern Kingbird at Presque Isle State Park this time of year. These recent shots from the marsh/swamp between Long Pond and the main park road.

Catching a dragonfly/snack:

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Lots of flying around and interaction, probably mating behavior:

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More Kingbird:

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The rare Yellow Kingbird. Or perhaps a female American Goldfinch:

Dateline: 3-4 June 2023

Safe to say that spring migration season’s mostly over. End of May, the casual BirdingPI.com “warbler tally” was a respectable/normal 18 species (not including vireos) seen at Presque Isle State Park:

• Unexpected: Blue-winged Warbler, Hooded Warbler
• Might have seen but didn’t: Canada, Prothonotary, Blackburnian, most of the ‘gray headed’ warblers
• Would have liked more time with: Northern Parula
• ‘Warbler of the month:’ Common Yellowthroat

The unusual stretch of dry/moderate weather continues. Per Erie News Now (June 5), “Erie has not seen ANY rain for 15 days straight now, …. If we make it through tomorrow night dry, this will become the longest rainless stretch in over 20 years for Erie.” (!)

Presque Isle State Park trail conditions generally good. Gull Point “inner old” trail muddy but passable. Despite the dry weather, problem spots still include: Long Pond west end, Duck Pond, B Trail, and Gull Point “middle old.”

As previously mentioned, main park road was closed Saturday morning (between Beach No. 8 and Beach No. 11) for a charity walk. Very peaceful with the reduced road noise. Also a great time to bird the ’causeway’ between Thompson Circle and Budny Beach:

The Canada Geese don’t care about traffic even under normal conditions, but easier to get ‘goose crossing’ shots like these:

With restricted vehicle access, BirdingPI.com’s Saturday contingent hiked from Beach No. 8 to Pine Tree Trail, to the end of the Gull Point ‘inner old’ trail (by the beach), to Thompson Circle, and then up the Dead Pond Trail to A Trail, which terminates back at Beach No. 8. (Side note: this is a classic PI loop hike.) Not a ton of bird activity, but still great to see things like these lovely Great Crested Flycatcher on the Dead Pond Trail:

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Lots of flower/mammal/insect activity on Saturday! Posts forthcoming.