Dateline: 8 July 2023
Mostly macro shots @ 105mm of what’s probably Northern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia egeremet) butterfly, on and off Common Milkweed at ‘Pine Tree Meadows,’ Presque Isle State Park.
B. Parts (III)
The Next Generation
Dateline: 9 July 2023
BirdingPI.com’s five-year mission: To boldly go where no turkey has gone before! [Editor’s note: ?]
Considering they mostly stick to the underbrush, great to see this Wild Turkey hen + two chicks along the Long Pond Trail (east end) last Sunday @ Presque Isle State Park. It may be the summer ‘slow season’ (re. migration), but the nature keeps happening!
B Parts (II)
More bumble bee (various species) x Butterfly Bush:
After The Rain
Heavy localized rain in Erie County this Wednesday morning; based on a quick drive around the loop road, all conditions at Presque Isle State Park: wet. Also lots of biting flies and mosquitoes.
Fun shots of beautiful Cedar Waxwing x foraging behavior along the Sidewalk Trail, after a recent/earlier rainstorm:
Gull Pt./Update
Been a while since reporting out on Gull Point. Here’s a lengthy ‘mashup’ of the last two BirdingPI.com expeditions out to the best spot @ Presque Isle State Park, on 4 July 2023 and 19 June 2023. In approximate interleaved chronological order along the ‘inner old,’ beach, and ‘outer old’ trails + mud flats.
Trail conditions: (i) ‘inner old’ – wet/muddy but passable; (ii) ‘middle old’ – impassible; (iii) ‘outer old’ – good condition; (iv) beach – good condition other than erosion spots.
Lots of Canada Goose activity out at the mud flats, e.g.:
“Gull Point news” item 1. Thought someone was inappropriately enjoying the outer beach until seeing the placard below:
The fox cutout seems a little cartoon-like, but no one ever accused BirdingPI.com management of being expert in bird population remediation. Or anything else for that matter.
Shot of a Piping Plover protective enclosure:
Either a Piping Plover or a Piping Plover decoy:
Lots of beautiful Bank Swallow activity:
ID tip relative to Northern Rough-winged Swallow (‘the other brown swallow’): Bank Swallow = very dark/brown breast band; Rough-winged Swallow = no dark breast band.
Aerial Tree Swallow duo:
Recent Gull Point bird activity‘s mostly included Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, various swallows, Song Sparrow, Killdeer, Caspian Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, gulls, and Spotted Sandpiper. Anecdotally, seemingly an unusual lack of shorebirds. For example, on July 4th it was only two Spotted Sandpiper (other than the “maybe a Piping Plover”). Also seems like there’s less vegetation than this time previous years – see, e.g., bare foregrounds in the shot immediately above + scarecrow shot further above. Can’t help thinking the two are connected; further investigation needed.
Another example – much less Common Yucca (Yucca filamentosa) in bloom currently than the last few years, e.g., 2 plants vs. dozen+:
Northern Flicker exhibiting “doing something on the ground before flying away” behavior:
Great series of Brown-headed Cowbird @ Gull Point ‘outer old’ trail:
And a few of the always lovely Great Crested Flycatcher:
Finally, lots of Killdeer activity pretty much everywhere:
Coming up soon: “great” photography from this past/spectacular weekend at Presque Isle State Park! Spoiler alert: more Eastern Racoon x2 (really) + baby Wild Turkey (really). #more_nature
Back @ Tom’s Point
Dateline: 1 July 2023
Checking in with BirdingPI.com’s western NY field team, reporting from Tom’s Point on Lake Chautauqua, NY:
Great sighting of male Indigo Bunting:
Lots of wet Song Sparrow:
“Glass half empty:” out-of-focus deer
“Glass half full:” pretty meadow flowers with artistic deer leaping effect bokeh
Wrapping it up w/ more Red-winged Blackbird:
Robin v. Catbird!
The age-old debate – American Robin v. Gray Catbird! – is finally settled. All shots 2 July 2023, Sidewalk Trail @ Presque Isle State Park.
B Parts (I)
50mm macro lens = dodgy prospect for live/stinging insects. Worked out ok for these shots of beautiful Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) x Butterfly Bush (probably Buddleia davidii), Williamsburg, VA.
Redstart @ Scott
Recent shots of a beautiful male American Redstart at Scott Park, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
Scott Park – with its canopy of tall trees/mature forest, always a good spot for American Redstart through the summer.
Introducing… The Beetle
Bonus beetle post of an excellent recent sighting of Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus) on a dead tree at Budny Beach, Presque Isle State Park. Fairly large insect @ 4.5 cm (approx).
