Winter weather Wednesday, with wind, wet snow, etc. (3+ cm snow, high temps Wed-Thurs a bit above 0 deg C.) Nevertheless, plenty of ‘seasonal’ bird activity – European Starling, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, etc.
Icicles over Lake Erie/Thursday
Of note, unusual amount of Common Loon activity both on Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay. Following shots are poorly lit (long distance + fog/gloomy conditions), but fun to see breeding adult plumage:
More icicles
Back to ‘spring,’ first Great Egret of the year spotted at Presque Isle State Park today! (Marsh by the road across from Long Pond.) Lots of heat shimmer due to the sunshine = blurry photo, but still nice to see these beautiful birds back in town. Video clips to follow.
The greatest Egret
Coming up soon, snakes! Really! Well, maybe one snake.
A ‘special release’ of Killdeer content from this past Sunday at North Pier, Presque Isle State Park. Landing shots below; also, please enjoy Killdeer/Geometry.
Never know what you’ll find doing SSD cleanup on the ol’ desktop. Ahem. Here, in anticipation of warmer temps and greener pastures, pretty nice shots of lovely Baltimore Oriole from May 2021, Presque Isle State Park.
It was the BirdingPI.com “official start of spring” Sunday with the first butterfly of the year – a beautiful Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) spotted along the Pine Tree Trail, Presque Isle State Park!
Mourning Cloak IMourning Cloak IIHint of green @ Pine Tree Trail
Saturday weather: cold, with steady rain and wind in the morning; very unpleasant. Afternoon, periodic thunderstorms and torrential rain. Very windy overnight. Sunday, cool, sunny, light wind – lovely day to enjoy nature. Conditions at Presque Isle: wet, e.g., shot below – this was a dry/grassy field last summer:
Pond adjacent Pine Tree Trail
Lots of bird activity, but nothing in the “new migrant” category other than a positive audio/call ID of American Woodcock.
Beautiful backlit Bald Eagle (juvenile) over the Thompson Bay swamp/pond:
Bald Eagle IBald Eagle IIRed-winged Blackbird (f), Thompson BaySong Sparrow, Thompson Bay
On Thompson Bay, a Blue-winged Teal (far left) and Ring-necked Ducks (right):
Ducks!Horned Grebe
By North Pier, couple nice shots of Red-winged Blackbird (m):
Blackbird IBlackbird IICanada Goose
On Niagara Pond (by the road), the amazing Northern Shoveler (m):
Northern Shoveler INorthern Shoveler II
At that same location, a Turkey Vulture:
Turkey Vulture ITurkey Vulture II
Generally, an amazing amount of Turkey Vulture activity – unable to get good shots, but counted 8-10+ by the Thompson Bay swamp/pond at one point.
Black-capped Chickadee
Wrapping it up for today with a cute Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger):
I heart pine trees
Stay tuned this week for more “great” content – gulls, ducks, American Robin, and a special report on amazing Killdeer activity on North Pier!
Erie County weather: mostly sunny but cool temps/windy on Friday, rain and heavy wind Saturday morning. BirdingPI.com weekend field activities on temporary weather hold.
After the recent goose excitement, catching up on some calmer subject matter, with shots of the always pretty Mourning Dove:
Quite the debate at BirdingPI.com about the recent Snow Goose sighting on the Erie bayfront. The geese were gone Thursday morning, but thankfully plenty of stills and video in the can. After a thorough analysis by BirdingPI.com’s crack team of bird identification experts (see below), officially calling it as two blue morph Snow Geese and one Ross’s Goose (!)
Geese @ Erie Bayfront
Three Snow Geese near downtown Erie makes sense, albeit uncommon. Two Snow Geese and a Ross’s Goose would be highly unusual, hence the predilection towards the former. But, let’s discuss…
First, as the baseline, following is clearly an adult blue morph Snow Goose:
Snow Goose (adult blue morph)
Blue body color with white head = blue morph. Following annotated enlargement shows common Snow Goose features – A: entirely orange-ish bill; B: substantial curve on where the bill meets the cheek feathers/head; C: pronounced black “grin line” where the bill mandibles meet. Overall, large bill and triangular-shaped head.
Annotated Snow Goose
Moving on to the Ross’s Goose (white goose in middle), note its substantially smaller size than the Snow Geese:
Geese in comparisonSizing up the geese
Following is an annotated enlargement of the Ross’s Goose in comparison – A: bill has gray base; B: line where bill meets head is straighter and with substantially less curving; C: very little black “grin line.” Overall, small/blunter bill and rounded head.
Annotated Ross’s Goose
Finally, some interesting articles online (Snow Goose vs. Ross’s Goose), including this one explaining the much increased range of the Ross’s Goose, its overlap in territory with that of the Snow Goose, and the possibility of interbreeding/hybrids: Birdwatching Daily article.
And with all that, conclusion is Ross’s Goose (or hybrid)!
More goose trio:
Bonus video clips posted soon.
[Photo Editor’s note: shots taken in the evening under cloudy conditions, hence the uneven lighting/exposure.]
Edit with environmental context (iPhone through fence):
This BirdingPI.comBird AlertTM brought to you by SEA CASTLETM brand anchovies in pure olive oil, from our friends in Morocco. Sea Castle – the anchovies preferred by gulls the world over, if they could open tins.TM
Sighted Wednesday evening on the Erie bayfront near the Bayfront Convention Center, an amazing trio of Snow Goose! A BirdingPI.com first for Erie County!
Shot above: Canada Goose (left); Snow Goose (adult white morph) (middle); Snow Goose (adult blue morph)(far right); Snow Goose (adult blue morph juvenile?)(third from left).
Shot below: Snow Goose – adult white morph (left) + Snow Goose – adult blue morph (right):
More Snow Goose trio:
Location: fenced-in field just east of the Erie Water Works facility, just south of the Bayfront Convention Center parking garage, corner of W. Bayfront Pkwy and Sassafras St.
More shots/video of these lovely geese coming ASAP!
[ID note: possibility the mostly-white goose is a Ross’s Goose. Which is unlikely due to the location, but the beak configuration and size suggests it’s possible. We are further reviewing the photos to assess.]
