A mini-celebration of the beautiful Northern Cardinal. All shots Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”).
Cardinal 3×3
Weekend Update (III)
Another ‘epic’ post from various days this past weekend or thereabouts. First up, a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls in a flooded field off French Creek Rd, south of Waterford, PA:
Meanwhile, back at Presque Isle State Park:
Swallows are back, here the beautiful Tree Swallow:
Long distance shot that’s somewhat blurry due to heat shimmer, but lots of Great Egret (8+) on Big Pond, as viewed from the main park road:
Another ‘spring first,’ a lovely Wood Duck (male), in the pond by Sidewalk Trail east trailhead:
Not an everyday occurrence:
Long distance/blurry shots, but posting anyway to show Green-winged Teal colouration:
Osprey over Thompson Bay swamp/pond with nesting material:
And here’s the Osprey playing quidditch. Or maybe more nest gathering.
Finally, the first Caspian Tern of the year spotted flying over the lake from the bluff at Cranch Park:
Coming up soon, more Kinglet, more Cardinal, more Bonaparte’s Gull, more Robin x Starling! #more_bird
High Voltage
Hanging around Penelec Substation No. 8180 outside Union City, PA finally paid off Saturday with a beautiful ‘interior’ Osprey:
[Editor’s note: BirdingPI.com does not endorse “hanging around” public utility facilities.]
Weekend Update (II)
Dateline: 7 April 2023
Special ‘double post’ today to celebrate day no. 6+ of sunny weather in Erie, PA.
More content from Friday at Presque Isle State Park. First up, along the Dead Pond Trail (east end), first sighting this spring of Hermit Thrush:
ID: slight white eye ring, spotted breast, and red tail contrasting with brown back.
First (identifiable) dragonfly of the year, the beautiful Green Darner (Anax junius):
Yet another (!) spring first, happy to see Ruby-crowned Kinglet again:
ID tips: similar to Golden-crowned Kinglet except partial eye ring, lacks conspicuous yellow/gold head stripe, occasional hints of ‘ruby crown:’
The amazing American Kestrel‘s relatively common around the W. PA farmland down south, but here’s the first ever BirdingPI.com sighting at Presque Isle, in the woods adjacent North Pier:
Finally, lots of Turkey Vulture enjoying the sunshine in the woods adjacent Horseshoe Bay:
A Bit Rusty
Dateline: 8 April 2023
An excellent and unexpected encounter with a flock (16+) of amazing (and noisy) Rusty Blackbird Saturday at State Game Lands No. 109. Audio and video at the bottom.
Weekend Update (I)
Dateline: 7 April 2023
Cool but beautiful (mostly sunny) holiday weekend in western PA. No additional warbler activity, but lots of nature otherwise. These shots from Presque Isle State Park on Friday.
“First time this spring” along the Sidewalk Trail, west end, a lovely Brown Thrasher:
Another “spring first,” lucky this beautiful Eastern Towhee de-shrubified for a moment:
Yet another “spring first,” great to see Chipping Sparrow back in the area, by Beach No. 9 (Pine Tree):
Another Brown Thrasher along the Pine Tree Trail:
Lots more Golden-crowned Kinglet activity – consolidated post (with shots from other days) to follow.
Belted Kingfisher above the swamp across from Pine Tree Trail east trailhead:
Trail conditions: wet.
Following are flooded: Dead Pond Trail (west end); A Trail; B Trail; Long Pond Trail (west end); Duck Pond Trail; Marsh Trail; Sidewalk Trail (east end).
Next time: a special appearance from down in the southlands, and later, more great weekend content!
Few Minutes At Headwaters
Short outing Thursday evening at Headwaters Park, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). Always nice for a short hike and/or casual birding.
Meanwhile, beautiful day Friday at Presque Isle – cold but sunny. No new warbler activity, but six “first time this spring” sightings: Chipping Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, and American Kestrel! Plus dragonflies and a Garter Snake conclave! Pics to follow ASAP.
Osprey/7
Part 7 of ‘weekend update’ content at Presque Isle State Park, last Sunday at Thompson Bay – first Osprey of the spring!
Long distance shot – Osprey @ tree, head of Thompson Bay:
Backlit shots of ‘hovering’/hunting behavior (taken from edge of Thompson Bay):
Then backlit shots in flight:
A short time later, from near Thompson Circle (Dead Pond Trail east trailhead), probably heading off west into the woods for fish dinner:
Saw a couple Osprey-sized birds far off in the distance, but unsure if there was one Osprey in the area or more than one. (Plenty of distant Bald Eagle and Turkey Vulture activity as well.)
Saddle Up!
Dateline: 6 April 2023
Buckle up? Heads up? Man up? What’s up? Well, since you asked, spring migration season’s ‘officially’ off and running in Erie with the first BirdingPI.com warbler sighting this year! Appropriately enough, a beautiful Yellow-rumped Warbler spotted Thursday in the vegetation adjacent East Ave beach:
Elsewhere, also seen today, Brown-headed Cowbird (no pics) & Green Heron!
Erie weekend weather forecast: cool but dry. Happy birding!
[Editor’s note to staff: “Man up”?!? Before posting, please change to “Person up?” or “Woman/person/man up?” Per BirdingPI.com D&I Policy Section 2(b). Thanks.]
More Weekend Update
Dateline: 2 April 2023
Back to last weekend with more content from Sunday at Presque Isle State Park. (Weather: sunny, cold.)
First up, back along the Pine Tree Trail, with cute Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger):
Obligatory but fun “camouflaged Brown Creeper” shot:
Despite the awful photographs, still fun to see the first Fox Sparrow of the season. Yellow lower beak suggests American Tree Sparrow, but heavily streaked breast (+ overall face colouration) = Fox Sparrow:
See also red tail:
Another great sighting, this time Winter Wren. Note overall brown colouration, short tail, slender beak, hint white eyebrow, etc.:
Another day with lovely Yellow-bellied Sapsucker:
Heading over to the Dead Pond Trail (east end) again, this time with the second butterfly of the season, the beautiful Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma):
And, this is how you know:
(Similar looking Question Mark butterfly would have question mark-appearing spots instead + different wing spot pattern.)
Finally, didn’t get any good shots, but surprised to see Red-breasted Nuthatch this early:
