Some recent, rather lovely shots of Black-capped Chickadee in the woods off the Pine Tree Trail, Presque Isle State Park:
Weather Friday: mostly overcast, cold, light wind, and light snow all day. Supposed to be warmer over the weekend, which hopefully portends well for GBBC day 2!
With a return Friday to wintery weather, the Great Backyard Bird Count’s off to a slow start in Erie, PA. (Sightings this morning included American Crow, Canada Goose, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, American Robin, European Starling, Mourning Dove, various unidentified woodpeckers, etc.) Nevertheless, wishing everyone a fun and productive Friday-Monday!
Dateline: 11 February 2023
All shots from boat landing no. 4, Long Pond, Presque Isle State Park.
Presque Isle birding tip: one or more folks at roadside, at rapt attention with binoculars or giant cameras = likely an interesting nearby bird. Here, e.g., a Bald Eagle in a tree between Long Pond and the main park road.
Soon thereafter, enter another Bald Eagle:
Also a third Bald Eagle in a tree on the other/northeast side of Long Pond:
Coming up soon, more coverage of Eagles 1 and 2 as they depart Long Pond together, then more coverage of Eagle 3 both perched and in flight!
Sunny with high temps around 15.5 deg C Wednesday in Erie, PA. Almost all snow/ice melted; lake, bay, and ponds all unfrozen. With the unusual weather, several first-time-this-year sightings of ‘early spring’ birds. First up, Red-winged Blackbird at South Pier:
Next up, beautiful American Goldfinch in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
Very happy to see the Turkey Vultures back in town!
Catching up on misc “ice/snow free” shots of Presque Isle State Park and vicinity:
Lovely Common Grackle:
Unidentified mammals engaging in ‘play behavior:’
The odd weather in Erie (relatively warm, unfrozen lake/bay) continues to pay birding dividends this February. American Goldfinch and Red-winged Blackbird seen in the last few days – seems rather early. (Stay turned for shots in future posts.)
In more exciting news, what appears to be an amazing Red-throated Loon (non-breeding plumage) was spotted recently at the East Ave. boat ramp area, Erie, PA – approx 2.5 km due south of Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park.
Following shots around noon in the sun:
Following shots early evening under light cloud cover:
Annotated for ID tips, relative to Common Loon (non-breeding):
Please enjoy peaceful floating Red-throated Loon video:
BirdingPI.com management apologizes for the blog entry earlier today, which was not editorially approved and does not meet BirdingPI.com’s “high standards” for publication approval. Please enjoy these rather nice shots/etc. of Northern Cardinal instead, as pleasant Valentine’s Day content.
A beautiful Northern Cardinal (f):
Male Northern Cardinal, the “red rose of winter Erie birding:”
[Editor’s note: Editorial staff apologizes for any instances of objectionable anthropomorphism in the present post.]
Wishing everyone a happy Valentine’s Day 2023!
With the relatively warm weather Wednesday (sunny) and Thursday (rainy AM, sunny PM) in Erie, PA, the lovely Eastern Bluebirds were out in force.
Two shots of a female:
Following shots – male Eastern Bluebird:
Beautiful weekend out at Presque Isle State Park – cool (2+ deg C) but sunny in the afternoon on Saturday, slightly warmer and sunny on Sunday. Plenty of eagle, duck, gull, and GBH activity, but in a BirdingPI.com first, here’s an amazing female Long-tailed Duck spotted Saturday at North Pier. Brown body, white face, dark cheek ‘smudge,’ etc. (Females lack the long tail.)
Right here the weekend’s a ‘win,’ but stay turned for Bald Eagle, and lots of it, later in the week!
Nothing spells “fail” better than bird photographers + “astral photography.” But such is the lure of the recent “green comet” media reports in conjunction with a clear-ish night in Erie.
Huh, well, this is interesting. Appears to be Jupiter and four of its moons @ 800mm. Which is pretty cool. #not_a_total_loss
Next time, more green comet! Or maybe Bald Eagle! Or Bluebird! Who can know for sure?