Other than a surprise, passing thunderstorm Saturday morning, it was a beautiful/warm/dry equinox weekend at Presque Isle State Park. The interesting warbler activity continued, including fairly unusual multiple sightings of Yellow Warbler. (Based on yearly records, most Yellow Warblers would have departed Presque Isle in August, with just one or two northern breeders typically recorded passing through in late September.) There’s lots of “yellow-ish” birds in fall with non-breeding or juvenile plumage, making identification tricky, but here’s a ‘control sample’ of female (juvenile?) Yellow Warbler at the tree line at outer Gull Point Sunday afternoon:

Spotted at least several Yellow Warbler at Leo’s Landing, all dingier juveniles, like this one foraging in blooming goldenrod:

Another juvenile Yellow Warbler at Leo’s Landing:

Here’s a shady Wilson’s Warbler (note the dark cap):

Another common yellow bird, a female or juvenile American Goldfinch:

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Backlit Palm Warbler. Not ‘super yellow,’ but has a yellow-ish rump and lower underside:

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Two ‘not the best shots but still fun to see’ of Nashville Warbler. Note the gray head, bold white eyering, yellow underside, & hint of russet cap:

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Except where noted, following shots are all juvenile Yellow Warbler:

Dateline: 3 August 2024

Happy “autumnal equinox day!” While waiting on photo editing for more recent content from Presque Isle State Park, it’s a return to Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest outside Pinetop/Lakeside, AZ in the White Mountains. This is a view from the Mogollon Rim in Pinetop, looking south-ish:

Moving on to birds in a different but nearby location. Have to love Acorn Woodpeckers!

Nice sequence of female Western Tanager “bug catching:”

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In the field, thought these were Summer Tanager, but a closer look = nice sighting of Hepatic Tanager. Female is overall yellow, & male is overall red + gray, but note the distinctive gray cheek patches/colouring:

It may be the end of summer, but that means fall migration at Presque Isle State Park = happy warbler times for birders and bird photographers. BirdingPI.com is celebrating the seasonal transition with recent shots of beautiful female/immature Magnolia Warbler along the Canoe Portage Trail:

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Looks like a nice weekend ahead. Migratory bird activity at PI appears (anecdotally) to be in full swing! Happy nature! #more_bird

It’s almost fall, but the foliage remains in full summer mode = a shady Pine Tree Trail Sunday afternoon. Final/part 6 of Weekend Update content, here’s lots of mostly poorly lit bird shots:

Here’s a very interesting sighting of male Scarlet Tanager w/ non-breeding plumage. (Breeding plumage = full red w/ black wings.) Note the overall tanager shape + dark wings + black ‘shoulders’ (scapulars).

[Editor’s note: what are ‘scapulars?‘]

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Another interesting sighting, this time of (probably) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Didn’t get a good shot of the belly, but note the overall olive/hint yellow colour, + yellow throat, + slightly yellow eyering, + final shot shows a hint of the yellow underside.

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Probably juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler:

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Shady Yellow-billed Cuckoo; one spotted towards east end of Pine Tree Trail, and two together, later, towards west end:

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This is a tough one, but probably Pine Warbler. (And even if not, it’s a warbler in a pine tree = “pine warbler.”)

It’s a recurring joke here on BirdingPI.com, but is “Greater” and “Lesser” Yellowlegs really fair? Instead, maybe something like “Pretty Good Yellowlegs” and “Even Better Yellowlegs.” [Editor’s note to staff: this ‘joke’ can be retired now, thanks.] Anyway, from the Gull Point bayside, by the ‘big bend’ beach access, it’s probably Greater Yellowlegs (+ misc. bird):

ID note: Greater Yellowlegs = barring on flanks + relatively long, slightly upturned bill.

Why not a mid-week interlude with beautiful Red-breasted Nuthatch spotted along the Pine Tree Trail @ Presque Isle State Park last weekend? (Might be the first BirdingPI.com sighting of this species at PI this year; more common at ‘pinier’ places like Asbury Woods.) For those on the normal work week schedule, happy “hump day!”

Part 2 of Weekend Update content (part 3 counting the Cuckoo post) featuring outer Gull Point, mostly in chronological order. First up, remiss in not earlier mentioning the “surprise bench” that appeared adjacent the old observation platform recently. Many thanks (!) to whoever/whatever was responsible for this excellent addition to the Gull Point infrastructure!

Moving on to birds, within the tree line, immature American Goldfinch:

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Next up, bad shots of American Golden-Plover. (Expensive camera equipment notwithstanding, nothing gets past atmospheric heat shimmer at long distance.) This appears to be a male in some sort of transitioning or molting plumage. Note the overall ‘large plover’ appearance, dark cap, white face colouration, and very blotchy chest and underside. (E.g., eventually, presumably, it would transition to black cap + black breast/underside = American Golden-Plover; Black-bellied Plover lacks a dark cap.)

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Thankfully, a good shot of juvenile Black-bellied Plover:

Two juvenile Black-bellied Plover (left & middle), + ‘mystery bird’ on right:

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Had no idea of the ID on this bird in the field, other than “never seen the likes of it before = must be interesting/unusual.” Based on image analysis back at HQ, turns out this is a non-breeding plumage adult Red Knot – rather unusual for Erie. (A breeding-plumage bird would be, well, somewhat red-ish.) Note the overall relatively medium size, stout bill, yellow-green legs, white eyebrow, & pale gray rump especially visible in flight:

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More nice shots of juvenile Black-bellied Plover:

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Coming up soon, more Pine Tree Trail, & inner Gull Point w/ lots of Yellowlegs content!

Dateline: 14 September 2024

Beautiful weekend at Presque Isle State Park: sunny, warm, dry; trails in good condition. Warbler/migratory activity has definitely ticked up (anecdotally) relative to recent past visits. Of note, lots of Yellow-billed Cuckoo activity as seen by BirdingPI.com staff along the Pine Tree Trail (PTT), + other reports on eBird elsewhere. Following shots from Saturday on the PTT of “other birds:”

Medley 1 of juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler x Northern Parula:

Probably immature male Northern Parula – note the hint of chestnut breast band, broken white eyering, & white wingbars (see below):

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Probably Chipping Sparrow x probably Pine Warbler:

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Eastern Phoebe x more Chipping Sparrow:

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Dateline: 14 September 2024, Presque Isle State Park

The Pine Tree Trail was on fire Saturday afternoon. Not literally. That would be bad. Bird-wise, rather. Especially an amazing and very surprising encounter w/ two Yellow-billed Cuckoo. First BirdingPI.com sighting of this species outside Arizona, first BirdingPI.com sighting of “more than one at the same time/location.”

Note the black-and-white bands visible on the underside of the tail:

Yellow-billed Cuckoo are known for hunting caterpillars = great to see here:

Awful/blurry shot, but just for the record – one individual @ far left, another @ lower right (very blurry):

Looks like a nice (sunny/mild) weekend for birding at Presque Isle State Park. Recent reports show good conditions at Gull Point (e.g., low water level = mud = good for shorebirds) + interesting/uncommon sightings like Red Knot & American Golden-Plover. (More on this in upcoming posts.) To get the weekend off to an ok start, here are some okay/cloudy shots of a Great Egret in flight, etc. last weekend at Leo’s Landing: