Recent shots of a very cute, immature Long-tailed Duck, probably male, off North Pier @ Presque Isle State Park. This individual has been seen in the channel between N/S Piers for several days now.
“The long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), … formerly known as the oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.” Per Wikipedia.
It’s reasonably colourful fall/winter birds all at Presque Isle State Park. Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas!
All shots male Northern Cardinal (as above), American Robin (immediately below), & female Northern Cardinal foraging on the beach (two below).
If South Pier (Erie, Pennsylvania) wasn’t entertaining enough with its stinky chemical toilet and “What are those people doing in that car?” aesthetic, try doing bird photography in a full-on lake-effect snowstorm:
After finding an errant file of iPhone snapshots, re-posting this content from last summer @ “Santa Cruz flats,” northwest of Tucson, AZ, with more environmental context:
Lots of Greater Roadrunner activity:
Sequence of beautiful Inca Dove:
Here’s the view west along E. Sasco Road out of Red Rock, at the crossing w/ Santa Cruz River. (The puddle is the riverbed.) Good spot for birds w/ riparian vegetation, e.g., the Chat above.
“Bird of the day,” a surprise/great sighting of Bendire’s Thrasher:
White-winged Doves @ power line:
First day of winter 2024/2025 yesterday did not disappoint: cloudy, windy, annoyingly cold, & light PM snow. Rough conditions for outside birding, but the highlight of the day at Presque Isle State Park = 9 Purple Sandpiper on the breakwater off Sunset Point. Not the best pictures (camera equip was freezing up by this point), but still nice to see:
More Purple Sandpiper, etc. pending photo editing. In the meantime, back to the final “post-Snowpocalypse” content from the other week at Presque Isle:
Long-distance but nice sequence of Canada Geese landing in lake-effect snow @ head of Presque Isle Bay (Scott Park bluff in background):
Rapidly changing conditions at Leo’s Landing, e.g., hint of blue sky:
And incoming snow:
An unusual amount of Northern Shoveler activity, e.g., a flock of 21, a BirdingPI.com record for most seen at one time:
Coming up soon, more birds in snow!
Wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a happy first day of Winter. (Solstice at 4:50AM this morning or something like that.) In celebration, it’s the final post of beautiful Wilson’s Snipe seen on the day of Presque Isle State Park post-Snowpocalypse 2024 re-opening:
Much earlier on Christmas Bird Count day, there was time for informal, chilly astrophotography in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
Later, at Presque Isle State Park:
Distant but fun sequence of startled gulls, perhaps due to passing Bald Eagle(s) – see above:
One advantage of rising early Saturday morning for the annual Christmas bird count = seeing a red setting almost-full moon:
Another advantage: clear, sunny day. Disadvantage: very cold w/ fresh snow on the ground.
Bird activity overall was modest, but still plenty of birds to see.
Including over a hundred Tundra Swans off Leo’s Landing:
Not the best viewpoint, but still fun to see incoming Hooded Mergansers (w/ Scaups in foreground) on outer Lake Erie:
Time for an Erie County waterfowl/waterbird break with recent content of 3 species of duck + 1 of grebe, starting with lucky (i.e., relatively close) shots of a beautiful/amazing female Hooded Merganser on Presque Isle Bay:
Horned Grebe in non-breeding plumage off South Pier:
Female or immature Red-breasted Merganser in flight between North and South Piers:
Male Mallard on a pier at Presque Isle State Park:
Female or immature Red-breasted Merganser on the breakwater off the east end of South Pier:
Two Red-breasted Merganser in flight:
Male Mallard takeoff, rear view:
Female Mallard takeoff, rear/side view:
Another view of the Merganser @ South Pier breakwater. Note the Zebra Mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) (invasive) on the vertical rock surface below the duck:
Finally, while many birds take flight when startled, diving ducks have another option, as captured in this fun sequence of female Hooded Merganser off the Waterworks pier area:
Coming up soon, under a blood red moon!
More shots from the other day just after Presque Isle State Park re-opened from Snowpocalypse 2024.
Here’s a lengthy sequence of Canada Geese landing on Presque Isle Bay, w/ Tundra Swans & misc. ducks:
