The other evening in Erie County, Pennsylvania, spotted an American Kestrel perched on a power line over a corn field. Seemed to have a piece of cord or rope in its talon. Long story short, turns out the ‘cord’ was a live snake, probably a garter snake.
After flying to a different, nearby power line, the Kestrel proceeded to peck at the snake, presumably the head end:
Coming up reasonably soon, down the hatch!
No post yesterday due to field operations in ‘exotic locations.’ More on this next week. Meanwhile, in today’s post, it’s all Ring-necked Duck flying over/near Long Pond at Presque Isle State Park last Sunday afternoon:
Today on BirdingPI.com, it’s pleasant portraiture of another Erie County, PA spring favourite, beautiful American Robin:
The big birding event in Erie County, Pennsylvania last week was surely the rare occurrence of 7 super cute Ross’s Geese at Fairview Business Park on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, no BirdingPI.com staff members were on hand. A team was dispatched first thing Saturday morning, but as the saying goes, “a day late and a dollar short.” Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning. (To see the Ross’s Geese, here’s an exemplary eBird checklist from local birding enthusiast Jackson M. eBird checklist.)
Just a super quick post today from a beautiful day Sunday afternoon on Lond Pond at Presque Isle State Park, where the duck activity was amazing, esp. Northern Shoveler and Ring-necked Duck.
Even with all the duck activity, however, the “bird of the day” was a distant but nice sighting of Northern Harrier flying along the north side Long Pond woods:
An actual Nuthatch with a nut! All photos White-breasted Nuthatch yesterday at Presque Isle State Park along the Dead Pond Trail:
Here’s something you don’t see every day in Erie County, Pennsylvania, a Bald Eagle in a corn field picking at a carcass, probably carrion:
An Internet article on this interesting behaviour: Do Eagles Eat Carrion? The Scavenging Habits Explained – Biology Insights
Recent digital photographs of Erie County, Pennsylvania’s largest woodpecker species, an always amazing Pileated Woodpecker:
An unusual occurrence at Presque Isle State Park last Sunday, with 3 species of swan concurrently at the head of Presque Isle Bay: Tundra Swan, Mute Swan, and Trumpeter Swan.
Swan ID (adult): All are large, white birds, with Trumpeter Swan the largest and Tundra Swan the smallest. Mute Swan has a distinctive orange bill with a black knob at the base. Tundra Swan has a narrow line of black from bill to eye, frequently with a yellow patch. Trumpeter Swan lacks the yellow, and the black portion between bill and eye is much wider and may lack any narrowing. In Tundra Swan, the black between the eyes is typically straight or only slightly curved, in Trumpeter Swan it is more of a “V.” All three have distinctive vocalizations.
Following shots, the birds in flight are all Tundra Swan, & single swan in water = Trumpeter Swan unless noted otherwise:
Recently under lightly rainy conditions at Asbury Woods in Millcreek Twp, PA (“Since 1800”), a few shots of male Northern Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse (w/ food):
