Sorry obscure 18th-century English naturalist Anna Blackburne, but even if you were a nice person, “Blackburnian” is an awful (and awfully arbitrary/random) name for such a beautiful bird. So, it’s pictures from Saturday on the Pine Tree Trail of an amazing male Orange Flame Warbler, in chronological order:
Great example of foraging from a spider’s web:
Dateline: 18 May 2024
Somehow finagled quick turnaround from the BirdingPI.com photo editing team on these shots from yesterday at Presque Isle State Park along the Gull Point Trail in the afternoon. Guess everyone has warbler fever!
Conditions here and in the Pine Tree Trail area yesterday were rather excellent. Most ‘common’ warbler species spotted except Palm & Black-throated Blue. Even an unprecedented sighting (i.e., two days in a row) of amazing male Canada Warbler, in the willow thickets close to outer Gull Point:
Big news was a significant uptick in Bay-breasted Warbler sightings, like this (probably) lovely female:
(Seems in past year the Bay-breasted Warblers passed through much earlier = some worry it was going to be a light year for this lovely species.)
More Bay-breasted Warbler:
Meanwhile, PM shorebird activity on the Point was fairly light. (Yellowlegs, Dunlin, etc.)
Coming up soon, lots of warblers on the Pine Tree Trail!
The amazing/beautiful Canada Warbler: uncommon enough at Presque Isle State Park for any sighting to be a special occasion. Throw in a few minutes of a mostly clear view at eye level the other morning along the Duck Pond Trail, and it’s warbler portraiture gold.
Bonus action/fly-catching shot:
[Editor’s note: “Bird portraiture:” a bird perched on a branch, standing on ground, or floating in water, not engaged in any particular activity, where the anatomical, etc. features are clear for conveying a sense of species ID.]
So much bird excitement at Presque Isle State Park, running very late on today’s post. (“Spoiler alert:” Canada Warbler!) Ahead of the weekend, lots of ongoing American Robin, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Gray Catbird!, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrow, etc. activity. So much so, hard to keep an eye out for the less common offerings. Warbler activity overall remains good, but erratic. Same with shorebirds, e.g., Semipalmated, Piping, and Black-bellied Plover sighted at Gull Point recently, otherwise fairly quiet other than Spotted Sandpiper.
More recent sightings forthcoming; here’s Leo’s Landing @ early morning (e.g., 7AM) on Global Big Day last Saturday.
“Bird of the outing,” beautiful male Blackpoll Warbler:
Recent photographs from Presque Isle-adjacent Scott Park in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), right around sunset:
This next/lengthy sequence captures (as best possible for still photos) a rather amazing behavior – three Cedar Waxwing in a tree, passing a small piece of vegetative matter (seed pod?) back and forth for at least 5 minutes:
Per Internet sources, this is probably social behavior, e.g., passing food between birds as a social activity or so each bird has a chance to eat. (Other option is mating behavior, which doesn’t seem applicable here.) Very cool to see!
Finally, it’s BirdingPI.com’s consensus staff favourite yearly post, Canada Goose babies! Yay! By the road at Sidewalk Trail east trailhead (by Misery Bay), Presque Isle State Park, last Saturday afternoon on Global Big Day, in light rain.
Very unusually, this brood consisted of at least 16 goslings. That’s a lot of baby geese! Typical numbers are 5-10, but occasionally possible for two broods to merge, which is probably what happened here.
It’s been a good year for Warbling Vireo in Erie County, PA, both in terms of frequency & “occasional sightings that aren’t way up in a tree.” These of the latter, on Global Big Day, in the morning at Leo’s Landing @ Presque Isle State Park:
Still recovering from Global Big Day weekend, so it’s back to the previous weekend with shots from a hike out to Gull Point @ Presque Isle State Park.
Mostly overcast = photography/exposure conditions not great. Nevertheless, fun to see this Eastern Kingbird in action:
Following is a hoverfly (in genus Eristalis, exact species unknown) on what’s probably invasive Cypress Spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias), all over Presque Isle in sandy areas:
Beautiful Dunlin @ outer Gull Point:
Probably Orange Sulphur butterfly (Colias eurytheme), on left, on Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus):
‘Bird of the day’ (or any day) was a surprise early sighting of Whimbrel:
According to the nice folks at eBird, this was the earliest recorded sighting of Whimbrel at this location (or maybe Erie Co. generally) by at least a couple weeks.
More Whimbrel:
Based on dark head colouration, this appears to be Semipalmated Plover:
Unfortunately, the Whimbrel left soon hereafter, heading out easterly over Lake Erie:
[Editor’s note: “KIF” = Killdeer in flight, “BSIF” = Barn Swallow in flight, “OIF” = Osprey in flight, “WIF” = Whimbrel in flight. Note to staff: please stop using “…IF” – thank you.]
It was interesting weather at Presque Isle State Park for Global Big Day yesterday. ‘Interesting’ = mostly crappy, i.e., less than ideally conducive for productive and pleasant birding all day. … Mostly sunny (although windy/cool) until about 11AM, then light on/off rain, then moderate rain, then partial clearing by mid-afternoon, then moderate/heavy rain (+ sometimes very windy) late afternoon/evening as another front rolled through. Bird activity rather erratic, but lots to see!
Bird photography into thick brush or high into the tree canopy is hard enough. Just try it with an umbrella under rainy conditions on the Ridge Trail. Nevertheless, the suffering extra effort paid off, with this amazing Ovenbird, taken under rainy/overcast conditions close to where the Ridge Trail intersects the Sidewalk Trail at their east ends:
“Bird Watching Rule 14(a): the bird of the day is always Ovenbird, unless there’s an owl.” Johnson, Daniel & Matheson, Herbert. The Great Book of Bird Watching. 1st ed., HarperCollins, 1963.
Coming up soon, more Global Big Day!
Wow, an unprecedented BirdingPI.com 3rd daily post! It really is a big day, content-wise at least. These shots from last weekend mostly at Presque Isle State Park:
Great sequence of female Black-throated Blue Warbler @ Ridge Trail. Note the distinctive ‘square’ white wing patch:
Very cool to see immature, probably female Northern Parula:
Triple view of Hermit Thrush (note the contrasting tail):
Nice triple view of White-throated Sparrow in the woods:
Happy birding! #more_bird