Hawk Shots! Part Deux

The last BirdingPI.com “Hot Shots! Part Deux” reference was almost a year ago to the day. Must be a “January in Erie can’t get outside because it’s too cold” thing. Anyway, 10 cm of snow or thereabouts by Friday morning, light snow all day, back to seasonably cold temperatures. Saturday, no precipitation, overcast and very cold.

Here, some recent, ‘merely ok’ shots of Red-tailed Hawk in Erie County. Above: Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”); below: Presque Isle State Park by the Pine Tree Trail east trailhead and nearby swamp.


Supposed to be sunny and not as cold Sunday and Monday – fingers crossed for good bird photography weather!

Weekend Pre-update

Dateline: 7-12 January 2023

Running very late on the weekend update, so time for a ‘data dump’ of recent shots in Erie Country, in mostly overcast/dark conditions.

Dark-eyed Junco in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”)

Weather in Erie: cold and overcast over the weekend; unseasonably warm by mid-week, sunny on Tuesday and partially sunny on Wednesday; light rain Wednesday night tapering off by morning transitioning to heavier rain by afternoon. Currently under a winter weather advisory for snow on Friday.

Two shots of American Robin at State Game Lands 314, enjoying a snack of Staghorn Sumac:

Migrating geese, State Game Lands 314

Moving on to Presque Isle State Park, over several different days:

Tundra Swan on back bay/’hunkered down’

Several days later, that beautiful Barred Owl was back at the same perch by the corner of Canoe Portage Trail and Duck Pond Trail:

Rear view, distance
Rear feather detail
Front view I
Front view II

Couple shots of female Downy Woodpecker along Canoe Portage Trail:

American Tree Sparrow

Another view of the Barred Owl on the way back along the Canoe Portage Trail:

The owl it watching you

Tundra Swan on Presque Isle Bay, near the Long Pond Trail east trailhead:

Now with a view of the Bayfront Convention Center (right) and Sheraton Bayfront hotel (left), with downtown Erie in far background:

Sans duck hunters, a quiet day on Thompson Bay:

Thompson Bay view north towards Lake Erie

Reflection on Thompson Bay with Horned Grebe, Bufflehead, and some sort of merganser duck:

Tree reflection

Not a particularly good shot, but a gull and Red-breasted Merganser, off Budny Beach:

With all the recent rain, trail conditions generally wet and muddy where applicable/typical. Here, the B-Trail:

The B-Trail b flooded

Ice dunes and surf off the Presque Isle west-side beach:

View of gulls on the west end of North Pier, with Perry Monument in the background, taken from South Pier:

Wishing everyone a nice holiday (MLK Day) weekend!

Gullmania VI

First up, peaceful, reasonably ok shots of a Ring-billed Gull in the wind at Conneaut Beach:


Next up, fun shots of a Ring-billed Gull obtaining fish lunch, off South Pier, across from Presque Isle State Park:


Concluding with a bird ID note, BirdingPI.com’s been seeing isolated, dark-winged gulls on Lake Erie between Gull Point and the mainland (e.g., off East Ave boat ramp) for a while now. Finally got a couple closer shots to confirm this as Greater Black-backed Gull!

Note the relatively large size, dark wing color, stark white head/chest, and rounded bill:

East Ave Bird Alert

Dateline: 10 January 2023.

Beach at East Ave
Ruddy Duck by East Ave boat ramp

Tuesday, cool but mostly sunny; nice to see the sun for once. Time for a quick lunchtime stop at the East Avenue boat ramp and beach (Erie, PA), which yielded a sizeable flock of amazing Ruddy Duck!

Not a common sighting, hence the amazement. BirdingPI.com’s last official sighting was a couple years ago, with several spotted flying over Presque Isle Bay.

Female or immature male

As night feeders, most were resting/asleep (see shots above), but several were actively foraging (diving).

Male, non-breeding plumage
Diving

Directions to East Ave boat ramp: navigate to East Avenue and head north until the pavement ends at the lake.

[Editor’s Note: edited on 17 Jan 2023 to add picture of East Avenue beach, to provide context. Hammermill Paper Co. smoke stacks in background.]

Gulls @ Conneaut/Winter

Dateline: 7 January 2023

View towards Conneaut Harbour from Conneaut Township Park

Something of a tradition [*] in Erie, PA to visit the beach in Conneaut, Ohio on a cold, windy, overcast winter day to see the famous [**] Ring-billed Gulls. Overcast/dark conditions on these “just ok” shots:

View west

Light at Conneaut breakwater with gulls and scaup ducks:

Sand bar
Gull activity on sand bar
View of Conneaut Creek from Route 7, looking upstream

[* Editor’s note: may not reflect an actual tradition.]

[** Editor’s note: may not reflect actual notoriety status.]

LECP/Eagle

Dateline: 7 January 2023

View of Presque Isle (west) from LECP

Very gloomy weekend in the greater Erie, PA area in terms of available light; tough conditions for bird photography. Nevertheless, time for BirdingPI.com coverage of the the “west bluffs” area (Erie lakeshore between Presque Isle and the Ohio border) for ‘hopefully eagles.’ Mission: Successful – mature Bald Eagle spotted flying over Lake Erie Community Park (LECP), renowned for its lake views, picnicking facilities, eagle watching, and dangerous, unfenced cliffs.

All these shots rather poorly exposed, but still, Bald Eagle!







Bonus Pileated Woodpecker at Lake Erie Community Park:

Dangerous cliff

Russet-breasted Indigo Thrush

More Eastern Bluebird in January! Finally, some decent shots of this beautiful, blue bird. Or, as we like to call it at BirdingPI.com, somewhat more creatively, the Russet-breasted Indigo Thrush.

Overcast with drizzly snow/rain Friday and Saturday. All shots Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) in light snow Saturday morning.

[Editor’s note: Eastern Bluebird being in the thrush family. #birding_humour]


Later in the week, coming to you from lovely Conneaut, Ohio! Featuring (wait for it…) Ring-billed Gull!

Sparrow In The House!

Don’t see enough House Sparrow content, but rectifying that here with these recent, nice shots taken near Swan Cove parking lot, Presque Isle State Park.

On a branch
Photobombed!
What was that?
Hmmm…

This male had been bathing in the little streamlet that connects the ranger station pond to the back bay:

Shaky photography
Shaken, not stirred
Air dry cycle

Long view

Branch perch portraiture:


A return to seasonal conditions Friday with overcast, cold, and light snow in the Erie area. Wishing everyone a great weekend! BirdingPI.com weekend teams standing by to deploy. #more_bird

Happy NBD

Dateline: 5 January 2023

Happy US National Bird Day! After heavy rain all day Wednesday, mostly dry today, but cooler. Very little bird activity. Besides hawks, celebrating NBD with new shots on the BirdingPI.com main page, plus random ‘exotics’ in the form of Blue Grosbeak from this past summer at San Pedro House in Arizona.

Male
Female
Male again