Sunny with high temps around 15.5 deg C Wednesday in Erie, PA. Almost all snow/ice melted; lake, bay, and ponds all unfrozen. With the unusual weather, several first-time-this-year sightings of ‘early spring’ birds. First up, Red-winged Blackbird at South Pier:

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Next up, beautiful American Goldfinch in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):

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Very happy to see the Turkey Vultures back in town!

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Catching up on misc “ice/snow free” shots of Presque Isle State Park and vicinity:

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Lovely Common Grackle:

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Unidentified mammals engaging in ‘play behavior:’

The odd weather in Erie (relatively warm, unfrozen lake/bay) continues to pay birding dividends this February. American Goldfinch and Red-winged Blackbird seen in the last few days – seems rather early. (Stay turned for shots in future posts.)

In more exciting news, what appears to be an amazing Red-throated Loon (non-breeding plumage) was spotted recently at the East Ave. boat ramp area, Erie, PA – approx 2.5 km due south of Gull Point, Presque Isle State Park.

Following shots around noon in the sun:

Following shots early evening under light cloud cover:

Annotated for ID tips, relative to Common Loon (non-breeding):

Please enjoy peaceful floating Red-throated Loon video:

BirdingPI.com management apologizes for the blog entry earlier today, which was not editorially approved and does not meet BirdingPI.com’s “high standards” for publication approval. Please enjoy these rather nice shots/etc. of Northern Cardinal instead, as pleasant Valentine’s Day content.

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A beautiful Northern Cardinal (f):

Male Northern Cardinal, the “red rose of winter Erie birding:”

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[Editor’s note: Editorial staff apologizes for any instances of objectionable anthropomorphism in the present post.]

Wishing everyone a happy Valentine’s Day 2023!

With the relatively warm weather Wednesday (sunny) and Thursday (rainy AM, sunny PM) in Erie, PA, the lovely Eastern Bluebirds were out in force.

Two shots of a female:

Following shots – male Eastern Bluebird:

Beautiful weekend out at Presque Isle State Park – cool (2+ deg C) but sunny in the afternoon on Saturday, slightly warmer and sunny on Sunday. Plenty of eagle, duck, gull, and GBH activity, but in a BirdingPI.com first, here’s an amazing female Long-tailed Duck spotted Saturday at North Pier. Brown body, white face, dark cheek ‘smudge,’ etc. (Females lack the long tail.)

Right here the weekend’s a ‘win,’ but stay turned for Bald Eagle, and lots of it, later in the week!

Nothing spells “fail” better than bird photographers + “astral photography.” But such is the lure of the recent “green comet” media reports in conjunction with a clear-ish night in Erie.

Huh, well, this is interesting. Appears to be Jupiter and four of its moons @ 800mm. Which is pretty cool. #not_a_total_loss

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Next time, more green comet! Or maybe Bald Eagle! Or Bluebird! Who can know for sure?

More dead fish! More Great Black-backed Gull! More fun!

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Erie, PA weather forecast calls for cool temps and mixed sun/clouds over the weekend. Looks like ok conditions for winter birding! Wishing everyone a nice weekend. #more_bird!

Beautiful morning Wednesday in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). Sunny, w/ temps maybe around 4 deg C, no snow = lots of non-gull/waterfowl/GBH bird activity.

Plenty of European Starling out and about:

Beautiful male House Finch:

Bonus House Finch video:

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This is at a long distance through a screen of trees/branches = bad photos, but doesn’t matter – still an amazing Cooper’s Hawk! First BirdingPI.com sighting in 2023 and a happy occurrence generally. ID tip: note the red eyes, and very dark top-of-head that confers a capped look.

Would have been very hard to spot in this location at this distance, but this bird had been in flight just previously – and clearly too small to be a Red-tailed Hawk.

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Wrapping it up with White-breasted Nuthatch!

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Coming up soon, Eastern Bluebird from this same morning, plus Coots at lunch, plus more gull, plus more GBH! Also ducks! #more_bird!

GBH together with Ring-billed Gull on an icy Long Pond!?! Poor lighting conditions/exposure aside, it’s still BirdingPI.com gold. All shots 5 February 2023, Presque Isle State Park.

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Coming up soon, a special, sunny break from wintery coverage of gulls, GBH, and ducks! Featuring a ‘guest appearance’ from an amazing, if distant, Cooper’s Hawk! Hello!