Well, it’s a break from gulls at least…
Rainy and extremely windy on Thursday, with multiple downed trees in the greater Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) area. Hopefully the weather will be nicer into the weekend!
Cardinalmania I
Gullmania III
More gulls on Misery Bay, Presque Isle State Park!
Just for a splash of (blue) colour, some shots of Ring-billed Gull from a different day, on Presque Isle Bay:
Raptors In And Out Of Trees
A welcome respite from 24/7 gull coverage.
First, from Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):
At South Pier, an amazing and rare congregation of Bald Eagle!
Now out to Presque Isle State Park. First, Bald Eagle from across the other side of Thompson Bay:
By Thompson Circle swamp/pond roadside:
Flying from one tree to a tall stump – nice view of the ‘red tail:’
Tomorrow, more gulls! Yay!
[Editor’s Note: “Ha:” a ‘confusing-gulls-for-Bald Eagle joke,’ in a post about raptors.]
Gullmania II
BirdingPI.com team’s going crazy with gull pictures. Hundreds and hundreds of gull pictures. [Photo Editor’s note: “Sigh.”] Here’s “Part II.” Mostly Ring-billed Gull with a few Herring Gull.
Next time, definitely raptors! Or swans!
Skunky Weekend
Weather-wise, a rather unpleasant weekend in the greater Erie area: Saturday, cold, overcast, and gloomy, Sunday, even colder, more overcast, gloomier, and on-and-off localized rain.
Sunday afternoon, spotted a Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) along the road just east of the Pine Tree Trail west trailhead, Presque Isle State Park. It was rooting for food, but seemed lethargic, + a closer photo inspection appears to show an eye problem. #sick_skunk Photos taken from a safe distance from the BirdinPI.com van.
Sticking with mammals for this post, the relatively rare occurrence of a relatively calm White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)(f) along the Gull Point outer old trail on Saturday.
Stay tuned tomorrow for more gulls! Or it could be raptors in trees!
Gullmania I
Looks like a lot of gull content on tap for this week. From early afternoon on Saturday, starting off with some moderately amazing iPhone video of a Ring-billed Gull “feeding frenzy” by Frys Landing on Misery Bay, across from the Perry Monument, Presque Isle State Park.
Later this week, lots and lots of gull pictures!
Bonus shots from later in the day:
PI Bird Alert
Dateline: 10 December 2022
Been a while since the last BirdingPI.com “PI Bird Alert,” but seems warranted in light of a Great Horned Owl spotted along the Gull Point outer old trail today at Presque Isle State Park. Overcast and generally very quiet – Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Mallard, Bufflehead, American Coot, and gulls. Spotted this lovely fellow or lady approximately at where the red star’s positioned in the map excerpt below.
Flew away fairly quickly first to the west and then back east. Subsequent ‘tracking’ proved unfruitful.
These photos rather awful, but any owl sighting with any photos = win!
Gone Fishin’
With the interior ponds at Presque Isle having returned to surface liquid state after the pre-Thanksgiving snow storms, tons of GBH activity, especially on Long Pond. From one vantage point the other day, the count from BirdingPI.com’s Long Pond task force was 14+!
Here, some fun shots of GBH doing what GBH does best: obtaining tasty fish snacks!
All shots on Long Pond, Presque Isle State Park @ 500mm.
After a gloomy week, Friday turned sunny, and Saturday so far looks cold but partly sunny. All BirdingPI.com team members dispatched for more bird!
Meanwhile,…
… on the Sidewalk Trail.
Only BirdingPI.com brings you GBH on the Sidewalk Trail!
Meet Me In St. Louis
A splash of late-fall colour with lovely male and female Northern Cardinal. All shots in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”).
