Dateline: 25-26 March 2023

It was the BirdingPI.com “official start of spring” Sunday with the first butterfly of the year – a beautiful Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) spotted along the Pine Tree Trail, Presque Isle State Park!

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Saturday weather: cold, with steady rain and wind in the morning; very unpleasant. Afternoon, periodic thunderstorms and torrential rain. Very windy overnight. Sunday, cool, sunny, light wind – lovely day to enjoy nature. Conditions at Presque Isle: wet, e.g., shot below – this was a dry/grassy field last summer:

Lots of bird activity, but nothing in the “new migrant” category other than a positive audio/call ID of American Woodcock.

Beautiful backlit Bald Eagle (juvenile) over the Thompson Bay swamp/pond:

On Thompson Bay, a Blue-winged Teal (far left) and Ring-necked Ducks (right):

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By North Pier, couple nice shots of Red-winged Blackbird (m):

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On Niagara Pond (by the road), the amazing Northern Shoveler (m):

At that same location, a Turkey Vulture:

Generally, an amazing amount of Turkey Vulture activity – unable to get good shots, but counted 8-10+ by the Thompson Bay swamp/pond at one point.

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Wrapping it up for today with a cute Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger):

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Stay tuned this week for more “great” content – gulls, ducks, American Robin, and a special report on amazing Killdeer activity on North Pier!

And now for something completely different, unmanipulated abstracts of Red-breasted Merganser reflections on Presque Isle Bay:

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Bonus goose vid from earlier in the week – 2x Snow Goose, 1x Ross’s Goose:

[Editor’s Note: original sound removed due to wind and road noise.]

Erie County weather: mostly sunny but cool temps/windy on Friday, rain and heavy wind Saturday morning. BirdingPI.com weekend field activities on temporary weather hold.

After the recent goose excitement, catching up on some calmer subject matter, with shots of the always pretty Mourning Dove:

Quite the debate at BirdingPI.com about the recent Snow Goose sighting on the Erie bayfront. The geese were gone Thursday morning, but thankfully plenty of stills and video in the can. After a thorough analysis by BirdingPI.com’s crack team of bird identification experts (see below), officially calling it as two blue morph Snow Geese and one Ross’s Goose (!)

Three Snow Geese near downtown Erie makes sense, albeit uncommon. Two Snow Geese and a Ross’s Goose would be highly unusual, hence the predilection towards the former. But, let’s discuss…

First, as the baseline, following is clearly an adult blue morph Snow Goose:

Blue body color with white head = blue morph. Following annotated enlargement shows common Snow Goose features – A: entirely orange-ish bill; B: substantial curve on where the bill meets the cheek feathers/head; C: pronounced black “grin line” where the bill mandibles meet. Overall, large bill and triangular-shaped head.

Moving on to the Ross’s Goose (white goose in middle), note its substantially smaller size than the Snow Geese:

Following is an annotated enlargement of the Ross’s Goose in comparison – A: bill has gray base; B: line where bill meets head is straighter and with substantially less curving; C: very little black “grin line.” Overall, small/blunter bill and rounded head.

Finally, some interesting articles online (Snow Goose vs. Ross’s Goose), including this one explaining the much increased range of the Ross’s Goose, its overlap in territory with that of the Snow Goose, and the possibility of interbreeding/hybrids: Birdwatching Daily article.

And with all that, conclusion is Ross’s Goose (or hybrid)!

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More goose trio:

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Bonus video clips posted soon.

[Photo Editor’s note: shots taken in the evening under cloudy conditions, hence the uneven lighting/exposure.]

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Edit with environmental context (iPhone through fence):

Dateline: 22 March 2023

This BirdingPI.com Bird Alert^TM brought to you by SEA CASTLE^TM brand anchovies in pure olive oil, from our friends in Morocco. Sea Castle – the anchovies preferred by gulls the world over, if they could open tins.^TM

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Sighted Wednesday evening on the Erie bayfront near the Bayfront Convention Center, an amazing trio of Snow Goose! A BirdingPI.com first for Erie County!

Shot above: Canada Goose (left); Snow Goose (adult white morph) (middle); Snow Goose (adult blue morph)(far right); Snow Goose (adult blue morph juvenile?)(third from left).

Shot below: Snow Goose – adult white morph (left) + Snow Goose – adult blue morph (right):

More Snow Goose trio:

Location: fenced-in field just east of the Erie Water Works facility, just south of the Bayfront Convention Center parking garage, corner of W. Bayfront Pkwy and Sassafras St.

More shots/video of these lovely geese coming ASAP!

[ID note: possibility the mostly-white goose is a Ross’s Goose. Which is unlikely due to the location, but the beak configuration and size suggests it’s possible. We are further reviewing the photos to assess.]

Dateline: 21 March 2023

First full day of Spring 2023. Mostly sunny, cool but above freezing, occasional light breeze. With the warmer weather, Eastern Bluebirds are back!

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Pleasant evening at South Pier. With the warmer weather, lots of medical patients out fishing. (#lingering_cannabis_smoke)[*] Duck, gull, goose, Red-winged Blackbird, etc. activity – more on this later in the week.

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With the warmer weather, much more Turkey Vulture activity. As the old saying goes, “First spring, then vultures.” (Apparently reflecting that the food’s run out by springtime.) Following shots Presque Isle State Park from last Saturday:

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[* Editor’s note: BirdingPI.com does not endorse drug use other than black coffee and maybe a whisky with the haggis on Burns Night.]

By popular demand, back with Canada Goose coverage, e.g., thank you occasional reader MMG for the ‘goose positive’ feedback.

“Canada Goose, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” – Anonymous.

All shots Thompson Bay swamp/pond, Presque Isle State Park, Saturday 18 March 2023.

Vernal equinox today at 5:24PM EDT. Wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a happy spring!

Cold/windy/snowy weekend in the greater Erie, PA area. Monday: cold but sunny.

First up, Wild Turkey tracks in frozen snow. Long dimension is at least 13 cm, i.e., large:

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Following shots all Presque Isle State Park. Very windy Saturday. Here, whitecaps on Presque Isle Bay:

Juvenile or female Long-tailed Duck at North Pier:

Mature Bald Eagle near Beach No. 11:

Bufflehead Ducks at Beach No. 11:

Gull (probably Herring Gull) with fish:

Bufflehead in flight and landing off Beach No. 11:

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Red-breasted Merganser in the Lake Erie surf, off Budny Beach:

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Stay tuned later this week for more Canada Goose! And more gulls! #more_bird

Dateline: 18 March 2023

Sun was out for a while Saturday at Presque Isle State Park, but still brutally cold with the wind chill. As predicted, snow started around 1:30PM with heavy wind/snow squalls/periodic whiteout the rest of the day (see below).

With the rain and melting snow, trails flooded where applicable (B Trail, Long Pond Trail west end, Duck Pond Trail, etc.) Lake level is up, eliminating recent ‘extra beach,’ e.g., here at Thompson Bay around the Osprey platform (normally dry):

A hint of spring with lovely Song Sparrow @ Thompson Bay:

ID tip: coarse streaks with center spot on breast; rounded tail.

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Later in the day, crow in the snow: