From the BirdingPI.com team in western New York state, it’s Bufflehead (ducks) on Lake Chautauqua. With some nice lighting effects from facing into the late fall sunshine (+ calm lake conditions):

Dateline: 26 November 2023

In the ‘highly unusual’ category Sunday at Presque Isle State Park (alternative characterization: “completely bonkers”), what appears to be a flock of nineteen Sand Hill Crane was spotted roughly west of Thompson Circle, approximately @ 1:00PM. Slow moving and obviously fighting against a strong headwind at altitude. Appeared to land somewhere in the interior, but uncertain due to the distance and tree line. Subsequent efforts to spot the flock (e.g., along the loop road, + Dead Pond Trail) were unsuccessful.

BirdingPI.com’s ornithological science department speculates this flock may have been diverted east (from more westerly north/south migratory passages) due to the storm currently moving from the plains into the Great Lakes region.

A quick stop at the Canoe Portage Trail on Friday for owls or hawks turned into a woodpecker, sparrow, etc. bonanza. Cold/cloudy conditions at Presque Isle State Park (even a few snowflakes); nevertheless, lots of great bird activity, including this lovely Tufted Titmouse:

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Canoe Portage Trail = very short trail between Marina Lake on the south and outer Lake Erie (or at least the main park roads adjacent the lake) on the north; skirts mature forest on one side and swamp on the other. (Marina Lake, of course, exits to Presque Isle Bay between East Pier & West Pier.)

‘Bird of the day,’ great to see this absolutely gorgeous Fox Sparrow. Russet/rufous colouration (esp. tail), strong streaking, gray upper face, & yellow + black beak. These are around, but not a very common sighting at Presque Isle relative to other sparrow species.

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More male Downy Woodpecker:

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Finally, always fun to see a perched GBH:

As always, it’s all about the weather in Erie, Pennsylvania. Cloudy, cold, & windy Thanksgiving day, the same on Friday but even colder = a few snowflakes. Saturday morning, though, looks like a bit of sunshine; time to head out to Presque Isle State Park for nature. #more_bird

Some gloomy shots from Thanksgiving with representative Presque Isle fall bird activity:

Lots of Horned Grebe activity currently at Presque Isle; 11+ counted at North Pier yesterday/Friday. Individual above was one of 3 on Thompson Bay on Thanksgiving.

Finally, Red-breasted Merganser in the Lake Erie surf off Budny Beach + bonus video:

Hope everyone in the U.S. had a great Thanksgiving. This year at BirdingPI.com HQ, it was giant tuna loin (roasted well done in the oven) + Stove Top^TM ‘traditional sage’ stuffing. “Yum.” #save_a_turkey

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Plenty of time for Presque Isle State Park while the tuna cooked. (Cloudy, windy, and cold conditions.) Slow bird activity overall, but still some interesting raptors, grebes, ducks, etc. While waiting on photo editing, here’s more Presque Isle ducks from the last week or two. This is Hooded Merganser (m & f) @ take-off, Long Pond:

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Ring-necked Ducks (m & f) @ takeoff:

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Several of Canada Goose in flight:

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MMIF (male Mallard in flight) @ Horseshoe Bay:

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Finally, getting the weekend off to a good start with a ‘bonus’ non-waterfowl “birds 1/2/3” @ Pine Tree Trail:

2x Downy Woodpecker (f):

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3x beautiful White-breasted Nuthatch:

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Out at beautiful Catalina State Park, Oro Valley, Arizona, back in August again, with lots of bird portraiture. Mix of Sonoran desert (think Saguaro/cacti), grasslands, and here, mesquite bosque. (This is the ‘flatlands’ area around the main park entrance, campgrounds, + group picnic areas = great spot for birding.)

Edge of the bosque/woodlands = ridges (sand/rock) transitioning to drier vegetation:

Sequential ridge-views of the bosque (foreground) + Santa Catalina Mountains (background), first S/SE, then south-ish, then S/SW:

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While waiting for duck photos from this past weekend at Presque Isle (spoiler alert: Mallards!), time for another diversion back to Arizona in early August. Here, the wonderful Tohono Chul park/botanical gardens in Tucson.

Trio of White-winged Dove (background), Cactus Wren (bottom), and probably female House Finch (or other female finch species):

More female finch w/ prickly pear (exact species unknown, but perhaps Engelmann prickly pear (Opuntia engelmannii)):

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Male Northern Cardinal (w/ insect prey/food) + juvenile:

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Arrays of beautiful Lesser Goldfinch:

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Following probably female Broad-billed Hummingbird. Note the white curve down behind the eye.

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More Lesser Goldfinch (m) w/ snack:

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More (probably) female Broad-billed Hummingbird:

Dateline: 18 November 2023

Other than copious gunfire & motorboat noise on the back bay (duck hunters), it was a very quiet mid-day at Gull Point on Saturday. A few unidentified sparrows, GBH, woodpeckers, some Ring-billed Gulls, etc. Still, nice conditions for a hike at Presque Isle State Park, regardless of bird activity.

There’s a fairly pronounced demarcation of open field/mud flat at outer Gull Point and the regular Presque Isle woodlands of inner Gull Point. Hence references to the “tree line:”

Saw one flock of 6+ Snow Bunting flying overhead:

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Everyone loves Budny Beach, even the GBH:

(View above is looking northeast-ish past Gull Point; land on far left probably in New York state.)

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Trail conditions: despite the rain Friday, dry enough recently for minimal impact. Most trails in good condition except for localized mud.

Coming up soon: Presque Isle duck update, plus more from Arizona! Also, leaping squirrels 🙂 and malformed Wild Turkeys 🙁

BirdingPI.com’s ‘exciting’ gull coverage continues with more Ring-billed Gull. This time it’s morning at East Ave boat launch, Erie, Pennsylvania. Wow.