With the recent melt-off at Presque Isle State Park, fascinating to see late-January North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) activity off Leo’s Landing. And a fairly unusual sighting of two Beavers together.
Can’t be 100% certain what’s happening here, however, Jan.-Feb. is Beaver mating season:
More North American Beaver:
[Photo editor’s note: rather tough lighting conditions for these shots, w/ deep shade + overcast + ice.]
Not quite the arctic here in Erie County, PA, especially considering the recent unseasonably mild weather. (Snow/ice as of 2 February 2024 = essentially zero.) Still, with the earlier period of cold + variable weather, there’s plenty of bleak-ish landscapes to share via helpful, generally ok Nikon camera imaging:
The GBH were mostly lying low during the cold snap. Following shot of an unusual congregation (& similar shot below) from after it warmed up slightly, but before the recent ice melt:
This is probably a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull:
A bit of ‘snow drizzle’ this Friday afternoon here in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), but the weekend weather forecast looks ok. Happy birding/nature!
Back to the snow storm the Saturday before last, with mostly woodpecker shots at Presque Isle State Park. (Generally, plenty of Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, & Pileated Woodpecker activity in Erie County, PA.) Following is a mรฉlange of lovely female Downy Woodpecker (in the woods along the multi-use trail by the PI maintenance center) + misc. woodpecker/etc.:
The highly variable weather continued apace this past weekend in Erie County, PA – overcast and chilly on Saturday, steady rain turning to ‘wintery mix’ on Sunday, light freezing rain Monday, etc. Warm enough overall, however, for most of the snow and much of the lake ice to have subsided/melted. At Presque Isle State Park, plenty of waterfowl and gull activity, otherwise very localized/variable.
Saturday at Long Pond, the beautiful resident Pekin + Mallards:
Finally, despite the challenging lighting/exposure conditions, fun to see a lovely Belted Kingfisher in for a landing, appropriately enough at Leo’s Landing:
With the recent, unseasonably warm/wet weather, Presque Isle trail conditions are mostly locally muddy and wet, but accessible and snow/ice free. Gull Point ‘inner’ official trail: muddy/wet but passable; Gull Point ‘outer’ official trail: in good shape. Outer Gull Point: mostly snow/ice free except in a couple spots along the beach.
[* Editor’s note: clearly too intrepid to be BirdingPI.com staff.]
Time to take a break from the Erie, PA winter weather with some summer shots of lovely Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis), in the national forest outside Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ:
Only BirdingPI.com brings you ‘free’ underexposed video content of a lovely female Mallard ‘ice skating’ at Presque Isle State Park!
From a rainy morning after last weekend’s snow/cold, some rather nice shots of mostly American Robin in full ‘foraging behavior’ mode x Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)(i.e., rose hips):
‘Bonus birds:’
All photographs @ Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”).
After the snow + deep cold last weekend, weather in Erie County, PA turned rainy and unseasonably ‘warm,’ w/ melty conditions on the lake + snow’s mostly melted. Based on quick mid-week observations at South Pier and East Ave boat launch, looks like much of the duck population has dispersed, e.g., to outer Lake Erie. These shots ‘part 2’ from South Pier last Sunday under very cold conditions:
Following shot mixed ducks – Common Goldeneye (far right + just left/down of that); Redhead (bottom right); Ring-necked Duck (upper right of middle); Greater Scaup (left of middle), etc.:
Following shots Ruddy Duck + Greater Scaup (upper right + upper left):
Common Goldeneye:
Finally, still lots of Canada Geese passing through:
Weather as of this Saturday morning = overcast/wet but no active precipitation. Stay tuned for plenty of gloomy/wet content from Presque Isle State Park! (Spoiler alert: there may be beavers!)
Lots of photos from last weekend at South Pier, Erie, PA, under cold/snowy/overcast conditions. Background with tents on ice = ice fishing on Misery Bay @ Presque Isle State Park.
Lots more Bald Eagle activity:
Several more of ducks in flight (mostly Redhead):
Normally a ‘cooperative’ bird at short range is a happy occasion, but not after standing around on South Pier in the extreme cold (e.g., wind chill) for 1/2 hour+. (So bad the camera equipment eventually stopped working.) Nevertheless, enough time for a few shots of this lovely American Tree Sparrow before completely losing feeling in the extremities:
