Pictures from last week off East Ave boat launch, Erie, PA, under cold & snowy conditions:
Birds In Snow
Give A Screech…
Give a screech, clean a beach!
Finally posting some photos of Presque Isle State Park’s ‘resident’/famous/amazingly camouflaged Eastern Screech-Owl, in its burrow/nest just up from the west Fisher Drive bridge, in conjunction with the announcement of BirdingPI.com’s 2024 Presque Isle beach/Gull Point cleanup initiative.
Considering the current state of the Presque Isle beaches …
… details of the initiative will be forthcoming, say, sometime in June or July. Stay tuned!
[Editor’s note: “Give a screech, clean a beach.” Rolls right off the tongue.]
Frozen Food
More winter fun, with American Crows engaging in carrion scavenging behavior in the snow @ South Pier, Erie, PA:
Flight Study
A very cold and snowy Saturday in Erie County, PA. Nevertheless, great content from Presque Isle State Park forthcoming, including a special guest owl! Meanwhile, here’s a recent, wintery PFIF (Peregrine Falcon in flight) @ South Pier:
Wind Advisory
Last Sunday, Presque Isle State Park remained closed at the main gate due to downed power lines, etc. Conditions: hazy/partial sunshine, extremely windy and amazingly cold (e.g., windchill @ -18 deg C). These shots looking mostly east/north from a very brief stop at “Beach Zero” (beach access before the park entrance) = much “photography staff suffering & complaining:”
A beautiful Great Black-backed Gull enjoying the wind:
More gulls also enjoying the wind and surf conditions, mostly Herring Gull:
Winter Red/White
More winter content from Presque Isle State Park, this past Monday morning under sunny but extremely cold conditions (e.g., -12 deg C). Great to catch a beautiful male Northern Cardinal in the open, x lovely Tundra Swans, + icicles. (ID tip: the Cardinal is red.)
Winter Ducks @ Erie
With the recent bad/cold weather and ice forming on Presque Isle Bay, lots of duck/waterfowl activity on the lake around Presque Isle State Park: Gadwall, Mallard, American Black Duck, Redhead, Canvasback, Greater/Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, the Merganser ‘trio,’ Canada Geese, Tundra Swan, American Coot, etc., even a few tardy Green-winged Teal and Northern Shoveler. Lots of content to come, but the following shots alternate between (i) a beautiful male Common Merganser by South Pier & (ii) misc. duck:
More Raptors In Trees
Recent raptors in trees under overcast/wintry conditions, in Millcreek Twp, PA (“Gateway to Presque Isle”). First up, Red-tailed Hawk. Kind of hard to see, but exhibiting feeding behavior, namely, this beautiful bird was successful in hunting some sort of unlucky critter:
Alternating with probably lovely Cooper’s Hawk:
And a different Red-tailed Hawk perched treetop:
Coming up next, ducks!
Sunny, Cold Birds
Happy to report Presque Isle State Park was back open for business as of Monday morning. Thanks to all the work crews for getting things back in good shape!
Saturday, cold and snowy in Erie County, PA. Sunday, very windy and very cold with alternating clouds and hazy sunshine. Monday, beautiful, sunny day, but extremely cold (-12 deg C / 10 deg F) + windchill. (Photo immediately above: iced-in picnic table at West Pier.) Following shots, American Robin and European Starling in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) on Monday:
NSFW/Reptiles
NSFW = nice snake for winter. Here, temps in Erie County, PA were overall high enough end-December for an active mature Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) off the Canoe Portage Trail:
And now, ‘bonus’ reptile, etc. content from Arizona! Here, beautiful Spiny Lizards in the Sceloporus genus, probably either Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magisteror) or Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus):
Finally, a Sonoran desert trio:
