Significantly overcast and rainy this Saturday morning in the greater Erie, PA area. OTOH, beautiful Friday yesterday, partially sunny with abnormally high temps of around 17 deg C (63 deg F) and a warm breeze from the south = like a nice spring day.
Not unexpectedly, birds were out in force enjoying the weather: Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, Eastern Bluebird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker, crow, Downy Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-breasted Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, House Sparrow, etc.
Been tough getting good Tufted Titmouse shots this season. Thankfully, the streak of bad luck is over with this series of rather nice photos that ends on a hoppin’ high note.
More on the Friday activity – especially Eastern Bluebird – next time!
Thought “Gullmania” was over? Enough gull shots in the hopper to last until the Roman numerals get too confusing to figure out. #gull_filler All photos at Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA.
As forecast, the weather in Erie turned substantially warmer this week; much of the snow has melted. Forecast for the weekend: rainy and relatively mild. Conditions sound bad for birding/photography, but hoping for the best as always.
From Monday at North Pier, Presque Isle State Park, this American Coot was bathing/preening, followed by gesticulating in the frigid air for apparently removing excess water from ‘places that American Coot don’t want excess water.’ Then returning to the waters of Thompson Bay.
Friday-Sunday in the greater Erie area: light/moderate snow, mostly overcast (some sun Saturday afternoon), windy, and extremely cold. No BirdingPI.com field operations due to unsafe conditions. Monday, overcast and cold, but warm enough (-7 deg C) to muster a small team for a chilly outing to Presque Isle State Park.
Icy tree @ East Pier
In park news, with the cold snap the back bay made an abrupt turn from ‘mostly unfrozen’ to ‘mostly frozen.’ Also, as of Monday afternoon, outer loop main park road was closed from East Pier to the main turnoff for the Coast Guard station. Presumably due to icy road conditions along the bay. (Extreme cold + high wind = blowing freezing water.) Access to West Pier also closed, for the same reason.
Road closure @ East PierRoad closure @ turn for Coast Guard station
Reasonably good bird activity Monday. Lots of Tundra Swan activity (especially in an unfrozen area of the back bay by Feather Platform – more on this later in the week), plus sparrows, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, various ducks and gulls, and various woodpeckers. Here, Tundra Swan far out on Lake Erie, taken from Budny Beach. For a bit of colour therapy, interspersed with Northern Cardinal (m) also along Budny Beach:
Tundra Swan @ Lake ErieNorthern Cardinal (m)
Bad shots of swans in flight:
All trail conditions generally poor: 13 cm snow on top of ice/frozen rain. Windblown areas close to the water not safely traversable due to slippery conditions. Paved trails in reasonably good shape.
Long PondView towards Gull Point from Budny BeachIce/fallen tree @ Budny Beach
A nice gift from Santa: backlogged shots of lovely female Black-and-white Warbler, from this past April at Presque Isle State Park. (Female: note the buffy wash/flanks.)
Dreaming of a White-breasted Nuthatch Christmas. All shots recently near Long Pond @ Presque Isle State Park.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! Here in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”), overcast, cold, light wind, and actively snowing. (Temp @ 9:21AM: -10 deg C.) Not quite blizzard conditions, but not a good day for the outdoors.
The awful weather continues in Erie: overcast, windy, current temp of -16 deg C with a windchill down as low as -38 deg C, in the “dangerous” category. BirdingPI.com field operations remain on hiatus until conditions improve.
So, not a post on the fabled final George R.R. Martin novel that’ll never see the light of day. Instead, time for a ray of virtual sunshine in the form of backlogged shots from spring migration this past April, at Presque Isle State Park.
First up, BirdingPI.com’s second favorite warbler, the amazingly lovely Black-throated Blue Warbler:
The equally lovely Magnolia Warbler (m):
Following shot probably a Swainson’s Thrush. Note the bold, buffy eyering, plus the tail isn’t reddish/doesn’t contrast with the back (like a Hermit Thrush):
Cloudy and windy but relatively mild on Thursday. Light rain in the evening, with rain overnight turning to snow and blowing wind Friday; relatively severe winter storm conditions. Temperature currently in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”)(10:45 EST): -14 deg C. (Yes, it’s a minus sign.) Plus severe wind chill.
Celebrating the cold temps/snow with woodpeckers! Pileated Woodpecker above, from a few days ago. Following clips from today (Friday) near BirdingPI.com HQ, an intrepid Downy Woodpecker:
All BirdingPI.com field activities canceled for safety reasons, until conditions improve, hopefully, over the weekend. Stay warm/safe everyone!
