After several weeks in the Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) woods with nothing but Campbell’s SpaghettiOs(R) pasta and iodine water purification tablets, the BirdingPI.com SWD (special woodpecker detail) finally captured an amazing Pileated Woodpecker! Always great to see, always hard to photograph – good shots at least.
This individual a bit more animated than usual due to other nearby birds – note the American Robin in lower right corner:
Shot of the day:
[Editor’s Note: “captured” as in captured photographically. No birds were physically interfered with.]
Saturday: gulls on Thompson Bay, view towards Gull Point
Once again, time to celebrate the one bird constant at Presque Isle State Park: gulls. All year long, gulls!
First, the weekend update. Weather Friday: partly cloudy, windy, pleasant. Saturday: cloudy, very windy. Sunday: cloudy, extremely windy. Monday: sunny, lightly windy, nice day. High temps around 15-16 deg C.
Trail notes from the BirdingPI.com team:
Pine Tree Trail: good condition.
Sidewalk Trail: good condition.
Long Pond fishing access: good condition.
Long Pond Trail, east: good condition.
Long Pond Trail, west: muddy but passable with boots.
Dead Pond Trail: muddy/wet in spots east of B Trail.
A Trail: good condition.
Gull Point inner old trail: surprisingly, good condition (lake level is low).
Gull Point outer old trail: muddy in spots, easily passable.
Budny Beach on Sunday, view towards Gull PointHerring Gull (juvenile?)Mixed gulls
Ring-billed Gulls (probably non-breeding adults):
Gull with gull goodieOopsLanding
Very cool size comparison shot with the trio on the right:
Here’s a crop. Herring Gull (mature) in the rear, Herring Gull (juvenile) on the left, and Ring-billed Gull on the right. The former looks like a giant!
More Ring-billed Gull on the beach and in the air:
Tomorrow: butterflies? More gulls? Interesting birds other than gulls? Stay tuned this week!
Mostly cloudy and extremely windy again at Presque Isle State Park on Sunday. Subdued bird activity overall; Pine Tree Trail, however, reasonably active (sheltered) with Blue Jay, sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, etc. Notable sightings (report to follow): Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and (first time this fall) Golden-crowned Kinglet.
View east towards Kite Beach/Budny Beach
In the meantime, relatively uncommon sighting of what’s probably juvenile Eastern Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Some of these shots less than ideally sharp, but better than the minx. (Admittedly, this little guy was moving pretty fast.) On the Pine Tree Trail.
Cloudy and extremely windy Saturday (1 October 2022) at Presque Isle State Park; low bird activity. Still, great to see Mallard and a very cute American Pekin duck (could this be the individual seen in previous months/years?) on Long Pond.
Mallard duoOne of these ducks is not like the otherTaking flight ITaking flight IIPekin and friendsDuo detail
More Pekin and video:
[Editor’s Note: A “ducks in the wind” pun – lovely.]
Light clouds Friday, some sun; windy. Early evening trek out to Gull Point. Very subdued bird activity – report to follow with the weekend update.
Blurry mammal
In the meantime, a rare peek of the “behind the scenes” BirdingPI.com workflow. Here, an unusual sighting of mink along the Gull Point outer old trail, @ complete lack of autofocus engagement. Thanks for nothing, POS Nikon giant cameras.
Picture above after application of sharpening filter in Photoshop:
Thanks for nothing, Photoshop
More blurry mink:
Here, an interesting raptor, species unknown (not Red-tailed Hawk):
It’s that brown blob in the center
On the other hand, always good results with Nikon in the most challenging photography situations – subjects nearby, well-lit, and more-or-less completely stationary:
Saturday, lightly cloudy, light wind – time to head back to Presque Isle State Park for more nature! [Edit: heavy wind at Presque Isle. Great for surfing, not so great for birding.]
Finally some sunny/clear weather in Erie as of Thursday afternoon. Friday – clear and sunny early, with increasing light clouds as of mid-morning. Fingers crossed for “no rain.”
While things dry out, it’s a ‘data dump’ of beautiful hummingbirds at feeders at San Pedro House outside Sierra Vista, AZ, from this past summer. Mostly female Broad-billed Hummingbird.
Hummingbirds at feeders is the photography equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. If the fish had wings and flew extremely quickly. Maybe.
Rained in Erie Sunday evening into Monday, with a half-hour break around 9:30am. After that, 31 solid hours of rain, at times torrential. Widespread localized flooding. Spotted a GBH in flight and a few soggy Wild Turkey.
While Erie dries out (hopefully), best to revisit sunnier climes, a la Tucson in August. … Here, some snapshots from a field trip with the 2022 SW Arizona Birding Festival – Santa Cruz Flats.
Two Green Heron on a power line, early morning
Santa Cruz flats: northwest of Tucson towards Phoenix, large open area of industrial agriculture (feed lots, alfalfa/hay, sod, potato, pecan, etc.) all fueled by canal-distributed CAP water.
Not a canal, rather the Santa Cruz River running from recent monsoon rains:
Red-tailed Hawk (above center power pole, in flight); also cows
Mediocre pictures, but still cool to see Bell’s Vireo:
Power pole with Ladder-backed Woodpecker:
Common Ground Dove (lower left) and Mourning Dove (upper right):
Western KingbirdSanta Cruz River./Shadow of a giant cameraVermillion Flycatcher (f)
Representative snapshot: canal (in foreground), a power substation, and agricultural equipment:
GBH (lower middle)Lark Bunting (middle) and dovesBirdingSwainson’sHawkSanta Cruz Flats
Bird of the day were two adult Crested Caracara (too briefly seen for pictures). Runner up, amazing Burrowing Owl:
Shaky Burrowing Owl video clips from the van:
Sod farming in the desert using Colorado River water. Makes total sense.
Rainy Sunday morning in Erie, but windy and partially clear by mid-afternoon – dry enough for a quick survey of Gull Point (Presque Isle State Park). Clouded up again soon enough, but lovely while it lasted.
Budny Beach, looking towards Gull Point
Fairly subdued bird activity; not unexpected due to the unsettled weather. Common Yellowthroat (f) along the Gull Point outer old trail:
Almost at the tree line, lots of agitated gulls:
A reason for agitation:
Bald Eagle (juvenile) over Gull Point
Roped-off corridor/observation platform:
Gull PointGull Point, view S/SW
Bad photo, but easy enough to see these as Green-winged Teal:
Gull Point, east beach – gulls and Double-crested Cormorant
Goodness gracious, what is this??? White supercilium (‘eyebrow’), dark crown, brown/barred breast and underbelly, etc. = juvenile American Golden-Plover! First BirdingPI.com sighting this year.
Lovely Pectoral Sandpiper:
More Plover:
Here, a little easier to see the “gold” color on back feathers:
Despite unsettled weather conditions, multiple BirdingPI.com team excursions to Presque Isle State Park over the weekend. Tomorrow: exciting/interesting plover news from Gull Point on Sunday. In the meantime, weather/trail update, + birds!
Yellow-rumped Warbler (f or immature)
Erie weather: pleasant Friday; partially cloudy but overall pleasant Saturday; rain late Saturday into Sunday morning, heavy at times; partial clearing Sunday afternoon (enough for hiking out to Gull Point), very windy, followed by thunderstorms late evening and heavy rain into Monday morning.
Wilson’s Warbler (m), Budny Beach
Trail conditions wetter than recently due to rain, but overall good/passable:
Pine Tree Trail: good
A Trail: good
Dead Pond Trail: wet in spots, overall ok
Gull Point Trail: wet in spots, overall ok (outer old trail still ok as of Sunday)
Sidewalk Trail: good
Yellow-rumped Warbler (f)
Recent bird sightings: Mourning Dove; Gray Catbird!; Canada Geese; gulls; Double-crested Cormorant; light duck activity; American Crow; Northern Flicker (many/active); Northern Cardinal; Blue Jay; Red-breasted Nuthatch; White-breasted Nuthatch; Green Heron; GBH; Red-winged Blackbird; Turkey Vulture; Bald Eagle; Wild Turkey (many/active); Black-crowned Chickadee; Great Egret; Dark-eyed Junco; sparrows; etc. Warbler activity: mostly Magnolia and Yellow-rumped.
