A trio of Gull Point views, from wide to narrow:

Lots of interesting happenings out at Gull Point from the bird species grab bag perspective. All these shots from a very long distance = rather awful as photographs, ok for ID.

First off, Yellowlegs. Seemingly not that many at Presque Isle this year, but fairly active recently. With a slightly upturned beak (see second shot below in particular, bird on the right), calling these as Greater Yellowlegs. (Lesser Yellowlegs: no upturned bill.)

Extreme crop from the shot above = Semipalmated Plover:

Back to more Pectoral Sandpiper. Note the delineated streaky breast on the bird on the left. Also more in line with typical body size.

(Ducks are probably Teal of some sort.)

Thought this might be a Wilson’s Snipe at first, due to how the eye seemed placed in certain shots. Lacking buffy strips on the body, however, and considering the long bill and chunky body, calling this as Long-billed Dowitcher:

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Time for the Erie weekend weather forecast: “mostly sunny and warmer,” “pleasant with clouds and sun,” “intervals of clouds and sun,” max high temp 27 deg C, max chance of rain 8% on Sunday. (Source: AccuWeather.com.) Looks like an excellent weekend for birding/nature!

Out to Gull Point (Presque Isle State Park) again. Mud flats, shoreline, swamp, forested/brushy interior – a veritable potpourri of habitat for interesting birdlife!

Here in Part I, what was seen on the way, and on the way back. Tomorrow, more bird!

With the gray head, white eyering, and yellow throat, first thought the bird below was Nashville Warbler. Further digital forensics, however, shows white coverts, two white wing bars, and black-streaked sides – all indicating female/immature Magnolia Warbler. (Nashville lacks wing bars and black streaking, and has yellow coverts.)

Belted Kingfisher in ‘hovering’ behavior above a pond:

Black-and-white Warbler taking advantage of a spider web:

Nothing says Lake Erie like gulls and dead fish! Gull below probably juvenile Ring-billed Gull. (Could also be juvenile Herring Gull, but close up review of the in-flight pictures suggests Ring-billed.)

Lovely Common Merganser on Budny Beach:

Enjoy more peaceful floating:

Bonus Wood Ducks on the Thompson Circle swamp/pond:

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Tomorrow, reasonably interesting birds at Gull Point!

Dateline: 10 September 2022

Saturday, the BirdingPI.com team headed south to check in with Erie National Wildlife Refuge and environs. Not a lot of bird activity, but a nice day for nature.

Woodcock Reservoir. Double-crested Cormorants on the water, and a seagull or two, otherwise very quiet. … Adjacent Bossard Nature Area, centered on a pretty, forested ravine – mature conifers and mixed deciduous – was more active.

Cardinal, Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, etc. Highlight: Black-throated Green Warbler. Following two shots are female/immature:

Juvenile male:

Also groundhog/woodchuck, and here, a chipmunk:

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Erie Natl Wildlife Refuge headquarters area. Cedar Waxwing, various sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, etc.; fairly quiet overall. White-breasted Nuthatch:

Highlight: beautiful fields of blooming goldenrod + copious Monarch Butterfly and honey bee:

Must be a “float like a butterfly sting like a bee” joke in here somewhere… [Editor’s Note: No team members stung by bees. #500mm_lens]

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State Game Lands No 69. Random area of mature mixed forest and forest ponds. Little bird activity other than Belted Kingfisher:

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Erie Natl Wildlife Refuge, Seneca Block – fascinating area centered around portions of the French Creek watershed. Little bird activity mid-day. “Mental note:” visit again in early fall.

Dateline: 10-11 September 2022

Greater Erie, PA weather. Saturday: mostly sunny, moderate temps (warmer in the afternoon), humid. Sunday: overcast with rain tapering off by mid-afternoon; moderate temps, humid.

With “Beast on the Bay” Saturday and the Erie marathon Sunday morning, BirdingPI.com team consensus was to avoid the congestion – trip to Erie National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday (report to follow), and Presque Isle State Park later Sunday after the rain. (Would have run the marathon, but too difficult carrying a giant camera…)

Sunday afternoon, with overcast and periodic light sprinkles, surveyed the Pine Tree Trail/Budny Beach/Pine Tree Meadows loop. First up, Fox Squirrel w/ snack, + cute video:

Second-guessing going out in poor weather conditions? Second guess no longer. Amazing sighting of the amazing Ovenbird, along the Pine Tree Trail. Official BirdingPI.com Birding Rule Book, “Rule 37: Any outing with a confirmed sighting of Ovenbird is an unqualified success, absent major bodily injury.” Spotted Ovenbird several times in the spring, but only briefly. Here, perched on a branch with obvious/raised crest and well-delineated markings = non-ironic wow!

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Tomorrow, elsewhere in Pennsylvania, featuring honey bees!

Cactus Wren without a cactus. Feels weird. But can’t pass up on a preening wren, plus erratic video clips.

All content from back of the BirdingPI.com Regional Desert Southwest (BIRDS) field station in Tucson, AZ.

Dateline: 3 September 2022

Checking in with the team out at Lake Chautauqua. First up, always great to see Bentley Nature Preserve – excellent spot for woods/birds/nature.

More Black-capped Chickadee:

Following could be juvenile Yellow Warbler (unlikely), maybe juvenile Common Yellowthroat. Hard to tell.

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Now over to Tom’s Point:

Wrapping it up with a nice view of what appears to be juvenile or female Blackburnian Warbler:

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Tomorrow, more BIRDS field station content from Arizona! Later in the week, strange happenings at Gull Point!

General reminder that Saturday, 10 September 2022 is the annual Barber “Beast on the Bay” obstacle race at Presque Isle State Park, starting at 8:30AM. Expect congested traffic conditions and delays until mid-afternoon.

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In the recent post entitled “Point/Peeps,” a yellow-legged sandpiper was identified as Least Sandpiper. Upon further analysis, it is believed that this might instead be Pectoral Sandpiper. As evidenced, for example, by a streaky breast neatly bordering a white belly. Relatively small size could be attributed to juvenile status. BirdingPI.com apologizes for any inconvenience.

Dateline: late August-early September, 2022

The western Pennsylvania Wild Turkey migration is off to a strong start – huge flocks taking to the sky:

Ha! A bird funny. Obviously those are Canada Geese.

Appears the squirrels might be meddling again.

More seriously, on the entomological side, lots of Monarch Butterfly at Presque Isle State Park this past weekend:

Active waterfowl/shorebird migration: see yesterday’s post re. swans; also (not shown) Canada Goose, Double-breasted Cormorant, & Blue-winged Teal. … Following perhaps juvenile or female Mallard Duck:

Also female/immature Common Merganser, off Budny Beach:

Please enjoy peaceful surf floating:

As usual, plenty of Wood Duck on the Thompson Circle swamp/pond (southern side):

Some misc bird, first – male Downy Woodpecker:

Found a snack:

Gray Catbird!

Probably an Eastern Wood-pewee:

The very yellow American Goldfinch (m) @ Headwaters Park, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”):

Everyone’s favorite red-headed woodpecker, a duo of Red-headed Woodpecker:

Back to Pine Tree Trail with a mystery bird. Could be immature Common Yellowthroat?

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Tomorrow, back to Bentley Nature Preserve in western New York State – there will be birds!

[Editor’s Note: bad bird humor is against BirdingPI.com policy. The management apologies for the leading content above, which is obviously European Starling. Example of real Wild Turkey:

Dateline: August 2022

Bonus post – catching up on field reports with some misc bird from the Ramsey Canyon, Arizona area!

First up, Mexican Jay at Carr Canyon:

Next up, the irrepressible Acorn Woodpecker/utility pole:

Plenty of Black-headed Grosbeak (f) in Ramsey Canyon, at least by feeders:

Awful picture. Nevertheless, highlight of any outing is Scott’s Oriole:

Similar species Audubon Oriole and the rare (in US) Black-vented Oriole = fully black tail. Probably.

Highlight of Ramsey Canyon: Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. And lots of them.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher call: “squeaky toy.” Thanks to the kind folks at the Nature Conservancy Ramsey Canyon Preserve visitors’ center for the apt characterization. Example from on-site:

More Acorn Woodpecker. Very social, very busy, very beautiful.

[Photo Editor’s Note: Those are some nice shots of Acorn Woodpecker. Just sayin’.]

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[Editor’s Note: No affiliation with The Nature Conservancy. Please consider donating to this very worthy cause #nature]

Dateline: 5 September 2022

Back on the Pine Tree Trail, Presque Isle State Park, on a rainy Labor Day Monday. On-and-off rain in the morning, heavy rain by mid-afternoon. (Nearby Budny Beach shown above.) About a 45 minute ‘dry window’ for cloudy/shady photography; lots of bird activity – woodpecker, nuthatch, flycatcher, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird!, etc. Plenty of warblers, but difficult to see in the tree tops.

A bit shady, but still an excellent shot of Common Yellowthroat:

Awful picture, but still illustrative of a male Redstart:

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Next time, back to the Weekend Update with a fall migration report!

Special preview – two Swans spotted Saturday in the French Creek swamp at the junction of Interstate 86 and Ashton Rd:

Couldn’t verify if Tundra Swan or Trumpeter Swan, but still very interesting to see this time of year.