Just a quick, mid-week post of some recent shots mostly from Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA.
Misc PI Bird
Big Trail News!
In Presque Isle State Park trail news, looks like the fine folks at DCNR were busy recently re-opening the Gull Point inner old trail, and widening/mowing the Gull Point outer old trail. Looks a bit ugly for now, but certainly helps with access, especially moving the downed trees. Also good for birding = easier to see.
Moving on to more birds finally, an amazing amount of Double-crested Cormorant (+ gulls) activity on Sunday (9 October 2022). First out at Gull Point, then transitioning to Thompson Bay, then transitioning further into Presque Isle Bay.
Finally, a ‘sneak preview’ from Sunday, four extremely cute Semipalmated Plover east of Budny Beach along the Gull Point beach trail! More photos later in the week.
The Return of the Kinglet
This BirdingPI.com post brought to you by Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power, Season 1, Episode 7: streaming now on Amazon.com Prime video! Amazon: Two days of holiday deals Oct. 11-12: Only for Prime members! Wow!
Now that’s out of the way, back to the business at hand. Weekend weather at Presque Isle State Park: Saturday (8 October 2022) – mostly cloudy, windy, cool; Sunday – mix of sun and clouds, windy, cool but pleasant; nice day.
Lovely Golden-crowned Kinglet along the Gull Point inner old trail near the beach, from Saturday:
And the equally lovely Ruby-crowned Kinglet, near Thompson Bay:
Note the slightest hint of red on the crown (i.e., hidden red feathers):
More Kinglet from Sunday!
Next time: the big trail news!
Windy Weekend
Dateline: 1-2 October 2022
Cool, mostly cloudy, and windy yesterday (Saturday, 8 October 2022); nice day for being outside, not so nice for bird photography. Still, plenty of bird/nature action out at Presque Isle State Park. Plus exciting trail news (really!) – report to follow tomorrow. Meanwhile, enjoy more birds from last weekend!
Following are all Yellow-rumped Warbler (female, Myrtle variant):
Cabbage/Duo
Quick post while the BirdingPI.com team gears up for heading out to Presque Isle State Park, despite unsettled weather this second Saturday in October.
More beautiful Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) on goldenrod, northeast of Beach No. 3.
Tomorrow: back to last weekend with more bird!
Gull Update (II)
After nice weather earlier this week, looks like a rainy Friday in Erie. So, time for more photos of mostly Ring-billed Gull from this past, windy weekend!
All shots North Pier and/or Thompson Bay/Erie Harbor Entrance Channel, Presque Isle State Park.
Impressive Proboscis
Proboscis (n.) “… elongated … sucking organ of a butterfly...”
Lovely Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) on goldenrod, northeast of Beach No. 3, Presque Isle State Park.
Next time: more gulls? More butterflies?
Woodland Stakeout
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.]
Gull Update (I)
Dateline: 1-2 October 2022
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.
Ring-billed Gulls (probably non-breeding adults):
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!
Stuart/Vindicated?
Dateline: 2 October 2022
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.
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.
