Dateline: 4 July 2022

Surprise, surprise – not Gull Point, but rather Tom’s Point, out at lovely Lake Chautauqua! Photos from a special team expedition this past Saturday.

A beautiful spot right off the I86 W Lake Rd exit for Lakewood/Stow. Great short hike along a mowed trail combining forest, field edge, and lake views.

Insect with Common Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva):

Representative field view:

Fair amount of bird activity even mid-day. Here’s lovely American Goldfinch (m):

These are probably the Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album), but could be Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis):

Unable to get a shot of the front of the wings, and the distinctive marking (see bottom middle white spot in following shot) is unclear due to the angle:

Lots of House Wren activity:

More warbler activity along this trail than expected this time of year. First, an amazing Chestnut-sided Warbler:

Mandatory Yellow Warbler content:

Big news, and a BirdingPI.com first, a surprise sighting of Blue-winged Warbler! Note the dark eyeline, overall dark-ish wings with two wing bars, and white undertail coverts. (Per the Internet: “Undertail coverts are the feathers that smooth the transition between belly and tail.”) Should be noted that New York state is in the Blue-winged Warbler’s expected summer range.

Wishing everyone in the US a Happy Independence Day!

Dateline: 3 July 2022

Looks like a beautiful day in Erie – hope everyone can get outside to enjoy nature.

Exciting bird news to report from yesterday (more warblers!), but it has to wait for tomorrow’s rather epic post. In the meantime, some shots from winter/early spring of amazing Brown Creeper, out at Presque Isle State Park. (Would have called this post “Jeepers Creepers” but it’s been done before.)

Quick note on bird anatomy. Notice the foot structure as shown in the following shot. The three phalanges (fore toes) appear fairly typical, but the hallux or hind toe is relatively extremely elongate and with an elongate claw. Amazingly adapted for adeptly climbing trees, in line with this bird’s feeding behavior.

Dateline: 2 July 2022

After a relatively long (for Erie) dry spell, Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle”) finally had a nice, soaking rain yesterday evening + light thunderstorm. The grass and birds seem happy.

Meanwhile, from earlier in the week, Tree Swallows in a tree (appropriately enough) at the edge of the Thompson Circle swamp/pond. Let’s enjoy the pleasant photography:

Wishing everyone in the US a happy Independence Day and great July 4th weekend!

Some long-distance, morning shots of Great Blue Heron across Thompson Bay, Presque Isle State Park:

Back to BirdingPI.com’s occasional series on “best birds of Presque Isle.” (‘Best’ = most common.) Here, every right-thinking person’s favorite gull, the beautiful Ring-billed Gull!

Pretty much see Ring-billed Gulls all year long. More activity, and lots of it, winter into early spring.

Seasonally, all the ‘piers’ (East, West, North, and South) are great for seeing gulls. Also, if you can believe it, out at Gull Point (!)

Nothing major to report today, just misc shots in the “Erie summer birds/critters” category.

Red-tailed Hawk and male House Finch:

House Finch was on a separate branch and is in the foreground slightly; still, funny to see.

Next up, another duo, this time Eastern Kingbird and Baltimore Oriole:

The most “summery” of summer birds (as in ubiquitous), the Gray Catbird!

“Green Heron Summer” continues apace. Lots of activity this year, for whatever reason. In flight above the Long Pond Trail at Presque Isle State Park:

Looks like a Song Sparrow again (?):

Lovely Cedar Waxwing x blue sky:

More obligatory Yellow Warbler:

Always nice to end a post with a cute, tick-free mammal. More cute chipmunk on the Sidewalk Trail:

Have a nice day!

Dateline: 26 June 2022, Presque Isle State Park

Always fun to see Red-winged Blackbird (here, a female) cavorting about the Water Lilies for hunting insects. This was in the large section of Thompson Bay along the beach portion of the Gull Point Trail, just to the east of Budny Beach.

Dateline: 26 June 2022

Sadly, BirdingPI.com has had to institute a moratorium on rabbit pictures, after numerous shots revealed an endemic tick infestation. Comments and photos were briefly posted and then taken down after the editorial board objected to “too much unpleasant tick content, science notwithstanding.” Anyway, instead of a rabbit, here’s a cute chipmunk:

Aesthetically pleasing invertebrates are still fair game, apparently, e.g., Silver-spotted Skipper by Budny Beach:

Obligatory Yellow Warbler content:

And why not? Yellow Warblers are great. And hungry.

Above shots by the Gull Point trailhead. Following shot along the old outer Gull Point Trail:

Bald Eagle over Thompson Bay:

Out at Gull Point, what appears to be a Song Sparrow:

Also out at Gull Point, a Northern Map Turtle along the trail:

On turtle ID, a Painted Turtle (which looks similar) would probably have some red on the legs or around the face. See also the following enhanced shell snippet from the picture above – the orange/lighter demarcations are indicative of Map Turtle:

Back along the Gull Point Trail by the beach, a male Downy Woodpecker:

In plant news, Dogwood’s currently blooming (e.g., visit Scott Park). Out at Presque Isle, see lovely Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) in bloom at the swampy area on the far east end of Budny Beach, along the Gull Point trail:

Also Common Eastern Bumble Bee:

Lovely but invasive Flowering Rush, in that same spot:

(“Invasive” as in non-native, not “evasive.” Thankfully, the plants are fairly stationary.)

Northern Flicker at Budny Beach:

Wrapping up the nature content with a Northern Cardinal (female), along the Sidewalk Trail:

Trail update: Having a bit of a warm/dry spell here in Erie. Swamp water levels lowest in a while, and most trails are in good/dry condition, except where previously reported. (Duck Pond Trail east end flooded. Long Pond Trail west end very wet and muddy and not recommended absent waterproof boots.)

[Editor’s note: For pictures of tick-ridden rabbits, contact us as per the “About Us” page.]

Dateline: 25 June 2022, Presque Isle State Park

It’s “new equipment weekend” here at BirdingPI.com – report to follow eventually. What better spot for a robust test run than the Pine Tree Trail? (Actually, there’s better spots, but Saturday was hot and dry = a busy beach day at Presque Isle; interior trails mostly/entirely empty.)

Sunny with highs in the 80’s deg F at Presque Isle; moderate/low humidity.

With warm and dry conditions, the Pine Tree Trail was remarkably pine-fragrant; nothing quite like a warm pine forest smell.

Bird activity about as expected: Crow, Robin, Catbird, flycatchers, Red-winged Blackbird, Turkey Vulture, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, etc. Only surprise was a very large Pileated Woodpecker (on the Dead Pond Trail); too elusive, however, for even a bad photograph.

Kind of hard to ID the bird above. No eye ring, so not a Least Flycatcher. Main issue was a lack of obvious wingbars. This suggests Eastern Phoebe, but the breast overall seems too dark/vested.

A few more Robin and Flycatcher shots:

Tied for shot of the day (with the Great Crested Flycatcher photo above):

Despite lacking bunnies, turtles, or flowers, results look ok so far.

Coming up next time: “A Post Which Includes Bunnies, Turtles, and Flowers.” Plus more Gull Point!

Dateline: 24 June 2022

Turkey Vultures seem like a metaphorically apt way to start off the weekend. This pair were enjoying the morning sun out at Scott Park, Erie, PA. (Scott Park is a lovely parcel of old-growth woods, etc. on the ‘mainland’ bluff just across the back bay where Presque Isle connects. See https://millcreektownship.com/facilities/facility/details/Scott-Park-4.)

Closing with a bonus mammal: