Dateline: 11-12 June 2022

Don’t worry, just the BirdingPI.com weekend update featuring birds and a bee or two. Weather Saturday: humid, moderate/warm, clouds changing to sun by the afternoon. Sunday, rain in the morning, windy and mostly clear in the afternoon; humid and moderate (highs in the 70’s deg F). Beautiful weather Sunday afternoon for getting the crew out to Gull Point – nice enough it felt like being in Hawaii on a not-so-warm day. Very few folks out at Budny Beach; no one out along the Gull Point Trail.

First, birds! Several Eastern Bluebird (drab adult/female) spotted both Saturday and Sunday, by Pine Tree Beach and out at Gull Point:

Vegetation-wise, the honeysuckle and Black Locust are done blooming. Multiflora Rose is in full bloom = quite fragrant.

In trail news, the Marsh Trail is finally dry enough for easy passage without special gear. Though still quite muddy in spots. B-Trail remains too muddy for casual passage. Other trails locally muddy but generally in good shape.

Now, onto the bees! Flowering plant featured here = Desert False Indigo. (Thanks to the nice folks at the Natural History Museum at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center for help with this plant ID.) A lot of it currently in bloom along the Gull Point outer old trail, and on the point itself. This specimen near the NOAA weather station in the dunes at Pine Tree Meadows.

Certainly the bees were enjoying it. (Presumably Common Eastern Bumble Bee – Bombus impatiens.)

Coming up later this week, bird noises! Also, heron on the beach! And turtles! Wow.

Dateline: Spring 2022, Presque Isle State Park

Periodic clouds and light overcast Saturday (11 June 2022), humid but mild; overall a lovely day for being out at Presque Isle in the forest or on the beach. Rain Sunday morning.

While on ‘weather delay,’ catching up on some straightforward but lovely shots of Baltimore Oriole:

Dateline: Spring 2022

While the BirdingPI.com team’s getting caffeinated in prep for hitting the trails today (Saturday, 11 June 2022: AM weather in Erie – rain overnight, light overcast), time for a quick, seasonally-appropriate post featuring spring flowers, birds with spring flowers, and a bonus bad bunny video. (Still working on getting shots of rabbits with flowers.)

Above and below, forgot to include these quite nice shots of Ruby-throated Hummingbird x Yellow Iris in the last weekend update. From the Gull Point inner old trail, by the head of Thompson Bay.

From a bit earlier in the spring, BirdingPI.com’s favorite yellow-orange bird, the Baltimore Oriole. Enjoying crabapple (?)/apple blossoms along the Gull Point outer old trail:

Officially wild iris season. See Yellow Iris above. Blue Iris in the following shots, first from the Pine Tree Trail swamp/pond, and second along the Sidewalk Trail (east end by the swamp/pond crossing).

Beautiful Lupinus perennis – Wild Lupine. Fairly uncommon at Presque Isle State Park and (per the Internet = never wrong) relatively rare in Pennsylvania generally. One spot to see Wild Lupine at PI is Pine Tree Meadows. (Fields across the road from the Pine Tree Trail west trailhead.)

Many, many trees currently in blossom with fragrant, white flowers, e.g., around Budny Beach area and elsewhere = probably Black Locust aka False Acacia. Native to North America, perhaps invasive to Presque Isle. Lovely nevertheless.

Finally, nothing more spring-ish than bunnies, with a birdsong soundtrack no less. From the Pine Tree Trail. (Best place to see rabbits at PI – Budny Beach east parking area in the very early AM.)

[Photo Editor’s note: shots above of hummingbird with yellow iris were in the shade. Increasing the brightness and exposure in basic post-production (for the hummingbird to be better lit) resulted in overexposure of the iris. Need to get this over to the Photoshop department for a bit more work…]

Dateline: 4-5 June 2022

A belated weekend update, just in time to usher in the new weekend.

Rain Thursday and earlier in the week, otherwise generally mild and sunny. Trail conditions at Presque Isle State Park are generally good, but may be locally muddy. Of note, as of Sunday the Sidewalk Trail east end was finally mostly dry. Gull Point outer old trail locally muddy but generally still easily passable.

Lots of nesting activity happening at Gull Point, but difficult to see from the trail or observation platform due to vegetation. Easily-viewed bird activity included Barn Swallow and Tree Swallow, Spotted Sandpiper, Red-winged Blackbird, Starling, Killdeer, various sparrows and gulls, Canada Geese, Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover.

So focused (literally) on getting shots of the Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpiper, somehow missed any good shots of a Semipalmated Plover:

Note the Plover has one black neck/chest band vs. a Killdeer’s two, plus a shorter, stubbier bill.

Bird ID tip: Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers have black legs, vs. a Least Sandpiper’s yellow legs. Western Sandpiper would have a longer bill and would probably be rounder and larger.

Lucky all three species were wading/foraging in the turtle pond along the roped-off trail corridor = closer shots than usual.

More Dunlin:

In flight, probably a flock of Semipalmated Sandpiper:

Heading back along the outer old trail, first a Yellow Warbler:

A common trio scavenging on dead fish:

Finally, more lovely Cedar Waxwing. Bird ID tip: Bohemian Waxwing are similar, but would likely have a brown instead of yellow hind-belly, plus white cross-patches on the wings.

Reminder there’s a Presque Isle Audubon outing to Gull Point on 11 June 2022, gathering at 7:45AM: https://www.presqueisleaudubon.org/uploads/2/5/0/0/25009090/junejulytoe2022.pdf?mc_cid=b717b40237&mc_eid=d5b0db7e32

Dateline: June 2022

Introducing Wrent – The Musical!

For our first number, bad wren video #1. Out of focus, but the sound is ok:

For our second number, bad wren video #2. In focus but the audio file is partially corrupted. At least to start, keep the volume down.

Thus concludes Wrent – The Musical. Quite an extravaganza.

Now that’s out of the way, here’s some decent shots of the same House Wren. All at the east side of Budny Beach, along the Gull Point trail.

Still lacking a videography department at BirdingPI.com, so it’s make do with in-camera mics and handheld @ 500-600mm. Not a recommended method.

Looks like lovely Barn Swallows out at Gull Point!

Amazed and transfixed by beautiful Barn Swallows:

Dateline: May 2022

With peak migration season over, time to enjoy some interesting and beautiful insects out at Presque Isle State Park. (Not to worry, no more tick pics!)

First, a few birds!

Unless stated otherwise, following shots all from Pine Tree Meadows. https://birdingpi.com/pine-tree-meadows/. Pine Tree Meadows is great for seeing diverse insects (and ticks) in a relatively small area.

First, the very tiny but very beautiful Eastern Tailed-blue butterfly:

Switching to a dragonfly, the amazing Black Saddlebags:

Picture below seems to be of an immature or female Blue Dasher dragonfly; lots of these around. Note the vertically-striped thorax and horizontally-striped abdomen. See https://www.welcomewildlife.com/dragonflies-and-damselflies-top-guns-of-the-insect-world/ for a nice write-up on dragonflies generally, plus a helpful diagram of anatomy. (No affiliation.)

Next up, the colorful Common Green Darner:

Photographing dragonflies in the air is harder even than birds. Very erratic flight patterns. Lucky to get even this mediocre shot:

Always great to see another Monarch. Note the white spots on the thorax – distinctive of Monarch relative to other, similar-looking species.

Next, the distinctive Silver-spotted Skipper:

Closing this post out with another dragonfly classic, the Twelve-spotted Skimmer. (Don’t worry, more insect shots to follow!) This is likely a female or immature – a mature male would have white spots next to the black spots on the wings.

Dateline: May 2022

“Web of snacks?” In any event, while we wait for the weekend update, here’s some recent shots of a Baltimore Oriole partaking of an easy meal. From the Long Pond Trail by its east-end trailhead by the swamp.

BirdingPI.com — the only website bringing you Spotted Sandpiper in a tree!

Weekend update featuring Gull Point and other fun coming soon!

Dateline: May 2022

Hummingbirds: (i) beautiful and (ii) amazing from a bio-mechanics perspective. Here in Erie we get the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Recent shots of a lovely female out at Presque Isle State Park, off the Pine Tree Trail:

Bird ID tip: male would have a ruby- or dark-colored throat.

[Photo Editor’s note: lighting conditions were very shady for these shots, with a low hit rate. Still, pretty good all things considered.]