Part 2 of Weekend Update content (part 3 counting the Cuckoo post) featuring outer Gull Point, mostly in chronological order. First up, remiss in not earlier mentioning the “surprise bench” that appeared adjacent the old observation platform recently. Many thanks (!) to whoever/whatever was responsible for this excellent addition to the Gull Point infrastructure!
Moving on to birds, within the tree line, immature American Goldfinch:
Next up, bad shots of American Golden-Plover. (Expensive camera equipment notwithstanding, nothing gets past atmospheric heat shimmer at long distance.) This appears to be a male in some sort of transitioning or molting plumage. Note the overall ‘large plover’ appearance, dark cap, white face colouration, and very blotchy chest and underside. (E.g., eventually, presumably, it would transition to black cap + black breast/underside = American Golden-Plover; Black-bellied Plover lacks a dark cap.)
Thankfully, a good shot of juvenile Black-bellied Plover:
Two juvenile Black-bellied Plover (left & middle), + ‘mystery bird’ on right:
Had no idea of the ID on this bird in the field, other than “never seen the likes of it before = must be interesting/unusual.” Based on image analysis back at HQ, turns out this is a non-breeding plumage adult Red Knot – rather unusual for Erie. (A breeding-plumage bird would be, well, somewhat red-ish.) Note the overall relatively medium size, stout bill, yellow-green legs, white eyebrow, & pale gray rump especially visible in flight:
More nice shots of juvenile Black-bellied Plover:
Coming up soon, more Pine Tree Trail, & inner Gull Point w/ lots of Yellowlegs content!