Dateline: 14-15 May 2022
After a busy migration week of scouring the Presque Isle forests for any any all warbler activity, it was high time to hit the beach for getting back to Gull Point. Partially cloudy Saturday, turning to thunderstorms (with heavy rain and localized flooding) by 12:30PM or so; hope no one was caught outside when the rain hit. Sunday, mostly clear, humid and warm; lovely weather. All trails in good shape except where previously reported.
Almost no shoreline activity. Lots of ‘inland’ activity along the Gull Point outer old trail – stay tuned for some lovely photography on that front. Although this post is focused on Gull Point species diversity, highlights included Dunlin and – in a BirdingPI.com first – Black-bellied Plover! Wow!
Wouldn’t be Gull Point without gulls. Here’s a Ring-billed Gull with Erie downtown in the far background (behind the tree line):
Here’s the aforementioned Black-bellied Plover! At a very long distance, but still amazing to see. Thanks to a kindly fellow birder for pointing it out.
No butterflies out at the point, but no less fun to see what’s probably an Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus americanus):
Quite a bit of Spotted Sandpiper (breeding adult) activity. Note the bold spots, orange-ish bill, dark eye-line, etc.
Lots of Killdeer activity, here (on the right) with two Least Sandpiper:
Always fun to see Dunlin (lower right in picture below). Currently showing adult breeding plumage, with a russet back and black chest patch:
The Dunlin were mostly in a flock of 15-20 individuals, but too far out for good photos. Hence the focus on closer individuals.
Plenty of sparrow and Red-winged Blackbird activity, too. Here’s Savannah Sparrow. Note the yellow coloration over the eye.
Some nice shots of Dunlin:
Lots of swallows taking advantage of the favorable food conditions. Here’s a beautiful Tree Swallow:
Killdeer in flight:
Sunday, the star of the show was a lovely Short-billed Dowitcher. Long distance shot from the observation platform:
The observation platform isn’t great for ‘good photography’ (absent a telescope perhaps), but it is good for seeing small birds very far away. Is there a bird in the shot below? Yes, that speck right in the middle. Enlarged in the second view = Semipalmated Plover. Note the overall color, single black chest band, and black eye stripe.
Bringing it on home, here’s a beautiful Barn Swallow:
Stay tuned for some great Wilson content! Whatever that means. It’s cryptic to engage interest.
Edit: Here’s an ok picture of a flock of Dunlin:
