Dateline: 17-18 December 2022
Erie weather: Sunday, overcast and snowy all day, light to heavy depending on location; heavy and almost white-out conditions on Presque Isle Bay. Re. video above, sorry to whichever BirdingPI.com staff member drew the ‘short straw’ for morning duty at South Pier. (More on this below.)
Saturday, cold and mostly overcast, hint of almost-sun at one point. Reasonably ok day for the annual Presque Isle Audubon Great Christmas Bird Count at Presque Isle State Park and vicinity. Considering the weather, seemed like a decent turnout of birders and bird enthusiasts.
Various ‘merely ok’ shots from the GCBC:
Got some nice shots of the Tundra Swan coming in for a landing, which were ruined due to overexposure. Forgot to crank the exposure comp down after the hawk shots below = totally boneheaded move. Rule Number 4 from Kessler’s Mini-handbook of Great Digital Photography (C&R Press, 2008): always remember to re-adjust the exposure compensation back to zero/neutral.
Haven’t seen a Hairy Woodpecker in at least a month:
Bird of the day: amazing Cooper’s Hawk, @ Long Pond Trail. Tough conditions in the shade/forest backlit by overcast sky. These shots adjusted in Photoshop as best possible + sharpening via Topaz AI.
Again, haven’t seen American Robin for weeks. Four individuals in a tree across the road from the Budny Beach restroom building. E.g.:
Nice to see American Tree Sparrow @ Thompson Bay. Note the distinctive center chest spot/marking:
So, back to the topic of South Pier in the snow. Following is a view southeast from North Pier on Saturday, towards the mainland. The gulls to the center right and far right with the dark wings may be Great Black-backed Gull. If so, very cool spotting.
So, South Pier and East Ave Boat Ramp Sunday morning. Hoping for better shots with a longer lens, or positive ID via spotting scope, but visibility too low for anything other than Ring-billed Gull near the beach:
Anyway, more on this interesting area later in the week.
Tomorrow, back in the red with Cardinalmania II!