Weekend Update. Dateline 6-7 November 2021.
After seeming weeks of rain and clouds, Erie was blessed with a weekend of sunny, cool, dry weather – yay! Beautiful weather for getting outside to Presque Isle State Park for a bit of birding/hiking/photography, + enjoying the fall color.
Bird activity was moderate, but what was lacking in quantity was made up for in quality. Saturday, the Birding, PI.com team trekked the A Trail, the Dead Pond trail to Thompson Circle, the park road to the Pine Tree Trail, the Pine Tree Trail (east to west), and the dirt road that parallels the beach back to the A Trail trailhead picnic area.
First up, along the Dead Pond Trail between the A Trail and the B Trail, was a surprise group of Wild Turkeys, maybe 5-6 birds in total. Either these Turkeys weren’t paying much attention, or didn’t care, because unusually, they hung out near the trail for a good 5-10 minutes, poking around in the detritus. Fun to get a close look while they foraged.
In the marshy, sort-of open area between just before the B Trail, we almost missed seeing the ‘bird of the weekend,’ a lovely Barred Owl (!) Frankly, owl sightings are rare enough to be a cause for celebration, but this one was quite the modeling subject, e.g., didn’t immediately fly away.
As can be seen in the picture above, even at 500mm this owl is hard to see. Even harder at different angles, with plain eyesight. (Goes to show, it pays to continually scan nearby trees for “bird shapes,” just in case.)
Since its face was obscured, our intrepid photographer crawled into the grass, just as far as needed for a lower angle view. Fortunately, it seemed unconcerned and undisturbed. After a few snapshots, we slunk back to the trail, leaving this lovely fellow or lady to its daytime nap.
Further east along the Dead Pond Trail, a pair of Red-tail Hawks.
A-Trail: Passable; wet spot treacherous over log “bridge”
Dead Pond Trail, between A Trail and B Trail: very flooded in spots but passable
Dead Pond Trail, east: good condition
Pine Tree Trail: good condition
Thompson Bay trails: muddy but passable
Sidewalk Trail, west end: good condition
Sidewalk Trail, east end: muddy but passable
Ridge Trail (east portion): good condition
Marsh Trail: flooded, muddy. Passable from Sidewalk Trail to the culvert/open low spot that connects the two sections of marsh, which is flooded and impassible without getting wet or wearing rubber boots