Brian’s Spot

The Presque Isle, Naturally blogging team is growing again!  Original members, Toni Kelly, yours truly, Michele Franz, and contributing member, Linda McWilliams, are happy to welcome  Brian Berchtold to our ranks.  Brian is currently a volunteer ambassador for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) on the park and he can be found there almost everyday.  Because of his love of and familiarity with the park, Brian has been a great resource for us, pointing out species of interest and updating us on all the latest.  Now, we are glad that he can share his wealth of knowledge with you,  our valued readers, more directly.  Brian’s latest “scoop” is a relatively small divided clump of bushes and trees on the north shore of the lagoons that houses several species of birds and their nests.  It’s hard to believe the concentration and variety of birds we’ve encountered in this approximately 50′ x 50′ plot.  Nesting birds seen and photographed within the bush/tree plot include gray catbird, house wren, brown thrasher, American Robin and yellow warbler.  Birds observed close by and likely nesting nearby are, eastern kingbird, mourning dove, northern flicker, cardinal, killdeer, cedar waxwings, red-winged blackbird and– the pièce de résistance, a yellow-billed cuckoo!

The elusive yellow-billed cuckoo!

An eastern kingbird relaxes on a branch over the water.

American Robin with nesting material.

Mrs. Cardinal seems to have found a tasty morsel.

This gray catbird goes for the healthier choice.

Pretty little house wren.

The bird I was really after that Brian had told us about was the brown thrasher.  All the rest were terrific bonuses.  Thank you, Brian, for sharing this wonderful little bird oasis within the larger world renowned birding hot spot that is Presque Isle State Park.  From here on out, the spot will be known to Toni and I, and whomever else reads this and ventures out to find it, as “Brian’s Spot”.

The strikingly handsome brown thrasher.

While Toni, Brian and I were observing and photographing birds at “Brian’s Spot”, Peter Lindeman from the Biology Department at Edinboro University of PA was there retrieving his turtle nets for the season.  He showed us two spiny soft-shelled turtles, a species I had never seen before, nor knew existed on the park.   Stay tuned for more about Professor Lindeman’s research on the turtles of Presque Isle in future posts.