Many of us were disappointed when we heard that there would be limited or possibly no bird banding this spring at Presque Isle due to budgetary constraints.  Banding has been going on at the park  for many years now, most recently under the auspices of the Important Bird Area (IBA) program for Western PA under the direction of Dr. Sarah Sargent, IBA Coordinator for Western PA.  The data collected during the banding process is an important tool in tracking trends in both migratory and local bird populations. 

Bird bander,Walt Wehjte, extracts a pretty yellow warbler from the mist net.

A handsome male chestnut-sided warbler poses for a few shots.

 

 Additionally, kind of  like the barbershop or cafe in the city, the banding station had become a  “hangout” and social center at the park where birders and others interested in the goings on at the park congregated and caught up with one another.  Had banding really been disbanded, where would we have gone? What would we do? 

Sam, Ruth and Dave look on as Walt weighs a warbler.

Luckily some funds were found and bird banding is being accomplished again this spring!   Our illustrious bander for spring 2012 is Walt Wehjte, Ph.D., a very knowledgeable and eloquent bander who’s always ready to share his wealth of knowledge with visitors to the banding station and volunteers. 

Bird banding volunteers Ruth, Barb and Sam enjoy a laugh, probably at Sam's expense.

Banders often use reference materials to determine the sex and age of birds ass accurately as possible. Here Walt holds a Warbling Vireo that he has banded.This gray catbird was better able to hang onto Walt's glasses than Walt was.

It’s no surprise to know that Walt has spent some time in front of a college classroom.  He also writes a really mean blog post which I highly recommend you check out here.  So the data is being collected and we still have a place to hang out and “chat”. 

Band on!

I have the benefit of working four 1o hour days and take advantage of my long weekends by spending at least one morning at the park.  On Friday I was up and out before the usual time I get up to go to work.  Isn’t it funny how much easier it is to get up in the morning to go birding or take a hike:) than it is to go to work.  I love my job, don’t get me wrong, but, well…you know what I mean.  I was hoping to be able to get some sunrise shots for the blog but it was quite overcast,  so, no sunrise shots.  The good thing is, and anyone who’s ever tried to photograph a turkey can confirm this, overcast is preferable when shooting turkeys. Even with the overcast skies the whitish shiny skin  on the head of the male turkey, also known as a jake (Or Tom as I say) is quite reflective and often gets “blown out” in photos, appearing as a white splotch with no detail.  You can try and adjusting for this by reducing  the exposure but then you may lose detail in the darker feathers.  Ok, that’s probably more photography jargon than you want.  Anyway, here are some shots of Tom, strutting his stuff for his harem.  It was comical and a little pathetic how disinterested they were in his advances.  Poor Tom.

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Now that's a mouthful.

“This looks like a pretty nice spot.”

In my last post I brought you news about the many new and exciting things going on at Presque Isle as spring gets underway. Well, it’s still going strong and  I’d like to remind everyone that this is a delicate time for wildlife on the park.  Some birds, like the great-horned owls, robins and starlings are already tending to young ones. Others are just beginning to build nests.  It is important that if you come across a bird working on a nest you avoid lingering there. I recently read an excellent article by George Lepp in the May 2012 edition of Outdoor Photography magazine called “Give ‘Em Some Space” that addresses this very issue.  In the article Lepp outlines steps to avoid disrupting nests and nesting sites.  He points out that birds are especially alert when building a nest. I suppose this is for several reasons but, putting myself in the birds shoes, I imagine they feel more vulnerable being exposed for long periods of time while excavating and/or bringing in building materials.  He also points out that your presence, particularly near ground nests, can attract predators to the nest as they follow your scent.  So, it’s always best to stay a respectable distance from any nest, either one that’s under construction or inhabited.  How close is too close?  I’ve heard many say as soon as you notice a change in the bird’s behavior, meaning he’s noticed you noticing him, you’re too close.  Some birds are much more proximity-tolerant such as chickadees, which some people train to eat from their hand, while others are quite intolerant, like belted kingfishers who, I swear,  fly away the second I put my foot out the door even though my home is 100 feet from the creek where they fish.

I'm goin" in.

Here are a few shots of a pair of chickadees excavating a nest.  I stayed about 30 to 40 feet away hidden behind a tree as the chickadees diligently worked on their home,  in and out like a well-oiled machine.  One flew out with a mouthful of decayed wood and the other would fly in immediately afterward for his/her load.   I stayed for a minute or two and then bid adieu to the industrious pair, congratulating them on their new home.

It's dark in here!

Now that's a mouthful.

Spring has sprung and no where is that more evident than at Presque Isle!  Many of the wildflowers are starting to bloom, the trees are budding beautifully and the birds and bees are…well, you know.  Owls are among the first, if not the first, of the bird species to start their new families in the spring and actually late winter.  We are fortunate to have Presque Isle host a great-horned owl family again this year and I’m glad to be able to bring you a couple of photos.

One of the adult great-horned owls keeping watch on the nest.

Great-horned owl chick, estimated age is one month old.

The Canada Geese are also early (and prolific) in their pursuit of expanding their families.

Mother Goose sits patiently on her eggs.

Things are changing and growing at the park on a daily basis.  Soon the warblers will be warbling as they stop over during their migration from as far away as South America headed for their northern breeding grounds. Please come on down and enjoy all that nature has to offer right here in our own backyard.

Yes, you read it correctly!  There has been a purple gallinule at Presque Isle State Park  that was first seen by our illustrious co-blogger, Brian Berchtold, during the first week in May.  This is only the second recorded sighting of a purple gallinule at Presque Isle.  The first one was several years ago and that was an immature bird.  The bird hanging around this year is a beautiful adult.  S/He’s been seen hanging around with a sora in the reeds at the far north west corner of the bay.  While the purple gallinule is a bird that is most often found in South America and the south eastern United States it can be found far afield, as with our bird.

It’s possible the bird got caught up in the weather front related to the tornadoes down south and got pushed this way. It’s impossible to say for sure how this beauty wound up so far from home, so for now we’ll just appreciate his beauty and hope he enjoys his stay with us.

The gallinule was non-plussed by my bright yellow and orange kayak. I guess when you're as colorful as this guy nothing's too bright.

The gallinule enjoying some blue gill sushi.

Given the beauty and the abundance of habitat at Presque Isle, I found it surprising to learn that there are only two species of duck that nest here, the mallard and the wood duck.  It’s also hard to believe it when you see the many thousands of waterfowl that migrate through PI in the late winter and early spring.  Although waterfowl migration is nearing its end I thought I’d post a few pictures of some of the beautiful ducks and a few other migrants that pass through Presque Isle on there way to their breeding grounds.  Appropriately, as I complete this post it looks like it is about to rain again here in Erie and I think, “This weather is just beautiful…if you’re a duck!”

A pair of gadwall.

A male hooded merganser.

A horned grebe nearing breeding plumage.

A pretty red-breasted merganser with lunch.

and her handsome potential mate.

Well, maybe not!

The park has been so wet that this pair of blue-winged teal have been frequenting a large shallow "pond" that is usually an open field.

This common loon in breeding plumage got much closer to the shore than I expected.

and soon they'll all be gone...

but, they’ll be back.  In the meantime, we’ll have the beautiful warblers and other migrants to enjoy!  They started arriving over a week ago and we’ve had pretty good numbers.  Last Tuesday the bird banding station had to close down and release many birds unbanded because they ran out of holding bags!  See the PI Bird Banding blog here.  There is also a lot of migration going on off the park and in our own backyards.  Check out Toni’s blog post about the birds migrating through her yard here.

Can you find the glaucous gull? It's the one that's almost completely white.

Click photos to see full-size.

I spent the morning yesterday counting birds with some new and old birding buddies during our local Great Backyard Bird Count which was held by the Presque Isle Audubon Society and organized by yours truly.  While we got some nice birds in fair numbers despite the frigid conditions, we didn’t get the “rarity” we got last year in the Eastern Towhee.  After our event I decided to venture out onto the park and see if I could find a few more species to add to our tally.  There were plenty of ducks and gulls in and around the channel but nothing that would be considered out of the ordinary.  I turned around and headed back west toward the head of the bay where Mike Weible had spotted some gadwalls and wigeons.  I thought I’d take a look and was able to find those ducks as well as lots of Canada Geese, crows and 3 mute swans.   There were thousands of gulls causing quite a cacophony.  Suddenly they all flew up and to the east and in the crowd I spotted a gull I knew was different from the rest.  It looked almost pure white and seemed larger than the other gulls.  I was able to keep my eye on it for awhile but soon lost it in the crowd… I was sure I would never see it again amid all the thousands of other gulls despite its different plumage.  Nonetheless, I waited, as birders are wont to do.  In the world of birding, patience is not a virtue, it’s a necessity. After about 15 minutes most of the flock had flown back and landed in and around the open water.  Then much to my delight, I spotted the white gull flying in with a few herring gulls.  They landed on the ice on the other side of the water so were fairly far away. I had consulted my field guides while waiting and thought that the gull was likely a glaucous gull.  I believe they are reported here every year but are not at all common.  I had also gotten my camera set up while waiting and was able to take “a few” shots of the unusual gull.

Here the glaucous gull chases off two herring gulls.

Notice the white plumage of the glaucous gull compared to the white, gray and black plumage of the herring and ring-billed gulls.

Glaucous gull getting ready for take-off.

The glaucous gull in flight.

This is a first cycle glaucous gull, as Jerry McWilliams explained to me.  The eye is still black and in an older bird the eye would be yellow and the end of the bill would be pale, not black like this one.

Another in-flight shot of the glaucous gull.

After observing and photographing this bird for nearly a half an hour I realized something…This is one needle in a haystack that sticks out like a sore thumb!!

I bet you can pick him out now!

Not wanting to incur the wrath of the overtime gods at work, I left early on Friday and took a ride down to Presque Isle.  I knew I might be getting out early so had all my gear with me: hiking shoes-check, trail clothes-check, binos-check-camera gear-check. I really didn’t expect to see much, but was just happy to be able to hit the trails and smell the loamy damp earth under the freshly fallen leaves.  Fall is a treat for all the senses, isn’t it?  I made a plan to hit a few of the “hot spots” on the park starting at my favorite, “Duck Pond-Canoe Portage” trail complex.  I then planned to stop at the trail out to the lily pond near Long Pond Trail, wrapping up my excursion at Dead Pond Trail.  Finally, I planned to stop at Presque Isle Gallery and Coffee Shop (PIG) where my niece was working until 6 p.m.  I had to drop off her birthday gift and grab a cup of their delicious coffee while I was there.  So, I had my plan and you know what they say about plans.

Not more than 5 feet onto Canoe Portage I encountered my first surprise of the day, several dark-eyed juncos hunting around in the grass on the middle of the trail.

My first "Winter Bird" of 2010.

Knowing my good friend, Toni Kelly, likes these little guys I sent her a text to let her know that her “buddies” were back.  She texted back saying that she had some golden-crowned kinglets in her yard.  I had heard them in my yard also but had not seen any yet this fall, but that was about to change.  I headed a little further down the trail and started hearing the high-pitched three part whistle of the golden-crowned kinglet.  Soon it seemed I was surrounded by them so I set up shop a little bit off the trail in a spot I thought had some decent perches, not that these cuties perch for any length of time.

Golden-crowned kinglet

After taking “a few” shots of the GC kinglets I headed further down the trail toward the marina and heard the local eastern towhee calling.  I didn’t catch a glimpse of the towhee but did spy a common fall migrant, a yellow-rumped warbler.

Yellow-rumped warbler in fall plumage.

Right about then I also heard another of the locals that I often hear on this trail peeping, a Carolina Wren.  It perched for quite some time, curious what I was doing in his woods I think. [Correction: Thanks to France, who commented earlier, this is a Winter Wren and, therefore, not a local.  Thanks France!]

Winter wren

Not much later another local popped up and looked around, the common yellow-throat.  Actually,  I’m not really sure if this is one of the locals or a migrant, but this is one bird that I consistently see and hear on this trail.

Love the fall background colors!

The next warbler I saw was almost definitely a migrant unless magnolia warblers have started nesting on PISP (wouldn’t that be nice!)  This bird seemed to be traveling solo as it was the only of its species I saw.

"Maggie" in fall plumage

The only bird more abundant than the golden-crowned kinglet on Friday was probably the white-throated sparrow that could be heard rustling around in the underbrush at every turn.  Between them and the chipmunks it sounded like a herd of elephants running through a field of potato chips.

Handsome white-throated sparrow.

Speaking of chipmunks:)

I had arrived at the first stop on my planned loop around the park at around noon and by now it was nearly 4:00 p.m.  I decided to pack it in and headed back up the trail to my car.  I wanted to make it to the coffee shop and visit with my niece for awhile.  Of course, at the head of Canoe Portage Trail is a row of milkweed and as many of you know, milkweed plays host to quite a variety of little creatures….well, an hour and a half later I did make it to the PIG…but that’s for another post.

Green fanged spider:0

At the furthest point west on Presque Isle Bay is a cattail bed that is designated an Important Bird Area (IBA). It has been granted that status because for a few weeks in late summer, before they make their migratory flight south, tens of thousands of Purple Martins from far and wide congregate and roost  here each evening.  Unbeknownst to many are the number of other diverse creatures to which the beds play host.   The cattail beds provide a lush and watery labyrinth; channels with inlets and outlets throughout the beds for the secretive meanderings of the least bittern, pied-billed grebe,  common moorhens, wood ducks, American coots and red-winged blackbirds, and many others.  Among the other creatures  sharing the space with our feathered friends are the muskrat, dragons and damsel flies, and many fish.  Sitting in a kayak just outside the aquatic labyrinth one is amazed at the many different sounds emanating from within.   At times it sounds like a jungle in there!  Click this link to hear the call of a pied-billed grebe.  If you are fortunate enough to sneak a peek at one of its more stealthy inhabitants, it’s worth the wait.

To see a larger version of an image, click once and then again in the next page.

A family of wood ducks skirts the edge of the far shore. They can often also be heard within the cattail bed.

Can you find the grebe?! He hopes not.

Here he is!

A pair of American Coots can often be seen swimming along the reeds at the west side of the cattail bed.

A lone common moorhen. Not so common in this area, but with broods observed this year and last at the cattail beds.

A hungry muskrat on a float of cattails munches some roots. The muskrats can often be seen swimming from shore to reed bed and back.

A curious painted turtle looks at me looking at him:)

A bee emerges after collecting pollen from a waterlily. There are many bees out on the water at this time of year helping to pollinate the aquatic plants like the water lilies and pickerel weed.

Oh, yeah. The Mute Swan family is also still around.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post…the hunting herons of Presque Isle.

Papa oriole takes his turn feeding the babes.

The following photograph is of a pair of approximately two day old red-winged black bird chicks and their unhatched sibling.  Red-winged blackbirds usually lay 3-4 eggs and often have two broods per year.  Some male red-winged blackbirds are polygamous, having 2-3 mates.  Can you say, Big Love.  Thanks to Brian for pointing this nest out.  Yes, I still have to get out there and show you the cedar waxwing nests.

FEED ME!!!

One bird that you can always count on to build watchable nests at Presque Isle are the plentiful American Robins.  I found this nest while watching the cedar waxwings fly along Leo’s Landing.  These babes were quite vociferous each time mama or papa flew in with yummy bugs and worms.  Robins produce 2-3 broods a year, each an average of 4 offspring.  That’s 12 young a season!!  No wonder they are so plentiful (and mom is looking so haggard in this photo:(

FEED US!!!

While out on the kayak getting a few more shots of the growing mute swan cygnets, I happened across this female wood duck and her youngsters.  I couldn’t count them all they were so well-camouflaged against the reeds.

Look carefully, the babes are mostly visible in the left side of the photo; mom is on the right.

Speaking of the mute swan family.  The family is down to 4 cygnets.  Impossible to say what happened to the 5th.  I like to think it was recruited to appear in some fairy tale or fable.  Think: The Ugly Duckling.

Two of the 4 remaining cygnets.

The four remaining mute swans and a parent.

Younger mute swan mating pairs produce one brood of 5-7 cygnets per year while older couples average anywhere from 9-12 eggs. The cygnets are usually gray, like 3 of the 4 in the photo above.  Some are more white, like the second from last in the photo above.

I hope to get back out onto the water tomorrow morning.  Things are looking promising for a beautiful day.  I remain in search of some decent shots of the common moorhen family.  Brian has had some luck as the male of the pair gets used to him being around.  Maybe he’ll post some shots of the moorhens and the green heron for us soon:)