If you look on the calendar, March 20th was the first day of spring here in SE Pennsylvania. We would like to think that some magical weather switch automatically brings us warm, sunny weather starting on March 21st and never looks back. It doesn’t quite work that way, especially in other parts of the Keystone State. Winter is over when winter chooses to be over! Theresa and I decided to test this weather fact, first hand, with a long weekend birding trip with a group from the PSO (PA Ornithological Society) to Presque Isle State Park, in Erie. It won’t be that bad, we told each other. It was a week later, so it should be even “closer to spring weather.” Not so much!
We arrived at our hotel in North East, PA, about 14 miles, well, you know, northeast of Erie. It was cold, snowing and blowing. Not exactly what we had pictured. After a good meal at a local Irish Pub, we bundled up and headed out to see if we could call an owl or two. The smaller owls (Saw-whet and Eastern Screech) were not very cooperative, but after a few minutes of trying to call a Screech owl, the group got an unexpected close encounter with a Great-horned Owl, as one came flying in right over our heads, made a quick swoop, then disappeared into the darkness. It obviously was expecting to make a Screech owl a late night snack!
When we woke up early Saturday, March 28th, the temperature outside was 8° F, it was snowing sideways with 20 mph winds. Two inches had already fallen and a few “flurries” was supposed to continue on and off for the next few hours. The high temperature for the day was forecasted to be 25° F. It never reached it! Aaah! Welcome to spring in northwest, PA.
Presque Isle Bay is a great late winter/early spring location for a variety of migrating gulls and waterfowl, as long as there’s open water for them to feed. Although the bay was almost entirely frozen (as was Lake Erie), there was still areas of open water where many birds gathered. In fact, that was the cool thing. Since there was only a few sections that were not iced-over, many species of waterfowl and gulls were forced to share ‘swimming areas” together. In one of these open water areas we identified 17 species of waterfowl and 6 species of gulls!
Our first stop was a parking lot that overlooked an open water area. Our trip leader cautioned us that part of the walkway where we all stood in a puddle of water the evening before, was now a sheet of ice. Now, I’m pretty sure I remember him saying something about ice, and hearing my dear wife echoing the same, but with my scope and tripod firmly secured in my right hand, I boldly stepped on to the ice way (ice + walkway = ice way) without fear and without hesitation. That’s when everything started to go wickedly wrong. My left foot slid due north and my right leg started to head south. The 3 legs of the tripod I was tightly holding hit the walkway at the same time and also started to slip. I let out a loud, barking sound, similar to a young elephant that had lost its parents. In slow motion, I looked up to see the entire group staring at me with their mouths gaped wide open, not sure if they were concerned about my welfare, or upset that I just scared off most of the ducks that were gathered in front of us. As my momentum carried me across the small ice way, I caught myself, straightened up, set my tripod down and politely asked, “So, where’s the Trumpeter Swan?” Not a great way to impress this group of veteran birders!
By mid-morning, Theresa and I broke away from the main group to check out some of the other areas of the park, including the frozen beaches of Lake Erie, the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, then ventured into Erie to look for birds at Dobbin’s Landing on the Bayfront. It was cold, but we enjoyed birding PISP, met some great people and promised to come back to visit Erie again (in the warmer months). We left Erie, and began our long trip home, with a few additional birding stops in Erie National Wildlife Refuge (where my truck, Big Blue, grew some small stalactites on the front wheel wells), Bald Eagle State Park in Centre County and the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg. We traveled approximately 1,000 miles, covered 16 counties, saw 70 species of birds and shared some funny stories. But, we suggest if you’re planning a “spring” trip to Erie, wait until at least mid-June, just to be sure!
