Sue and I headed out for some birding after the 9 AM deluge in Webster believing the forecast of mostly some sun with showers and maybe a thunderstorm. We had mostly rain and often heavy rain and a couple of short breaks. Still some interesting observations. I'll paste in a couple checklists. In addition to the Harlequin Duck and Am. Golden Plover on the lists, we had LOTS of cormorants on Braddock Bay, a Savannah Sparrow on Bennett Road,
a N. Pintail pair on the horse pond at Hogan Point, 7 Bald Eagles in passing the various nests, and the GHOW young looking like near to fledging in quick pass by.Even messy days can have some fun sightings this time of year.
Bob Spahn, <rspahn...>
Manitou Beach, Ontario Blvd., Monroe, New York, US
Apr 21, 2025 10:50 AM - 10:57 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: This was one stop in wandering about birding in the rain and hoping for breaks. Looking out from where Third St.
hits the lake, not far out, we picked up three birds and Sue quickly was first to note the head spots on one - a female Harlequin Duck, likely a continuation of a bird or birds of that seen along the lakeshore over recent weeks. The other two were the abundant Red-breasted Mergansers. Other mergansers and a couple of Long-tailed Ducks were noted in a quick scan from that spot. Didn't pay any real attention to any possible land birds gven the weather.
6 species
Harlequin Duck 1 Basically brown duck smaller than the nearby mergansers with the typical white spots on the side of the head and near the base of the bill. Only other coloring was a bit of light on the under parts at one point when it rolled a bit preening. There have been sightings along the shore or passing in recent days. Not really totally unexpected here, but still rates rare.
Long-tailed Duck 2
Red-breasted Merganser 15
Ring-billed Gull 3
Caspian Tern 1
Double-crested Cormorant 25
Martin Rd shorebird spot, Monroe, New York, US
Apr 21, 2025 11:10 AM - 11:25 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Sue and I were driving around trying to do some birding with and around the showers and deluges this morning; a bit more water than seemed forecast in timing and amount. This was one of the stops to check for shorebirds generally and the previously reported Am. Golden-Plover specifically. The lack of water at that "puddle" in the field was surprising, suggesting that it had been pumped in the past few days. Fortunately, Andy Guthrie was there and had the bird in sight. After a bit of mixed signals on directions, we got on it and a couple of Killdeer not really far off the road and had good looks for some time. Little else present other than a mixed flock of gulls in plowed ground far off to the west and an occasional gull circle over.
To add a bit of context, since it is seldom discussed. It has been noted, correctly, as a rare spring sighting here. This has little meaning to most without some definition. We do have an annotated Monroe County Checklist published in 1985 that looks at arrivals, departures, and abundance of records through some in 1984. {Needs updating, and we do have the raw data, if anyone has interest in some interesting work.} In that publication, now out of print, terms to describe abundance and occurrence are clearly defined. At that time, Am. Golden-Plover was termed rare and occasional - Rare = likely that less than 5 will be seen in any spring season by a skilled and active observer and Occasional = seen in between one year out of four and one year out of nine on average. There was one time in 1954 with 100 reported about this time of year. I have been gathering local records and writing summaries since the mid-1970s thru turning that over to Nick Kachala a few years ago and have tried to keep updates to that checklist in margin notes through that time, as well as the published lists and notes in local newsletters and the Kingbird. AMGP has been recorded in at least 24 of the 40 years, but with only 1 note of a count greater than 10. Most observations are 1-2 and most are mid-April to early May in the spring. This would make the occurrence here for this period Irregular and the numbers still Rare. UsefuL? Typically, virtually no feedback over 50 years.
4 species
American Golden-Plover 1 Previously reported and photographed bird over past few days. See trip notes on this report for added info.
Killdeer 2
Ring-billed Gull X
American Herring Gull X
