Most Wanted: FOUND

I had been keeping my eyes on the Rare Bird Alerts for the Rochester, New
York area, for any birds that I might have the opportunity to see during
my brief trip home during the holidays. I was committed to staying in
Texas until the 20th of December, and I would have some limited free time
in Rochester to go searching for any birds that I could add to my life
list.

Lo and behold, in November, early for the winter birds, two birds
appeared on my radar. Both were hanging out near the Charlotte and
Summerville Piers in Irondequoit, and so I kept tabs on the reports, to
see if the birds were still being seen regularly. And they were.

Finally, on the 22nd of December, I had some free time to do some leisure
birding. Oh boy!

The weather on the 22nd was unseasonable. The temperature was around 45
degrees F (8 Centigrade), and there was very little wind. Though rain had
been off and on the previous few days, none was falling that day. It was
good birding weather, especially for the lakeshore. After running a quick
errand in the morning, I packed my birding gear (binoculars and my
camera!) and headed to the bay.

I first arrived on the "wrong side," meaning the west side of the bay, at
the Charlotte Pier. No matter - there were still birds in the inlet, as
well as on the lake. I grabbed my gear, and walked to the pier from the
parking lot. In the inlet, I could see some Long-tailed Ducks, which I
had not seen in years. That was a nice sight! Among them were some
mallards as well. Since all the reports said that the bird I was looking
for was on the Summerville Pier, or on the apartments nearby, I decided
to glass the area from my side, and see what I could see.

Nothing on the pier, though I didn't have high hopes. I glanced at the
roof of the buildings, and tried to figure out which apartments were the
ones I was supposed to look at. And then I spied something white on one
of them. I brought my binoculars up, and...

There it was! Number 1.356 for the world, and number 444 for North
America: SNOWY OWL! I laughed out loud. It was much easier find the bird
than I expected it would be - but I guess having numerous birders regular
post about the bird on the web meant most of the legwork was done for me.

My day was not done, though. Other bird reports had other species on the
lake that I might find interesting. Though I did not have a telescope
with me, I could hope for some birds to be relatively close to shore that
I could readily identify. I drove to the other side of the bay, parked
near the apartments, and walked to the pier.
The first thing I did, of course, was get better looks at the owl, as
well as take photos. What a magnificent bird! Definitely one that will
stick with me forever. From there, I headed out along the Summerville
Pier, to see what I could see on the lake. The Long-tailed Ducks were
still about, but very shy, so they didn't offer a good photo opportunity.
From the pier near the shoreline, I could tell there were birds on the
water further out, so I walked to the end of the pier. And there, out on
the lake was number 1.357 for the world, and 445 for North America:
RED-NECKED GREBE! Also on my North America most wanted list, but only so
that I could "round up" the last of the grebes for North America. Hooray
for me! From Horned Grebe (Long Island, New York in 1996) to Pied-billed
Grebe (New Mexico, 1997) to Eared Grebe (Colorado, 1997) to Western Grebe
(Colorado, 1997) to Clark's Grebe (again Colorado, again 1997) to Least
Grebe (Texas, 2006) to Red-necked Grebe, I got them all! Of course, I
still have to work on the other worldwide species...
And I STILL wasn't done at the lake! There were numerous birds around,
and I continued to scan the flocks. There were some White-winged Scoters
around (a type of duck), and some distant waterfowl that I couldn't
identify. Nothing very close allowing good photographs. Then I glanced to
the northwest and saw a loose flock of birds flying towards the pier. I
glued my eyes to them, and took notes of the features I could see.
Gull-like, but at the same time, tern-like. Very dainty looking for a
gull, but too heavy for a tern. Faint patches of dark feathers behind the
"ears" on the head. Underwing pattern was very distinct. I had left my
field guide in my car (to keep it dry), so I took note of all the
features I could. I took one last look over the water (there were other
places I planned on birding that day), and went back to my vehicle. After
perusing the guidebook, I determined it was bird number 1.358 for the
world, and number 446 for North America: BONAPARTE'S GULL. One of those
birds that was always like, how do I NOT have that one yet? Well, no
more!!! Not a most wanted bird, but a new bird nonetheless.
This was a great way to begin to wrap up the year 2011. Three new birds
in one day, in North America, is something that does not happen much
anymore. So I was very thrilled. And then, on to more adventures...