The 95th Montauk Christmas Bird Count was conducted on Saturday, December 14th. *124 species* were observed on the count day. This is in line with the count's recent historical average, though well below last year's total of 134 species. The lower total was almost certainly influenced by the cold temperatures in the lead-up to the count. Many half-hardy passerines that are often recorded on the count, like Marsh Wren and Yellow-breasted Chat, were absent. Significant amounts of open fresh water were frozen on count day, though the larger bodies remained unfrozen.
Species highlights included the first count record of *Sooty Shearwater *seen following a commercial dragger in the Point South territory. This remarkable record was not wholly unexpected, however, given the large numbers of shearwaters lingering in the vicinity of Montauk Point until early December. Also remarkable were *three Black-headed Gulls* observed in the Lake West territory. Other interesting species included *three Harlequin Ducks* (Point South), *one Black-legged Kittiwake* (Point South), *one Red-shouldered Hawk* (Lake West), *one Long-eared Owl* (Lake West), and *two Red-headed Woodpeckers* (Gardiners Island). Only a handful of new high counts were set, including 436 Ring-necked Ducks (almost all on Gardiners Island), 522 Hooded Mergansers (almost all on Gardiners Island), the aforementioned three Black-headed Gulls, and 21 Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Our deepest thanks to Frank Quevedo and the South Fork Natural History Museum for hosting the compilation and providing dinner and to all participants for joining us and to the area leaders for organizing coverage. For those interested, the 2025 count will take place on *Saturday, December 20, 2025*. Co-Compilers Brent Bomkamp Angus Wilson -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
