Bird-watcher Roberta Manian was hoping for a rare find Thursday — but this isn’t what she had in mind.
Manian, of Brooklyn, was scanning the rocks and waters near the 69th Street Pier in Bay Ridge at about 12:30 p.m. in an attempt to spot the elusive Eurasian wigeon, which she saw in the area a year ago.
[My friends] joke that one of these days I’m going to see something I don’t want to see … today is that day.
- Roberta Manian
Instead, she made a gruesome discovery.
“I’m looking at rock, rock, rock, then . . . blue jeans . . . human. I’m asking myself, ‘What am I seeing?’ Then I’m like, ‘Oh s–t, that’s a body!’ ” the 51-year-old retiree told The Post moments after she dialed 911.
Cops dispatched the Harbor Unit, which pulled out the body of an Asian man in his late 30s with blood on his forehead.
Manian said she’s accustomed to spotting strange sights when she’s bird-watching — but nothing like this.
“I see things I don’t want to see,” she said. “At Plumb Beach, you see naked butts. Lots of male action you’re surprised to see.”
But she had never before spotted a corpse.
Manian’s friends at the Brooklyn Bird Club, which she joined four years ago after retiring from her job as a computer-software manager, had ribbed her that she might make a shocking discovery.
“They joke that one of these days I’m going to see something I don’t want to see,” she said. “Today is that day.”
The death of the man is being investigated as a possible suicide, and the Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to conduct an autopsy Friday.
As for Manian, she gave up on her hopes of spotting the rare duck Thursday — cutting short her daylong adventure.
“Normally, I would continue down to Coney Island, but I’ve had it,” she said. “This is enough excitement for me.”
November is a big bird-watching month, with migratory species journeying south for the winter, Manian said.
“It’s a hobby, but I’m retired so I pretty much do it full time,” she said.
Additional reporting by Dana Sauchelli