Braddock Bay (18 Apr 2026) 1167 Raptors
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rep...@hawkcount.org
Apr 18, 2026, 6:55:51 PM (9 days ago) Apr 18
to genesee...@geneseo.edu
Braddock Bay
Rochester, New York, USA
Visitors:
Many! Today was Bird of Prey Days!
Weather:
South winds all day started light and increased as the day progressed. Temps started in the 50s and reached a high of 78F. Mostly cloudy skies all day with rain hitting just before 5pm.
Raptor Observations:
Just before noon we received a call from Andy Guthrie notifying us about a Swallow-tailed Kite that just flew over him heading our way. After a few minutes of frantic scanning Luke Seitz picked it out over the maintenance building heading southeast. It was pretty far away and only in view for a split second, but a couple people managed to see the dorsal side of the bird as it banked! This is only the second ever Swallow-tailed Kite to be recorded during a spring migration count here at Braddock Bay (the first one was in 1987)! Including the very exciting Swallow-tailed Kite we saw a total of 1,167 migrating raptors today! This is the first day of the season where Sharp-shinned Hawks (412) were the most numerous species. Broad-winged Hawks (321) and Turkey Vultures (266) were also moving in decent numbers. It was also a great day for American Kestrels, with a day total of 72. In addition to the kestrels, we also saw the two other falcon species; Peregrine and Merlin.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: The morning flight consisted of the usual suspects like American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds with the highlight being hundreds of Rusty Blackbirds and Purple Finches. There were a couple new species for the year including Palm Warbler and Chimney Swift.
Report submitted by Maili Waters (mailir...@gmail.com)
Braddock Bay information may be found at: http://www.bbrr.org/
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
Rochester, New York, USA
| Daily Raptor Counts: Apr 18, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Turkey Vulture | 266 | 17342 | 25158 |
| Osprey | 7 | 30 | 33 |
| Bald Eagle | 23 | 260 | 556 |
| Northern Harrier | 28 | 552 | 645 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 412 | 4082 | 4279 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 11 | 79 | 183 |
| American Goshawk | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | 84 | 476 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 321 | 9971 | 9971 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 22 | 720 | 1157 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 11 | 82 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 11 | 26 |
| American Kestrel | 72 | 569 | 703 |
| Merlin | 1 | 11 | 20 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 2 | 9 | 16 |
| Unknown Accipitrine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Raptor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Short-eared Owl | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Swallow-tailed Kite | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total: | 1167 | 33742 | 43320 |
| Observation start time: | 05:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 16:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 10.25 hours |
| Official Counter | Maili Waters |
| Observers: | Andy Guthrie, Bridget Watts, Greg Lawrence, Luke Seitz, Mike Tetlow, Mitch Barry, Niki Banke, Roger Clark |
Visitors:
Many! Today was Bird of Prey Days!
Weather:
South winds all day started light and increased as the day progressed. Temps started in the 50s and reached a high of 78F. Mostly cloudy skies all day with rain hitting just before 5pm.
Raptor Observations:
Just before noon we received a call from Andy Guthrie notifying us about a Swallow-tailed Kite that just flew over him heading our way. After a few minutes of frantic scanning Luke Seitz picked it out over the maintenance building heading southeast. It was pretty far away and only in view for a split second, but a couple people managed to see the dorsal side of the bird as it banked! This is only the second ever Swallow-tailed Kite to be recorded during a spring migration count here at Braddock Bay (the first one was in 1987)! Including the very exciting Swallow-tailed Kite we saw a total of 1,167 migrating raptors today! This is the first day of the season where Sharp-shinned Hawks (412) were the most numerous species. Broad-winged Hawks (321) and Turkey Vultures (266) were also moving in decent numbers. It was also a great day for American Kestrels, with a day total of 72. In addition to the kestrels, we also saw the two other falcon species; Peregrine and Merlin.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: The morning flight consisted of the usual suspects like American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds with the highlight being hundreds of Rusty Blackbirds and Purple Finches. There were a couple new species for the year including Palm Warbler and Chimney Swift.
Report submitted by Maili Waters (mailir...@gmail.com)
Braddock Bay information may be found at: http://www.bbrr.org/
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Trektellen.org - [Project Details]
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