Braddock Bay (03 Apr 2026) 12231 Raptors
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rep...@hawkcount.org
Apr 3, 2026, 9:58:45 PM (4 days ago) Apr 3
to genesee...@geneseo.edu
Braddock Bay
Rochester, New York, USA
Visitors:
20
Weather:
The morning started with SSW winds at 15-20mph, temps in the upper 50s, and partly sunny skies. At 8am it started to rain, lasting for 30 minutes, before becoming partly sunny again. As the day progressed the temps increased to a high of 75F. Winds also increased to 20-25mph and shifted more westerly. Some very strong wind gusts reached 45mph. Cloud cover decreased throughout the day. Around 5:45pm a cold front passed and shut down the flight completely.
Raptor Observations:
Holy Turkey Vultures! Today had a spectacular flight of vultures tallying 10,759 individuals, setting a new all-time single day record. The flight started early, with a handful of birds moving before the rain hit. After the rain, it took the birds about an hour to get up and start moving again. The biggest single hour for vultures was between 12pm and 1pm with a total of 4,443 individuals passing by. It was a great day for Sharp-shinned Hawks as well! Over the course of the day we had a total of 746 individuals. Their flight was continuous from sunrise to when the cold front hit just before 6pm. In total, we saw 14 species of raptor today. Red-tailed Hawks (290), American Kestrels (184), and Northern Harriers (115) were the other three species that hit triple digits. All three falcon species were seen, with 4 Peregrines and 1 Merlin in addition to the kestrels. Other big highlights of the day included 1 Golden Eagle, 2 American Goshawks, and 3 Rough-legged Hawks! The vulture flight was predominantly on the lake side at a low to mid height. Some vultures and the majority of buteos were moving along the parkway. The Sharp-shinned Hawk flight was mostly on the parkway side, however there were a decent number passing very low over the platform.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: as expected for this date, the morning flight consisted mainly of American Robins and blackbirds. Thousands of birds were moving in the first few hours of the morning, mostly heading east along the lakeshore. There were at least a few hundred Rusty Blackbirds, plus good numbers of Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American Crow, and Horned Lark. We also noted an uptick in flyover Purple Finches and two Yellow-rumped Warblers. Numbers of Bonaparte�s Gulls increased in the afternoon, with around 180 seen flying into the bay and heading west. The hybrid drake Redhead X Canvasback hybrid continued on the bay.
Predictions:
Tomorrow�s weather: Cloudy skies with a high of 54F. Winds will be east in the morning at 10-20mph and potentially shifting more SE in the afternoon. There is a chance there will be small numbers of birds moving into the east wind in the morning, as long as the wind isn�t too strong. The number of birds tomorrow will definitely be much lower than today!
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 03, 2026 | |||
| Species | Day's Count | Month Total | Season Total |
| Black Vulture | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Turkey Vulture | 10759 | 10760 | 18576 |
| Osprey | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| Bald Eagle | 40 | 40 | 336 |
| Northern Harrier | 115 | 115 | 208 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 746 | 746 | 943 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 24 | 24 | 128 |
| American Goshawk | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 57 | 57 | 449 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 290 | 290 | 727 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 3 | 3 | 74 |
| Golden Eagle | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| American Kestrel | 184 | 184 | 318 |
| Merlin | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 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 |
| Total: | 12231 | 12232 | 21810 |
| Observation start time: | 06:00:00 |
| Observation end time: | 17:00:00 |
| Total observation time: | 11 hours |
| Official Counter | Maili Waters |
| Observers: | Bridget Watts, Daena Ford, Greg Sanda, Janis George, Luke Seitz, Mike Tetlow, Mitch Barry, Pat Martin, Randy Ford, Roger Clark, Rosemary Reilly, Sheryl Gracewski, Tim Willis, Vid Killius |
Visitors:
20
Weather:
The morning started with SSW winds at 15-20mph, temps in the upper 50s, and partly sunny skies. At 8am it started to rain, lasting for 30 minutes, before becoming partly sunny again. As the day progressed the temps increased to a high of 75F. Winds also increased to 20-25mph and shifted more westerly. Some very strong wind gusts reached 45mph. Cloud cover decreased throughout the day. Around 5:45pm a cold front passed and shut down the flight completely.
Raptor Observations:
Holy Turkey Vultures! Today had a spectacular flight of vultures tallying 10,759 individuals, setting a new all-time single day record. The flight started early, with a handful of birds moving before the rain hit. After the rain, it took the birds about an hour to get up and start moving again. The biggest single hour for vultures was between 12pm and 1pm with a total of 4,443 individuals passing by. It was a great day for Sharp-shinned Hawks as well! Over the course of the day we had a total of 746 individuals. Their flight was continuous from sunrise to when the cold front hit just before 6pm. In total, we saw 14 species of raptor today. Red-tailed Hawks (290), American Kestrels (184), and Northern Harriers (115) were the other three species that hit triple digits. All three falcon species were seen, with 4 Peregrines and 1 Merlin in addition to the kestrels. Other big highlights of the day included 1 Golden Eagle, 2 American Goshawks, and 3 Rough-legged Hawks! The vulture flight was predominantly on the lake side at a low to mid height. Some vultures and the majority of buteos were moving along the parkway. The Sharp-shinned Hawk flight was mostly on the parkway side, however there were a decent number passing very low over the platform.
Non-raptor Observations:
Non-raptors: as expected for this date, the morning flight consisted mainly of American Robins and blackbirds. Thousands of birds were moving in the first few hours of the morning, mostly heading east along the lakeshore. There were at least a few hundred Rusty Blackbirds, plus good numbers of Belted Kingfisher, Northern Flicker, American Crow, and Horned Lark. We also noted an uptick in flyover Purple Finches and two Yellow-rumped Warblers. Numbers of Bonaparte�s Gulls increased in the afternoon, with around 180 seen flying into the bay and heading west. The hybrid drake Redhead X Canvasback hybrid continued on the bay.
Predictions:
Tomorrow�s weather: Cloudy skies with a high of 54F. Winds will be east in the morning at 10-20mph and potentially shifting more SE in the afternoon. There is a chance there will be small numbers of birds moving into the east wind in the morning, as long as the wind isn�t too strong. The number of birds tomorrow will definitely be much lower than today!
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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