Braddock Bay is located northwest of Rochester, NY on Lake Ontario. Braddock Bay is renowned for being an excellent bird watching location, as raptors and other birds congregate when migrating north in Spring. A hawk watching station is located within the 440 acre park on the east side of the open bay, and is maintained by the Town of Greece.
Braddock Bay Raptor Research (BBRR) is located, not surprisingly, at Braddock Bay State Park, on the south shore of Lake Ontario. The Research Center focuses on migratory raptors (in this case, hawks and owls). The bay itself is a natural waypoint on their migratory path, putting BBRR in an ideal position to track statistics. During peak times of the migratory seasons (roughly April and August), volunteers have seen over 100 hawks a day. BBRR's current research focuses on sex differences in migration, testing the theory that males migrate earlier than females (blood samples taken from banded birds are used to determine the sex).
Volunteers are also available to do educational programs for a small fee, bringing live birds, books, and information to share with groups of all ages.
In addition to all of this, BBRR hosts weekly "Hawk Walks" and "Owl Prowls," leaving Braddock Bay Park at 9am and 8am respectively each weekend (see their website for details). Both are quiet walks through the various woods around the park in hopes of spotting a resting raptor.
The Braddocks Bay Complex also includes:
* Owl Woods (Pear Orchard)- banding station * The Spits (East & West) * The Bay * Cranberry, Long and Buck Ponds * Beatty Point * Hogan Point and Hincher Road * Northrup Creek * Salmon Creek * Island Cottage Woods * Rose Marsh
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