along the shore ... Hawk watchers dedicated then as now Braddock Bay Raptor Research as it is known today began in 1985 when local volunteers organized what was earlier an informal, volunteer activity monitoring annual spring hawk migrations as they passed over or near Braddock Bay. Local bird watchers probably always knew about the migrating birds, but it was only in the 1940s and 50s that Braddock Bay's reputation for outstanding variety and numbers of birds was widely recognized and appreciated. Laura Moon began a rigorous study in the early 1970s. She was joined in her efforts by her husband, Neil, upon retirement. The Moons saw a need for a more formal study of spring migrating hawks and so started Hawkwatch, a program that continued until the aging Moons turned it over to Jeff and Joan Dodge of Greece and its name was changed to Braddock Bay Raptor Research. Laura Moon remembers her first outings along the lake near Braddock Bay as an avid birdwatcher in the late 1940s. "Only a few long-time birders were even aware of the numbers of hawks and other birds that passed the area at that time," she says. "Far more was known about the fall migration, so I said, 'nothing's being done about the spring birds and it really ought to be done.' " So, in 1978 Mrs. Moon joined with a few other dedicated volunteers to keep track in a more scientific way of what they eventually learned would be about 100,000 birds each spring on migratory paths along the shore. Mrs. Moon recalls with pride, but also with a bit of weariness in her voice, the huge effort they had undertaken. "It was every day, all day, for four months," she says. The peak of the hawk migration tends to occur around the last week of April when most of the Broad-winged Hawks are counted, and the greatest diversity of species can be seen. Although the official count typically ends May 31, raptor migration continues at Braddock Bay until mid June. The spring migrating birds are returning to their breeding grounds -- mainly the boreal forests and tundra in Canada. The same birds wintered in the south where food is more plentiful. The numbers of migrating birds may vary from year to year depending on that food supply. When spring arrives, the hawks travel great distances and some breed farther to the north than others. Thus the different species pass by Braddock Bay at different times during migration. The Bald Eagle, for example, takes longer to fledge their young so they must arrive at their breeding grounds earlier than other species, like the Sharp-shined Hawk, which need relatively little time to fledge their young, hence migrate much later. The initiative and enthusiasm with which Laura and Neil Moon started Hawkwatch back in the 1970s is equally demonstrated by today's participants. David Tetlow, a local landscaper and newly-turned-professional birder says, "I've been birding here all my life, my dad started me birding when I was about twelve. I just like birding so much that now I make part of my living doing it." Tetlow has worked for the state doing surveys and monitoring bird populations, doing field research for ornithologists and other scientists. In 2004 he traveled twice to Wisconsin to do survey work for an environmental consulting firm doing site studies for a proposed wind turbine power project. Raptors and other birds can fly into windmills generating electric power. One recent cold, sunny day out on the Hawkwatch platform, Steve Daniel was one of those brave souls bundled up against the stiff wind coming in off the lake. Why was he there? "I've been looking at birds for 30 years," he said, "because the natural world is endlessly fascinating, whatever aspect you look at there's always surprises, it's amazingly diverse. Nearly anyone who takes the time to be exposed to it usually comes away with a connection. I think it actually touches us in a deep way most people now days are cut off from." Local retiree and volunteer firefighter Bud Morgan says, "I enjoy hanging out here. I like the people. When I was a kid I lived on Braddock Road. We used to play up in here. We'd see the birds but didn't know much about them. Now I just like to come out to watch the raptors for a couple of months in the spring." The primary Hawkwatch site is located in Braddock Bay Park, just off the East Manitou Road exit of the Lake Ontario State Parkway. The first left hand turn off the exit ramp leads to a parking area near a pavilion. The Hawkwatch platform is located a few yards to the southwest. Nearby is a boardwalk over the marsh allowing for a good view of migrating ducks, resident swans and other waterfowl. Leashed dogs are welcome.
Twenty-something Jason Starfire is as near a professional birder as one can be. At age nine, he started with a general interest in nature, including birds, rocks and sea shells while growing up on Cape Cod. He was encouraged in those interests by family members with gifts of books and other gear. As a teenager, he thought he might become an ornithologist, but later found he preferred field work far more than the science lab, so he began to forge a living as an interpretive tour guide, free-lance researcher and avian educator. He arrived at Braddock Bay for the spring Hawkwatch this year after an impressive round of earlier assignments at Cape May Bird Observatory in southern New Jersey, and in the Philippines, where he captured, radio-tagged, tracked and monitored Visayan Tarictic Hornbills for a species conservation project. His dedication to avian research was demonstrated there by living in extremely primitive conditions deep in the jungle with constant danger of venomous snakes, and sleeping in a hammock covered with tarp. Starfire also has spent time on research projects in the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the Pacific Northwest, while based in Seattle. He says he's always been able to make a living birding, with the majority of his income earned in the spring and summer. He uses off time in winter to travel and participate in birding projects overseas. He has a special interest in the birds of Southeast Asia. But a change is in the air this year. After meeting his spring and summer commitments to ongoing research projects, Starfire will join Nikon USA as a North American avian equipment representative traveling around the country promoting Nikon products at birding festivals and trade shows. He says, "I've been living out of a back pack more or less since I was 16. It's going to be nice to settle down in one place for a while and have a steady income." Starfire's unusual career may have a genetic origin. His father is a professional poker player, based in Las Vegas. He has made a living playing poker for nearly 40 years. As the chief counter for Hawkwatch, Jason's responsibility is to sight, identify, and record different species of birds as they pass near the observation deck at Braddock Bay Park. He often finds he serves too as a public relations spokesman, telling the many people who pass by what Braddock Bay Raptor Research is about. For the gaggle of birders with binoculars and telescopes who typically gather in a group near the observation platform, Jason is more than helpful sighting birds. He is often the first to make a sighting and calls out to the others the species and location of the bird so everyone can quickly find it in the sky. "People who like to watch hawks are weird," he says. "It's an interesting subculture within the birding world. Hawk watchers are not your typical bird watcher. They'll even be out here on bad days." Looking forward to Bird of Prey Week (April 16-23) he says, "It's good to get little kids out here, good to get all people out. Little kids get to use the binoculars, get to be up close with the birds. It's great." "I like seeing kids get involved because I know how well birding has treated me in my life." Fourteen species of raptors are regularly seen at Braddock Bay during spring Hawkwatch.
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