| Braddock Bay | |
|---|---|
 Grassy fields at Beatty Point in Braddock Bay support ground-nesting bird species. | |
  Braddock Bay | |
| Location | AlongLake Ontario inMonroe County,New York |
| Coordinates | 43°18′44″N77°42′57″W / 43.31222°N 77.71583°W /43.31222; -77.71583[1] |
Braddock Bay, sometimes improperly referred to asBraddock's Bay, is a small bay ofLake Ontario located inMonroe County northwest ofRochester,New York in the United States.[1] Braddock Bay is renowned for being an excellent bird-watching location, asraptors and other birds congregate there when migrating north in spring.[2]
The bay's name is derived from a "barbarous mispronunciation"[3] of its original name, Prideaux Bay, which referred to British GeneralJohn Prideaux. The name was first given after Prideaux and his force of 3,200 soldiers encamped at the bay in 1759, on their way to theBattle of Fort Niagara during theFrench and Indian War, where Prideaux would be killed. Initial mispronunciation of the bay's name led to some confusion with British GeneralEdward Braddock, resulting in the bay's current name.[3]
Braddock Bay Marina was home toUnited States Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 45 from its creation in November 1974 until its dissolution at the end of 2011.[4]
Much of the land in this complex of marshland and small bays is managed by theNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as the 2,125-acre (8.60 km2)Braddock BayWildlife Management Area. The WMA was created in 1982 after theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP) transferred all but approximately 375 acres (1.52 km2) of the formerBraddock Bay State Park (established in 1956[5]) to the NYSDEC. The remaining parcels were leased to the Town of Greece in 1981.[6]
As of 2014, the NYSOPRHP retains ownership of 387 acres (1.57 km2) on the bay.[7] Much of this property is maintained by theTown of Greece asBraddock Bay Park, which is located on the east side of the open bay[8] and includes a hawk-watching station.
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The Braddock Bay Raptor Research center sponsors banding of bothowls andhawks, whose numbers peak in late March and early April.
The Braddock Bay complex also includes:
Birds to look for include:
