Braddock Bay Bird Observatory

05/29/2026

Looking for something unique to do this weekend?

Out of Pocket, Inc.'s upcoming production of Deep Blue Sound will benefit Braddock Bay Bird Observatory! We invite you to join us from May 22-30 at the Multi-Use Community Center, 142 Atlantic Ave, Rochester. Shows start at 7:30, and tickets are only $15-$20. You can get your culture fix, support local theater, and support local conservation all at once!

Synopsis: On a picturesque island in Puget Sound, we find a town in a crisis: the whales have gone missing. While (unofficial) Mayor Annie searches for a solution, Chris tries to get back together with Mary; John reaches out to help Homeless Gary; Leslie longs for a faraway pen pal; Ali has come home to care for her mother; and Ella has a secret she only wants to share with local journalist Joy Mead, who she barely knows. But what about the whales? Is their absence just a seasonal glitch, or is it a sign of our collective failure to take care of the Earth? DEEP BLUE SOUND is a funny and moving play about the connections we make - and the ones we long to make - to other people and the world around us.

05/27/2026

They don’t always have a ruby throat, but when the sun hits them just right . . . BAM!

05/25/2026

No matter how you say the name, Northern Parulas are definitely a part of the Feast Your Eyes gang! #

05/20/2026

Out of Pocket, Inc.'s upcoming production of Deep Blue Sound will benefit Braddock Bay Bird Observatory! We invite you to join us from May 22-30 at the Multi-Use Community Center, 142 Atlantic Ave, Rochester. Shows start at 7:30, and tickets are only $15-$20. You can get your culture fix, support local theater, and support local conservation all at once!

Synopsis: On a picturesque island in Puget Sound, we find a town in a crisis: the whales have gone missing. While (unofficial) Mayor Annie searches for a solution, Chris tries to get back together with Mary; John reaches out to help Homeless Gary; Leslie longs for a faraway pen pal; Ali has come home to care for her mother; and Ella has a secret she only wants to share with local journalist Joy Mead, who she barely knows. But what about the whales? Is their absence just a seasonal glitch, or is it a sign of our collective failure to take care of the Earth? DEEP BLUE SOUND is a funny and moving play about the connections we make - and the ones we long to make - to other people and the world around us.

05/17/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Wednesday May 13, 2026

New birds banded: 255 birds of 27 species
Birds recaptured: 5

New species: Yellow-throated Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Purple Finch, Baltimore Oriole, Tennessee Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and Blackburnian Warbler.

Bird of the day was Yellow-rumped Warbler with 118 new bands, followed by Western Palm Warbler with 23 new bands.

A couple days ago, it looked like today was going to be a washout and we sent out an email letting our volunteers know that there was a good chance we’d be closed all day. On Tuesday the forecast improved, and by about 4:00 AM on Wednesday morning we decided we’d probably be able to open starting around three hours after sunrise. We notified the crew (yes – they check their email in the middle of the night!), but advised them that it wasn’t a guarantee we’d be banding and they could opt to stay home rather than come in for a possible partial day. Ultimately, six brave volunteers chose to make the drive in, and what a day we had!

You can read all about our day on our blog: https://braddockbaybirdobservatory.wordpress.com/2026/05/13/fallout/

05/17/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Tuesday May 12, 2026

New birds banded: 36 birds of 16 species
Birds recaptured: 16

No new species.
Bird of the day was Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 6 new bands, followed by a tie between Gray Catbird and Common Yellowthroat each with 4 new bands.

Our station received some sad news today. Chris Gates, who served as a land steward for the Kaiser-Manitou Beach Preserve (where we do our MAPS banding) and who founded the Tree Swallow project we have been monitoring recently, passed away late last month. We checked the boxes this morning and we were going to send him an update this afternoon, but we found out about his passing just as we were sitting down to compose an email. In his memory, we've posted some beautiful Tree Swallow photos on our blog today.

You can read more about Chris and about the Tree Swallow Project on today's blog: https://braddockbaybirdobservatory.wordpress.com/2026/05/12/saying-goodbye-to-our-tree-swallow-steward/

📷 Tree Swallows. Photo by Greg Coniglio. All birds handled by trained personnel operating under appropriate federal and state permits.

05/17/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Monday May 11, 2026

New birds banded: 59 birds of 24 species
Birds recaptured: 15

New species: American Goldfinch, Field Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Mourning Warbler, and Northern Parula.

Bird of the day was Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 15 new bands, followed by Yellow-rumped Warbler with 9 new bands.

The kinglets keep on coming, but we are seeing more and more warblers starting to filter through. Yellow-rumped Warblers are still the most numerous and they tend to be an early-spring warbler, but with the addition of three new warbler species today we are up to 20 species for the spring. We always "feast our eyes" on the first Mourning Warbler of the season, as they are just stunning with their snappy grey hood and black bib.

Read more about our day on our blog: https://braddockbaybirdobservatory.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/the-ruby-crowned-kinglets-keep-on-coming/

📷 Mourning Warbler, photo by Andrea Patterson. All birds are handled by trained personnel operating under appropriate federal and state permits.

05/16/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Sunday May 10, 2026

New birds banded: 60 birds of 17 species
Birds recaptured: 12

New species: Hooded Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler.

Bird of the day was Yellow-rumped Warbler with 16 new bands followed by Blue Jay with 15 new bands.

It isn't often that Blue Jays sit in one of the top two spots on the leaderboard, but with rivers of them streaming over every morning, it is almost inevitable that some find their way into our nets. While we enjoy their gorgeous blue plumage and dapper black collar, they are definitely a feisty handful for those of us that have smaller hands! Much easier to handle are the beautiful Yellow-rumped Warblers, which was our other top bird today.

Read more about our day on our blog, and check out the Polyphemus Moth cocoon we found: https://braddockbaybirdobservatory.wordpress.com/2026/05/10/picking-up-the-pace/

📷 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, photo by Andrea Patterson. All birds handled by trained personnel operating under appropriate federal and state permits.

05/16/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Saturday May 9, 2026

New birds banded: 27 birds of 15 species
Birds recaptured: 14

New species: Magnolia Warbler

Bird of the day was Gray Catbird with 6 new bands, followed by Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 3 new bands.

It was World Migratory Bird Day and the Global Big Day today. To celebrate, we welcomed the first outing of the Feminist Bird Club of Rochester, and later many friends and family of our Board of Directors. While the birds weren't terribly abundant, we were never without a bird to talk about even if every now and then it was a Bald Eagle soaring over or a Baltimore Oriole singing in a tree. It was a real treat to show so many new visitors what we do, and we hope to welcome them all back!

You can read more about our day on our blog: https://braddockbaybirdobservatory.wordpress.com/2026/05/09/two-fantastic-groups-visit-today/

📷 Magnolia Warbler, photo by Andrea Patterson. All birds are handled by trained personnel operating under appropriate federal and state permits.

05/16/2026

BBBO Flight Log for Friday May 8, 2026

New birds banded: 24 birds of 11 species
Birds recaptured: 10

New species: Lincoln's Sparrow.

Bird of the day was Gray Catbird with 5 new bands, followed by a tie between Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Western Palm Warbler each with 4 new bands.

We've decided that in Rochester, you never really know what the weather is going to do until it is doing it. The forecast predicted a dry day, but the skies decided to sprinkle and even pepper us with some sort of frozen water! We shortened our net runs to just 15 minutes for the hour or so until the precipitation moved out. We are starting to see more mid-spring migrants, but kinglets still have a place on the leaderboard and we wonder if they will ever move on!

Read more about our day on our blog:

Friday May 8, 2026: 24 new birds of 11 species, 10 recaps. New species: Lincoln’s Sparrow. The season’s cumulative total now stands at 697 new birds of 44 species. Bird of the day was Gray Ca…