I live near a Spring migration route (Braddock Bay,NY) for hawks. The hawks ride thermals and when they hit the cooler lake they turn back into the bay area and are easier to see. SW winds produce the best flights. Weather plays a big role in how many birds are seen each year. When they gather together like this it's called a kettle. This is a small kettle but any group is always neat to see.

In this kettle there are Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, maybe some Red-shouldered Hawk, maybe a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Harrier or a Cooper's Hawk. We also get Osprey, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Merlin, Kestrel, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Black Vulture, Northern Goshawk and Peregrine Falcon through our area.

If you want to see the count numbers for the year visit Hawkcount at http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=353 . Mid April is the largest count days because huge kettles of Broad-winged Hawks come through. When they do finally get here, it's not unusual to have a count of 10,000 or more on a single day of just Broad-winged Hawks.