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Lehigh Gap Nature
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Bake Oven Knob Hawk Count
The Bake Oven Knob Hawk Count is a long term hawk migration research project of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. It is an important part of the Kittatinny Raptor Corridor Project. The annual count was started in 1961 by Donald S. Heintzelman, who directed the count for 37 years, retired from counting and leading the project after the 1997 season.
Bake Oven Knob is a rocky outcrop on the Kittatinny Ridge, or Blue Mountain, on the border between Lehigh and Carbon Counties in eastern Pennsylvania. The South Lookout, used on calm days or days with southerly winds, is perched atop a high cliff and has a commanding view of the Lehigh Valley. Click here for directions to Bake Oven Knob.
Migrating hawks are identified and counted in August, September, October, and November in the Autumn count. Ages and sexes of raptors are also recorded whenever possible. The results of the count and its analysis, other articles, and field notes are published annually in American Hawkwatcher.
During the 2005 season, a total of 15,853 raptors were counted during 831.7 hours of observation. The table below summarizes the count by species and month.
2005 Bake Oven Knob Hawk Count Totals
(updated January 2006)
| Species | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Total | #/Hr. |
| Black Vulture | 41 | 89 | 97 | 99 | 326 | 0.39 |
| Turkey Vulture | 96 | 306 | 297 | 324 | 1023 | 1.23 |
| Osprey | 32 | 349 | 145 | 0 | 526 | 0.63 |
| Bald Eagle | 33 | 75 | 43 | 23 | 174 | 0.21 |
| Northern Harrier | 4 | 29 | 56 | 63 | 152 | 0.18 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 16 | 659 | 2858 | 140 | 3673 | 4.42 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 7 | 54 | 405 | 26 | 492 | 0.59 |
| Northern Goshawk | 0 | 2 | 23 | 32 | 57 | 0.07 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | 5 | 109 | 63 | 178 | 0.21 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 50 | 4677 | 43 | 0 | 4770 | 5.74 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | negl. |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 28 | 186 | 1924 | 1484 | 3622 | 4.36 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.01 |
| Golden Eagle | 0 | 1 | 48 | 68 | 117 | 0.14 |
| American Kestrel | 13 | 75 | 139 | 3 | 230 | 0.28 |
| Merlin | 0 | 21 | 124 | 5 | 150 | 0.18 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 25 | 27 | 3 | 55 | 0.07 |
| Unidentified Hawks | 15 | 72 | 176 | 38 | 301 | 0.36 |
| TOTALS | 336 | 6,625 | 6,517 | 2,375 | 15,853 | 19.06 |
| Observation Days | 15 | 30 | 26 | 27 | 98 | |
| Observation Hours | 118.9 | 274.8 | 230 | 208 | 831.7 |
Detailed results are available to the public through three sources:
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Hawk Migration Association of America’s (HMANA’s) Hawkcount website. This includes daily counts, observations, and notes.
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Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's BirdSource web site (when you visit the site, click on Bake Oven Knob to view our counts).
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In our publication, the American Hawkwatcher, available from the Lehigh Gap Nature Center. Note that this is the only official count.
Results from prior years are available via the buttons on the left of this page.
