The Bake Oven Knob Autumn Hawk Watch is a long term hawk migration research project of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, and 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, and 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 and about 7 miles west of the Osprey House at LGNC. 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 raptors are identified and counted in August, September, October, and November in the Autumn count using the detailed techniques and procedures described in the Bake Oven Knob Hawk Count Protocol Guide.

Results are available to the public through three sources:

• Our annual publication, the American Hawkwatcher, is the official result of the count and also includes its analysis, other articles and is published in December or January. Click here to view the Bake Oven Knob bibliography.
• Hawk Migration Association of America’s (HMANA’s) Hawkcount web site includes counts, observations, and notes, and is updated daily during the migration season.
• Audubon and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s BirdSource web site (when you visit the site, click on Bake Oven Knob to view our counts).