Held continually for the better part of the last 100 years, autumn migration hawk counts in the Lehigh Valley region record some eye-popping numbers of birds passing through the region.

The counts are underway for 2025 at both Bake Oven Knob and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

Organizers welcome visitors and even participants as the counts continue into fall.

Lehigh Gap Nature Center outside Slatington runs the count at Bake Oven Knob, a high point on the Blue Mountain/Kittatinny Ridge along the Appalachian Trail between Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, and East Penn Township, Carbon County.

It’s in its 65th year, dating to 1961, with over 800,000 migrating birds recorded during that time. Among the bird populations recorded during the fall 2024 count from Aug. 15 through Nov. 29 were 437

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