Bake Oven Knob 2 miles North of Germansville, Pennsylvania, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 07:30:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Andre Vu
Observers: Doug Burton, Ed Sinkler, Travis Rennig, Will Shiable
Visitors: 14 visitors today. Joined by Travis Rennig, Ed Sinkler, Doug Burton, Will Shiable, Bethe Jensen, and one Aaron whose last name I unfortunately can't recall.
Weather: A chilly 53-63 degrees F, partly cloudy, strooong east wind with gusts up to 26 mph. Forecasted to be ENE but felt much more like SE from both lookouts. Smaller raptors (and butterflies) were often getting blown backwards, and ravens were doing somersaults into the wind.
Bonus observation of a sun dog today.
Raptor Observations: Bald eagle (1): 1320a, plus 4-5 local BAEA going upridge Golden eagle (1): 1210i
Similar to yesterday, most of today's birds were high and distant. After noticing the flight line seemed to be way south of us, we swapped from the north lookout to the Knob - which helped, but not much. Finally, after a long morning of squinting into the sun, someone called out something close. We got eyes on a big, dark raptor with luscious blonde locks, and I couldn't keep from yelling...
"IT'S A ****ING GOLDEN EAGLE!!" A beautiful, beautiful animal that flew right past the south lookout, on a terrible, terrible day to leave my camera at home. No worries, there's time to get pics in November - today I got to fully take in the view! My first golden this year helped me appreciate their field marks from distance, but this one dumbfounded me with looks that could've been front page of a magazine. Thanks for your sacrifices, Aaron, Doug, and Ed.
No obvious white in either the upperside or underside of the wings but an uneven white tail base makes me think this was probably a 3rd year bird.
Non-raptor Observations: Some blue jay movement in the morning, who were all really struggling in the wind. Travis got us and many other hikers on a gorgeous copperhead he found basking under a small rock ledge, one-upping the rat snake he'd found earlier.
Predictions: Sunny, with a high near 66. Northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Lehigh Gap Nature Center (<mail...>) Bake Oven Knob information may be found at: www.lgnc.org
