Sorry, Hawk Mountain.
Too bad, Pinnacle.
I hate to break the news to you, but the best view in Berks County is not from your lofty peaks.
A couple of Saturdays ago, the Baird Ornithological Club hosted its first-ever hawk watch atop the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower.
Although what seemed like gale-force winds kept the hawk sightings down, those who ventured the 168 steps to the top were treated to the most spectacular vista in Berks.
The northwest winds and passing cold front cleared the air and offered us an unparalleled view that extended more than 60 miles.
To the east, we could see the skyscrapers of Philadelphia.
To the northwest, we discerned the line of windmills that twirl on top of the Kittatinny Ridge. We followed the ridge-line east past Bake Oven Knob to the bleached and scarred mountainside near Palmerton, which was denuded by decades of pollution from a zinc-processing plant.
Could that be, farther on, the Delaware Water Gap?
Half the fun of the morning on the fire tower was picking out local landmarks and municipal boundaries.
BOC member Katrina Knight remarked, "It's not every day you get to look down at the Pagoda."
The view also reminds us that Reading truly is a beautiful city, a perspective we need to keep in these unsettled times.
And there were birds to be seen.
The local turkey vultures battled the wind, and a dozen or so sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks flew by.
The best sighting was a merlin, a falcon midway in size between a kestrel and peregrine, chasing one of the local red-tails.
The nonprofit Pagoda-Skyline Inc. has done remarkable work restoring and maintaining the fire tower and deserves community support and thanks.
Corrie Crupi from Pagoda-Skyline graciously opened the fire tower to the BOC and greeted visitors at the entrance.
The fire tower will be open to the public again this year on Nov. 20 and Dec. 18.
It might be a little chilly up there, but it's worth the climb for even a few minutes of that spectacular view.
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Last Monday, we carried a story about the dramatic rescue of an injured juvenile red-tailed hawk from the roof of the Chiarelli Parking Plaza at Third and Court streets.
Washington Towers residents Nilda Mercado and her fiance, Ariel Rosenthal, spotted the hawk and led the efforts to rescue the bird.
Eventually, the Reading Fire Department used a ladder truck to retrieve the wounded hawk.
The bird, suffering from a severe wing injury and dehydration, later died at the Red Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Schuylkill Haven.
There was speculation as to what caused the injuries, including a collision with an airplane.
I would suggest that the young hawk invaded the downtown peregrine falcons' airspace, which the falcons fiercely defend, and was attacked.
The parking garage is a mere block from the falcons' first nest site, and I've seen the falcons harass and drive to the ground adult redtails and even three great egrets.
Those birds, however, weren't injured.
This young redtail wasn't as lucky.
