Elk County
Cool Finds
This yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava) sapling was found growing 
in rich forest near the mouth of Irwin Run, a tributary of the Clarion River. The species, previously undocumented in Elk County, is more typically found growing in the southern Appalachian and Cumberland Mountains. This sapling probably originated from a seed that washed downstream from a tree planted as an ornamental in someone's yard.
Commonly known as either frog orchid 
or long-bracted orchis, Coeloglossum viride has a worldwide distribution throughout the Northern hemisphere and can be found in a broad range of habitats.
It is considered rare in a number of states including Pennsylvania, several Canadian provinces, and the Netherlands. This plant was also found growing near the yellow buckeye sapling pictured above.
The most common heron in the Northeast, the great blue heron (Ardea horodias) is
Pennsylvania's largest breeding bird. Great blue herons nest in colonies that can include as many as 200 breeding pairs. Nests are typically found in tall trees isolated from disturbance - heron rookeries in Pennsylvania are frequently located in remote forest, high in the mountains. During the late 19th through the first half of the 20th century, nesting great blue herons almost disappeared from the state, but their numbers have been increasing since the 1960s. Disturbance or destruction of woodland rookeries by logging and loss of wetland feeding and nesting habitats pose the greatest threats to the nesting success of this species. The nest pictured here is part of a rookery that was found in upland forest in State Game Land #44/54.
Calendar
o Fieldwork for the inventory will conclude by mid-October.
o A final advisory committee meeting will be scheduled for sometime in the late fall for review of the inventory results.
o A public presentation of the findings of the inventory will be scheduled in the Spring of 2005.
Recommend a Site
Click here to download our site recommendation form. Or submit a site online.
Contact
For questions relating to the Elk Co. Inventory, please contact:
Beth Brokaw
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
209 Fourth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 586-2312
bbrokaw@paconserve.org/a>