![Grasshopper Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Grasshopper-Sparrow-IMG_9722-Copy.jpg)
Prescribed Fire: Controlled Burns for Forest and Non-forest Habitats
Homo sapiens owes much of its success as a species to an acquired knowledge of how to make, control, and utilize fire. Using fire to convert the energy stored in combustible materials into light and heat has enabled humankind to expand its range throughout the globe. Indeed, humans in their furless incomplete mammalian state may have never been able to expand their populations outside of tropical latitudes without mastery of fire. It is fire that has enabled man to exploit more of the earth’s resources than any other species. From cooking otherwise unpalatable foods to powering the modern industrial society, fire has set man apart from the rest of the natural world.
In our modern civilizations, we generally look at the unplanned outbreak of fire as a catastrophe requiring our immediate intercession. A building fire, for example, is extinguished as quickly as possible to save lives and property. And fires detected in fields, brush, and woodlands are promptly controlled to prevent their exponential growth. But has fire gone to our heads? Do we have an anthropocentric view of fire? Aren’t there naturally occurring fires that are essential to the health of some of the world’s ecosystems? And to our own safety? Indeed there are. And many species and the ecosystems they inhabit rely on the periodic occurrence of fire to maintain their health and vigor.
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Forest-Fire-Prevention-Poster-National-Archives-image.png)
Man has been availed of the direct benefits of fire for possibly 40,000 years or more. Here in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, the earliest humans arrived as early as 12,000 years ago—already possessing skills for using fire. Native plants and animals on the other hand, have been part of the ever-changing mix of ecosystems found here for a much longer period of time—millions to tens of millions of years. Many terrestrial native species are adapted to the periodic occurrence of fire. Some, in fact, require it. Most upland ecosystems need an occasional dose of fire, usually ignited by lightning (though volcanism and incoming cosmic projectiles are rare possibilities), to regenerate vegetation, release nutrients, and maintain certain non-climax habitat types.
But much of our region has been deprived of natural-type fires since the time of the clearcutting of the virgin forests during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This absence of a natural fire cycle has contributed to degradation and/or elimination of many forest and non-forest habitats. Without fire, a dangerous stockpile of combustible debris has been collecting, season after season, in some areas for a hundred years or more. Lacking periodic fires or sufficient moisture to sustain prompt decomposition of dead material, wildlands can accumulate enough leaf litter, thatch, dry brush, tinder, and fallen wood to fuel monumentally large forest fires—fires similar to those recently engulfing some areas of the American west. So elimination of natural fire isn’t just a problem for native plants and animals, its a potential problem for humans as well.
![Indiangrass on Fire Indiangrass on Fire](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Ready-Indiangrass-IMG_9409-Copy.jpg)
To address the habitat ailments caused by a lack of natural fires, federal, state, and local conservation agencies are adopting the practice of “prescribed fire” as a treatment to restore ecosystem health. A prescribed fire is a controlled burn specifically planned to correct one or more vegetative management problems on a given parcel of land. In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is used to…
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- Eliminate dangerous accumulations of combustible fuels in woodlands.
- Reduce accumulations of dead plant material that may harbor disease.
- Provide top kill to promote oak regeneration.
- Regenerate other targeted species of trees, wildflowers, grasses, and vegetation.
- Kill non-native plants and promote growth of native plants.
- Prevent succession.
- Remove woody growth and thatch from grasslands.
- Promote fire tolerant species of plants and animals.
- Create, enhance, and/or manage specialized habitats.
- Improve habitat for rare species (Regal Fritillary, etc.)
- Recycle nutrients and minerals contained in dead plant material.
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Let’s look at some examples of prescribed fire being implemented right here in our own neighborhood…
![Prescribed Fire Prescribed Fire](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Ready-IMG_5790.jpg)
![Prescribed Fire Eliminates Fuel for Larger Fires Prescribed Fire at Fort Indiantown Gap](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Ready-FIG-IMG_7518-Copy.jpg)
![Prescribed Fire Reduces Fuel Load in Forest Prescribed Fire at Fort Indiantown Gap](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-fire-Ready-FIG-IMG_8973-4.jpg)
![Prescribed Fire in Grassland Prescribed fire in grassland.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-fire-Ready-big-bluestem-IMG_8973-2.jpg)
![Prescribed Fire to Control Invasive Species Prescribed Fire to Control Invasive Species](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-fire-Ready-food-plot-IMG_8973-3.jpg)
![Woodland in Need of the Good Doctor's Prescription A woodlot understory choked with combustible fuels and tangles of invasive Multiflora Rose.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Woodlot-choked-with-fuel-and-Multiflora-Rose-IMG_9291.jpg)
![Precribed Fire to Eliminate Woody Growth Precribed Fire to Eliminate Woody Growth](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Successional-Woody-growth-IMG_9284-Copy.jpg)
![Precribed Fire Education Sign at middle creek Wildlife Management Area Precribed Fire Education Sign at middle creek Wildlife Management Area](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Education-Sign-at-MCWMA-IMG_9124.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-MCWMA-grasslands-IMG_9121.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-MCWMA-grasslands-IMG_9196.jpg)
![Grasshopper Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Grasshopper-Sparrow-IMG_0994-Copy.jpg)
![Ring-necked Pheasant Ring-necked Pheasant](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Ring-necked-Pheasant-IMG_0979-Copy.jpg)
![Prescribed Burn Maintains Savanna-like Habitat Prescribed Burn Maintains Savanna-like Habitat](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Savanna-like-habitat-one-year-later-IMG_4019-Copy.jpg)
![Pitch Pines in Savanna-like Habitat Pitch Pines in Savanna-like Habitat](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Savanna-like-habitat-one-year-later-IMG_4030-Copy-1.jpg)
![Red-headed Woodpecker Adult and Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker Adult and Juvenile](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Red-headed-Woodpecker-032a-Copy.jpg)
![Wild Turkey in Savanna-like Habitat Wild Turkey in Savanna-like Habitat](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/sep1021secmt-084-Copy.jpg)
![Buck Moth Buck Moth](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/insectDSC06161-Copy.jpg)
![Leaves of the Bear Oak in fall. Leaves of the Bear Oak in fall.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/img610-Bear-Oak-Ready.jpg)
![Reed Canary Grass Reed Canary Grass](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Burn-Ready-Reed-Canary-Grass-DSC08984.jpg)
![Prescribed Burn to Reduce Prevalence of Reed Canary Grass Prescribed Burn to Reduce Prevalence of Reed Canary Grass](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-fire-Ready-Invasive-grass-IMG_8973-6.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/photos-to-be-sorted-228.jpg)
![Depiction of Pennsylvania's Last American Bison, Killed in Union County in 1801. Depiction of Pennsylvania's Last American Bison, Killed in Union County in 1801. (Exhibit: State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg)](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/American-Bison-04841-Copy.jpg)
![](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/photos-to-be-sorted-223.jpg)
![Honey Bee Collecting Minerals After Prescribed Burn Honey Bee Collecting Minerals After Prescribed Burn](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-fire-Ready-bee-IMG_8973-1.jpg)
![Fly Collecting Minerals from Burned Grasses Fly Collecting Minerals from Burned Grasses](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Ready-Fly-IMG_9414-Copy.jpg)
In Pennsylvania, state law provides landowners and crews conducting prescribed fire burns with reduced legal liability when the latter meet certain educational, planning, and operational requirements. This law may help encourage more widespread application of prescribed fire in the state’s forests and other ecosystems where essential periodic fire has been absent for so very long. Currently in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, prescribed fire is most frequently being employed by state agencies on state lands—in particular, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on State Forests and the Pennsylvania Game Commission on State Game Lands. Prescribed fire is also part of the vegetation management plan at Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation and on the land holdings of the Hershey Trust. Visitors to the nearby Gettysburg National Military Park will also notice prescribed fire being used to maintain the grassland restorations there.
For crews administering prescribed fire burns, late March and early April are a busy time. The relative humidity is often at its lowest level of the year, so the probability of ignition of previous years’ growth is generally at its best. We visited with a crew administering a prescribed fire at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area last week. Have a look…
![Prescribed Fire Public Outreach Members of a Pennsylvania Game Commission burn crew provide visitors to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with an overview of prescribed fire.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-Public-DemonstrationIMG_7764-Copy.jpg)
![Burn Boss Checking Weather Burn Boss Checking Weather](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Burn-Boss-checks-weather-IMG_7770-Copy.jpg)
![Burn Boss Briefing Crew Burn Boss Briefing Crew](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Burn-Boss-Conducts-pre-fire-briefing-IMG_7779-Copy.jpg)
![Prescribed Fire Test Burn Prescribed Fire Test Burn](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-Fire-test-burn-IMG_7789-Copy.jpg)
![Igniting the Fire Igniting the Fire](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Prescribed-burn-underway-IMG_7810-Copy.jpg)
![Crew Member with Equipment Prescribed Fire Crew Member with Equipment](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Drip-Torch-as-ignition-source-IMG_7796-Copy.jpg)
![Wildfire ATV Wildfire ATV](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mobile-fire-apparatus-IMG_7869-Copy.jpg)
![Fire Break Prescribed Fire](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Fire-ignitition-along-mowed-grass-fire-break-IMG_7858-Copy.jpg)
![Effective Fire Break Effective Fire Break](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Mobile-fire-apparatus-and-mowed-strip-of-cool-season-grass-as-fire-break-IMG_7860-Copy.jpg)
![Halting the Process of Succession in a Grassland Halting the Process of Succession in a Grassland with Prescribed Fire](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Heat-for-killing-back-woody-growth-IMG_7852-Copy.jpg)
![Containing the Fire on the Flanks Containing the Fire on the Flanks](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Establishing-a-downwind-and-uphill-perimeter-IMG_7872-Copy.jpg)
![The Crew Monitors the Burn The Crew Monitors the Burn](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Fire-set-after-uphill-perimeter-is-burned-IMG_7875-Copy.jpg)
![Natural Mosaic-style Burn Pattern Prescribed Fire: Natural Mosaic-style Burn Pattern](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Burn-Boss-oversees-fire-plan-implementation-IMG_7879-Copy.jpg)
![Great Spangled Fritillary Great Spangled Fritillary](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Great-Spangled-Fritillary-068.jpg)
![Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Joe-pye Weed Eastern Tiger Swallowtails on Joe-pye Weed.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_4286-Copy.jpg)
![Indiangrass Indiangrass in flower in mid-summer.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Indiangrass-5725-Copy-2.jpg)
![Bobolinks in Indiangrass Bobolinks in Indiangrass](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Insects-and-bobolink-Warm-Season-Grass-meadow-mcwma-181-Copy.jpg)
Prescribed burns aren’t a cure-all for what ails a troubled forest or other ecosystem, but they can be an effective remedy for deficiencies caused by a lack of periodic episodes of naturally occurring fire. They are an important option for modern foresters, wildlife managers, and other conservationists.
Birds of the Sunny Grasslands
With the earth at perihelion (its closest approach to the sun) and with our home star just 27 degrees above the horizon at midday, bright low-angle light offered the perfect opportunity for doing some wildlife photography today. We visited a couple of grasslands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to see what we could find…
![Grasslands and Hedgerows Grasslands and Hedgerows](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Grassland-Successional-Growth-IMG_6503-Copy.jpg)
![Common Persimmon The sun-dried fruits of a Common Persimmon tree found growing in a hedgerow.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Persimmon-fruit-IMG_6506-Copy.jpg)
![Savanna-like Grasslands Savanna-like Grasslands](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Savannah-like-grasslands-IMG_6610-Copy.jpg)
![Song Sparrow Song Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Song-Sparrow-IMG_6591-Copy.jpg)
![White-throated Sparrow White-throated Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/White-throated-Sparrow-IMG_6517-Copy.jpg)
![Northern Mockingbird Northern Mockingbird](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Northern-Mockingbird-IMG_6490-Copy.jpg)
![Swamp Sparrow Swamp Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Swamp-Sparrow-IMG_6481-Copy.jpg)
![White-crowned Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/White-crowned-Sparrow-IMG_6592-Copy.jpg)
![White-crowned Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/White-crowned-Sparrow-IMG_6587-Copy.jpg)
![Dark-eyed Junco Dark-eyed Junco](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Dark-eyed-Junco-IMG_6606-Copy.jpg)
![Savannah Sparrow Savannah Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Savannah-Sparrow-IMG_6598-Copy.jpg)
![Winter Wren Winter Wren](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Winter-Wren-IMG_6521-Copy.jpg)
![Standing Clump of Timber Standing Clump of Timber](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Timber-In-grasslands-IMG_6565-Copy.jpg)
!["Snag" Nest Cavity A "snag" with an excavated nest cavity.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Snags-IMG_6566-Copy.jpg)
![Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Red-bellied-Woodpecker-IMG_6524-Copy.jpg)
![Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Yellow-bellied-Sapsucker-IMG_6508-Copy.jpg)
![Pileated Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Pileated-Woodpecker-IMG_6547-Copy.jpg)
![Northern Harrier Northern Harrier](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Northern-Harrier-IMG_6642-Copy.jpg)
![Northern Harrier Northern Harrier](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Northern-Harrier-IMG_6644-Copy.jpg)
Some Good Reasons to Postpone Mowing Until Mid-August
Here in a series of photographs are just a handful of the reasons why the land stewards at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and other properties where conservation and propagation practices are employed delay the mowing of fields composed of cool-season grasses until after August 15 each year.
![Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Meadowlark](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Eastern-Meadowlark_9181-Copy.jpg)
![Grasshopper Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Grasshopper-Sparrow-IMG_0994-Copy.jpg)
![Bobolink Bobolink](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/may082021ctrmcwma-164-Copy.jpg)
![Ring-necked Pheasant Ring-necked Pheasant](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Ring-necked-Pheasant-IMG_0979-Copy.jpg)
![Blue Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Blue-Grosbeak-lg-IMG_1004-Copy.jpg)
Right now is a good time to visit Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area to see the effectiveness a delayed mowing schedule can have when applied to fields of cool-season grasses. If you slowly drive, walk, or bicycle the auto tour route on the north side of the lake, you’ll pass through vast areas maintained as cool-season and warm-season grasses and early successional growth—and you’ll have a chance to see these and other grassland birds raising their young. It’s like a trip back in time to see farmlands they way they were during the middle years of the twentieth century.
Shorebirds and More at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
Have you purchased your 2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp? Nearly every penny of the 25 dollars you spend for a duck stamp goes toward habitat acquisition and improvements for waterfowl and the hundreds of other animal species that use wetlands for breeding, feeding, and as migration stopover points. Duck stamps aren’t just for hunters, purchasers get free admission to National Wildlife Refuges all over the United States. So do something good for conservation—stop by your local post office and get your Federal Duck Stamp.
![2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp 2023-2024 Federal Duck Stamp. Your Federal Duck Stamp is your free pass to visit the nation's National Wildlife Refuges including Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge on Delaware Bay near Smyrna, Delaware.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Duck-Stamp-2023-IMG_0789-Copy.jpg)
Still not convinced that a Federal Duck Stamp is worth the money? Well then, follow along as we take a photo tour of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Numbers of southbound shorebirds are on the rise in the refuge’s saltwater marshes and freshwater pools, so we timed a visit earlier this week to coincide with a late-morning high tide.
![Northern Bobwhite Northern Bobwhite](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Northern-Bobwhite-IMG_0281-Copy.jpg)
![Shearness Pool at Bombay Hook N.W.R. Shearness Pool at Bombay Hook N.W.R.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sign-IMG_0425-Copy.jpg)
![Great Blue Heron Great Blue Heron](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Great-Blue-Heron-IMG_0365-Copy.jpg)
![Semipalmated Sandpipers Semipalmated Sandpipers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Semipalmated-Sandpipers-IMG_0296-Copy.jpg)
![Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitcher Semipalmated Sandpipers and Short-billed Dowitcher](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Semipalmated-Sandpipers-and-Short-billed-Dowitcher-IMG_0352-Copy.jpg)
![Short-billed Dowitchers Short-billed Dowitchers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Short-billed-Dowitchers-IMG_0390-Copy.jpg)
![Sandpipers, Avocets, Egrets, and Mallards Sandpipers, Avocets, Egrets, and Mallards](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mixed-flock-IMG_0354-Copy.jpg)
![Short-billed Dowitchers Short-billed Dowitchers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Short-billed-Dowitchers-IMG_0377-Copy.jpg)
![Semipalmated Sandpipers Semipalmated Sandpipers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mixed-shorebird-flock-IMG_0414-Copy.jpg)
![Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Forster's Terns](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mixed-flock-IMG_0539-Copy.jpg)
![Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster's Terns, and Short-billed Dowitcher Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forster's Terns, and a Short-billed Dowitcher](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mixed-flock-closeup-IMG_0539-Copy.jpg)
![Short-billed Dowitchers Short-billed Dowitchers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Short-billed-Dowitchers-feeding-IMG_0403-Copy.jpg)
![Short-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and a Snowy Egret Short-billed Dowitchers, American Avocets, and a Snowy Egret](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Short-billed-Dowitchers-and-avocets-IMG_0386-Copy.jpg)
![Stilt Sandpiper among Short-billed Dowitchers Stilt Sandpiper among Short-billed Dowitchers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Short-billed-Dowitchers3-IMG_0386-Copy-1.jpg)
![American Avocets American Avocets](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/American-Avocets-IMG_0369-Copy.jpg)
![Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dunlin-with-Dowitchers-IMG_0424-Copy.jpg)
![Least Sandpiper Least Sandpiper](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sandpiper-IMG_0519-Copy.jpg)
![Lesser Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lesser-Yellowlegs-IMG_0527-Copy.jpg)
![Lesser Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Lesser-Yellowlegs-IMG_0533-Copy.jpg)
![Greater Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Greater-Yellowlegs-IMG_0549-Copy.jpg)
![Caspian Tern Caspian Tern](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Caspian-Tern-IMG_0407-Copy.jpg)
![Marsh Wren Singing Marsh Wren singing](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Marsh-Wren-IMG_0295-Copy.jpg)
![Marsh Wren Nest Marsh Wren Nest](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Marsh-Wren-nest-IMG_0757-Copy.jpg)
![Seaside Dragonlet Seaside Dragonlet](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Seaside-Dragonlet-IMG_0348-Copy.jpg)
![Red-winged Blackbird Red-winged Blackbird](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Red-winged-Blackbird-IMG_0435-Copy.jpg)
![Bobolink Bobolink](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bobolink-IMG_0397-Copy.jpg)
![Mute Swans and Canada Geese Mute Swans and Canada Geese](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mute-Swans-and-Canada-Geese-IMG_0430-Copy.jpg)
![Trumpeter Swans Trumpeter Swans](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Trumpeter-Swans-IMG_0630-Copy.jpg)
![Great Egret Great Egret](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Great-Egret-IMG_0431-Copy.jpg)
![Snowy Egret Snowy Egret](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Snowy-Egret-IMG_0532-Copy.jpg)
![Wood Ducks A hen Wood Duck (second from right) escorts her young.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Wood-Ducks-IMG_0571-Copy.jpg)
![Black-necked Stilt and Young Black-necked Stilt and young.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Black-necked-Stilt-with-young-IMG_0565-Copy.jpg)
As the tide recedes, shorebirds leave the freshwater pools to begin feeding on the vast mudflats exposed within the saltwater marshes. Most birds are far from view, but that won’t stop a dedicated observer from finding other spectacular creatures on the bay side of the tour route road.
![Tidal Marshes](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sign-IMG_0426-Copy.jpg)
![Atlantic Horseshoe Crab Atlantic Horseshoe Crab](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Horseshoe-Crab-shell-IMG_0460-.jpg)
![Boardwalk Trail](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fiddler-Crab-Habitat-IMG_0707-Copy.jpg)
![Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fiddler-Crabs-IMG_0709-Copy.jpg)
![Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crabs](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fiddler-Crabs-IMG_0705-Copy.jpg)
![Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fiddler-Crab-IMG_0692-Copy.jpg)
![Great Egret Great Egret](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Great-Egret-IMG_0349-Copy.jpg)
![Green Heron Green Heron](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Green-Heron-IMG_0503-Copy.jpg)
![Clapper Rail Clapper Rail](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Clapper-Rail-IMG_0762-Copy.jpg)
![Glossy Ibis Glossy Ibis](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Glossy-Ibis-MG_0612-Copy.jpg)
![Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and possibly other species feed on the mudflats exposed by low tide.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Great-Black-backed-and-Herring-Gulls-IMG_0765-Copy.jpg)
![Osprey Ospey](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Osprey-IMG_0738-Copy.jpg)
No visit to Bombay Hook is complete without at least a quick loop through the upland habitats at the far end of the tour route.
![Indigo Bunting Indigo Bunting](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Indigo-Bunting-IMG_0667-Copy.jpg)
![Blue Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Blue-Grosbeak-IMG_0609-Copy.jpg)
![Trumpet Creeper and Poison Ivy Trumpet Creeper and Poison Ivy](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Trumpet-Creeper-IMG_0722-Copy.jpg)
![Pileated Woodpecker in Sweet Gum Pileated Woodpecker in Sweet Gum](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Pileated-Woodpecker-IMG_0582-Copy.jpg)
![Red-bellied Slider and Painted Turtle Red-bellied Slider and Painted Turtle](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Red-bellied-Slider-and-Painted-Turtle-IMG_0477-Copy.jpg)
![White-tailed Deity White-tailed Deity](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/White-tailed-Deity-IMG_0623-Copy.jpg)
![Fowler's Toad Fowler's Toad](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Fowlers-Toad-IMG_0664-Copy.jpg)
![Turk's Cap Lily Turk's Cap Lily](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Turks-Cap-Lily-IMG_0652-Copy.jpg)
![Wild Turkey Wild Turkey](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Wild-Turkey-IMG_0485-Copy.jpg)
We hope you’ve been convinced to visit Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge sometime soon. And we hope too that you’ll help fund additional conservation acquisitions and improvements by visiting your local post office and buying a Federal Duck Stamp.
Monarch an Endangered Species: What You Can Do Right Now
This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) added the Migratory Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) to its “Red List of Threatened Species”, classifying it as endangered. Perhaps there is no better time than the present to have a look at the virtues of replacing areas of mowed and manicured grass with a wildflower garden or meadow that provides essential breeding and feeding habitat for Monarchs and hundreds of other species of animals.
![Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster Monarch on Common Milkweed Flower Cluster](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Monarch-on-Common-Milkweed-045-Copy.jpg)
If you’re not quite sure about finally breaking the ties that bind you to the cult of lawn manicuring, then compare the attributes of a parcel maintained as mowed grass with those of a space planted as a wildflower garden or meadow. In our example we’ve mixed native warm season grasses with the wildflowers and thrown in a couple of Eastern Red Cedars to create a more authentic early successional habitat.
![Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow Comparison of Mowed Grass to Wildflower Meadow](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Mowed-Lawn-vs-Wildflower-Meadow-Copy-Copy.png)
Still not ready to take the leap. Think about this: once established, the wildflower planting can be maintained without the use of herbicides or insecticides. There’ll be no pesticide residues leaching into the soil or running off during downpours. Yes friends, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a private well or a community system, a wildflower meadow is an asset to your water supply. Not only is it free of man-made chemicals, but it also provides stormwater retention to recharge the aquifer by holding precipitation on site and guiding it into the ground. Mowed grass on the other hand, particularly when situated on steep slopes or when the ground is frozen or dry, does little to stop or slow the sheet runoff that floods and pollutes streams during heavy rains.
What if I told you that for less than fifty bucks, you could start a wildflower garden covering 1,000 square feet of space? That’s a nice plot 25′ x 40′ or a strip 10′ wide and 100′ long along a driveway, field margin, roadside, property line, swale, or stream. All you need to do is cast seed evenly across bare soil in a sunny location and you’ll soon have a spectacular wildflower garden. Here at the susquehannawildllife.net headquarters we don’t have that much space, so we just cast the seed along the margins of the driveway and around established trees and shrubs. Look what we get for pennies a plant…
![Wildflower Garden Wildflower Garden](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wildflower-Garden-008-Copy.jpg)
Here’s a closer look…
![Lance-leaved Coreopsis Lance-leaved Coreopsis](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Lance-leaved-Coreopsis-112-Copy.jpg)
![Black-eyed Susan Black-eyed Susan](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Black-eyed-Susan-084-Copy.jpg)
![Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy" Black-eyed Susan "Gloriosa Daisy"](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Gloriosa-Daisy-082-Copy.jpg)
![Purple Coneflower Purple Coneflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Purple-Coneflower-085-Copy.jpg)
![Common Sunflower Common Sunflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Common-Sunflower-153-Copy.jpg)
![Common Sunflower Common Sunflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Common-Sunflower-154-Copy.jpg)
All this and best of all, we never need to mow.
Around the garden, we’ve used a northeast wildflower mix from American Meadows. It’s a blend of annuals and perennials that’s easy to grow. On their website, you’ll find seeds for individual species as well as mixes and instructions for planting and maintaining your wildflower garden. They even have a mix specifically formulated for hummingbirds and butterflies.
![Annuals in Bloom Annuals in bloom](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/annuals-in-bloom-5876-Copy.jpg)
![Wildflower Seed Mix Wildflower Seed Mix](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AM-NE-wildflower-seed-mix-5668-Copy.jpg)
Nothing does more to promote the spread and abundance of non-native plants, including invasive species, than repetitive mowing. One of the big advantages of planting a wildflower garden or meadow is the opportunity to promote the growth of a community of diverse native plants on your property. A single mowing is done only during the dormant season to reseed annuals and to maintain the meadow in an early successional stage—preventing reversion to forest.
For wildflower mixes containing native species, including ecotypes from locations in and near the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, nobody beats Ernst Conservation Seeds of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Their selection of grass and wildflower seed mixes could keep you planting new projects for a lifetime. They craft blends for specific regions, states, physiographic provinces, habitats, soils, and uses. Check out these examples of some of the scores of mixes offered at Ernst Conservation Seeds…
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- Pipeline Mixes
- Pasture, Grazing, and Hay Mixes
- Cover Crops
- Pondside Mixes
- Warm-season Grass Mixes
- Retention Basin Mixes
- Wildlife Mixes
- Pollinator Mixes
- Wetland Mixes
- Floodplain and Riparian Buffer Mixes
- Rain Garden Mixes
- Steep Slope Mixes
- Solar Farm Mixes
- Strip Mine Reclamation Mixes
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We’ve used their “Showy Northeast Native Wildflower and Grass Mix” on streambank renewal projects with great success. For Monarchs, we really recommend the “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”. It includes many of the species pictured above plus “Fort Indiantown Gap” Little Bluestem, a warm-season grass native to Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and milkweeds (Asclepias), which are not included in their northeast native wildflower blends. More than a dozen of the flowers and grasses currently included in this mix are derived from Pennsylvania ecotypes, so you can expect them to thrive in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
![Swamp Milkweed Swamp Milkweed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Swamp-Milkweed-820.jpg)
![Monarch Caterpillar Feeding on Swamp Milkweed Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Swamp Milkweed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC00161-e1502054123300-1024x820.jpg)
![Butterfly Weed Butterfly Weed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Butterflyweed-163-Copy.jpg)
![Tiger Swallowtails Visiting Butterfly Weed Tiger Swallowtails visiting Butterfly Weed](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Butterflyweed-027-Copy.jpg)
In addition to the milkweeds, you’ll find these attractive plants included in Ernst Conservation Seed’s “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden Mix”, as well as in some of their other blends.
![Wild Bergamot Wild Bergamot](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wild-Bergomot-052.jpg)
![Oxeye Oxeye](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Oxeye-5764-Copy.jpg)
![Plains Coreopsis Plains Coreopsis](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Plains-Coreopsis-5743-Copy.jpg)
![Gray-headed Coneflower Gray-headed Coneflower](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Gray-headed-Coneflower-5829-Copy.jpg)
![Monarch on Goldenrod Monarch on goldenrod.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Monarch-on-Goldenrod-139.jpg)
![Partridge Pea Partridge Pea](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Partridge-Pea141-Copy.jpg)
![Indiangrass Indiangrass in flower.](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Indiangrass-5725-Copy-2.jpg)
Why not give the Monarchs and other wildlife living around you a little help? Plant a wildflower garden or meadow. It’s so easy, a child can do it.
![Planting a Riparian Buffer Planting a riparian buffer with wildflowers and warm-season grasses](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/casting-seed-mixed-with-sand.jpg)
![Riparian Buffer in Bloom Riparian Buffer of wildflowers](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Wildflower-Planting-along-stream-after-sediment-removal.jpg)
![Monarch Pupa Monarch Pupa](https://www.susquehannawildlife.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Monarch-Pupa-on-Miscanthus-1024x768.jpg)