State Game Lands 95 (The Glades)
| Butler |
| DESCRIPTION: The Glades (SGL 95) is located in north-central Butler County 7 miles east of Slippery Rock via Kiester Road and 14 miles north of Butler via PA 308. Most of the 15,945-acre site is situated south of PA 58, east of PA 308, north of PA 138 and west of PA 38. It is owned and managed by the PGC. The Glades was originally selected for its diversity of habitats, especially its wetlands. Even today there are different types of marshes and swamps, such as extensive sedge-cattail emergent marshes, alder-willow scrub-shrub, palustrine forested types and standing dead tree swamps. Add to those lakes, ponds, wet and dry meadows, old abandoned fields, brushy fields, scrub thickets, pine-and aspen-studded strip mines, mature deciduous forests, eastern hemlock stands, exotic spruce and fir trees at abandoned home sites, crabapple thickets, old orchards, corn, soybean and grain fields, pine plantations and hedgerows of autumn olive and multi-flora rose. The largest, most recognizable physical feature of the site, however, is Glades Dam Lake (2.5 miles long) that was formed by damming the South Branch of Slippery Rock Creek to make a large but fluctuating impoundment. The PGC maintains a propagation area at the north end of Glades Dam Lake and surrounding terrain and is strictly off limits to all people, including hunters. The water level of Glades Dam Lake is drawn down in the spring to protect vegetative cover at the south end of the lake and raised in the fall to accommodate migrating waterfowl. Since the time of water level adjustments varies each year with the weather, the amount of exposed shoreline and mudflat is unpredictable for shorebirds. However, Glades Dam Lake is responsible for establishing a conducive habitat for the appearance and nesting of the Osprey and Bald Eagle, both Pennsylvania threatened species. The lake is shallow and tends to freeze early and thaw later than other nearby bodies of water. It should not be surprising, therefore, that with such a variety of habitats the Glades is a great attraction for birds year round. Until recently, the currently listed Pennsylvania endangered American Bittern, Least Bittern, and Sedge Wren and the Pennsylvania threatened Upland Sandpiper were common here. All four species require wet meadows and marsh conditions at least some time during their breeding regimen and these vegetative conditions, although greatly diminished, are still present. Furthermore, other breeding wetland species are well documented in recent field surveys: Pied-billed Grebe, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Marsh Wren, and Swamp Sparrow. Interior area sensitive forest species known to breed here are Acadian and Least flycatchers, Veery, Wood Thrush, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Northern Parula, and Louisiana Waterthrush. SGL 95 is consistently a birding hotspot for recording unusual species for this part of Butler County, such as Sandhill Crane (spring), American Pipit (spring), Northern Shrike (winter), Northern Mockingbird (resident), Rusty Blackbird (spring and autumn) and the rare Brewer's Blackbird (autumn). There is suspicion that the Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creeper breed in the many evergreen plantations on the site but confirmation is still lacking. The Glades is owned and managed by the PGC mostly for hunting, trapping and fishing, thus birders should wear plenty of orange in hunting seasons. Stay on roads and trails and you should not be bothered with deer ticks or poison ivy. However, deer flies can be bothersome in summer. |
DIRECTIONS: See sub sites |
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| Posted: 2009-10-24 00:00:00 Updated: |
