Pennsylvania Game News - February 2022 - 44

white cedar, and white and Norway
spruce - are available this year. All
provide excellent thermal cover for
wildlife, Stone said.
" The Norway spruce is a great species
to replace stands of hemlock that
succumbed to the woolly adelgid, " he
said.
Hardwood species include black
locust, Washington hawthorn, and
northern red, pin and sawtooth oak.
Shrubs available in this year's sale
include graystem and silky dogwood,
northern bayberry, and ninebark, which
Stone said has attractive white flowers
and is an excellent nectar source and
pollinator.
Orders of 12 or more total units qualify
for applicable discounted pricing.
With the discount, prices are as low
as $5.50 per unit. Regular prices range
from $8 to $10 depending upon the
seedling species.
To place a seedling order, call Howard
Nursery at 814-355-4434 during
regular hours, Monday through Friday
from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Orders can be
placed by FAX at 814-355-8094.
The order form easily is accessed
under Quick Clicks on the Game Commission's
website.
PLOVERS FLEDGE TWO
State-endangered piping plovers
again nested on the shores Presque Isle
State Park in Erie County in 2021, fledging
two chicks in the fifth consecutive year
of nesting success in Pennsylvania.
What started as a routine season
ended with four nests - three of which
failed and one of which partially hatched.
Typically, a male and female will
pair shortly after returning from the
wintering grounds in April, lay three to
four eggs in a small pebble-lined scrape
on the beach, and equally care for the
eggs and young.
But this year, the same male that
pioneered the Pennsylvania site in 2017
after an absence of nesting plovers
since 1955, courted not one, but
three different females at overlapping
intervals.
That put each nest in jeopardy,
making for a nail-biter of a nesting
season. But it worked out in the end.
Pennsylvania's success is paying
dividends for the Great Lakes piping
plover population, the smallest
population with only 74 nests basinwide
this season.
Since 2017, four of 18 Pennsylvania
fledglings have returned to breed in the
Great Lakes. In 2021, Great Lakes piping
plovers nested on all five Great Lakes, in
six states and one Canadian province.
PLEASE REPORT YOUR DEER HARVEST
With the deer seasons coming to a close, the
Game Commission is issuing one last reminder to
hunters to report any and all deer harvests from
the 2021-22 seasons.
By law, harvests must be reported within 10
days. But those who miss the deadline and report
late will not be prosecuted.
" While the law requires deer hunters to report
their harvests soon after deer are taken, and all
who fill tags should make prompt reporting a habit,
it can be easy to forget, " said Game Commission
44
Executive Director Bryan Burhans. " The Game
Commission still is compiling deer harvest reports
from the 2021-22 seasons, which means there's
still time for every deer harvest to be reported. "
Harvests can be reported online at the Game
Commission's website, www.pgc.pa.gov, by clicking
on the Report a Harvest icon on the homepage,
or they can be entered directly at huntfish.pa.gov.
Reporting online is the quickest and most costeffective
way to report a harvest. Hunters also may
report by mail or by phone.
http://www.pgc.pa.gov http://huntfish.pa.gov
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2022

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