Laurel Ridge Summit, Westmoreland County
Some northern breeding (New England, eastern Canada) species breed southward along ridge tops of the mid Atlantic and southern Appalachian Mountains. At higher elevations the climate and habitat is similar to that of more northerly latitudes (vertical zonation). Spruce Flats bog is at an elevation of 2,720~ feet above sea level. The highest point in PA is Mount Davis at 3,213 feet, to the southeast in adjacent Somerset County. In summer around the bog can be seen and heard Hermit Thrush, Veery, Blue-headed (Solitary) Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch, Northern Raven, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet. Less common or rare possible nesting (attempts at nesting, establishing a nesting territory) species are Mourning Warbler (present in summer of 1999), Northern Goshawk, Sawwhet Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (present in summer of 1998), Nashville Warbler, Swamp Sparrow, Northern Waterthrush, Lincoln's Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Grosbeaks, and Crossbills. Ruffed Grouse can be heard drumming in the spring, summer and fall. Plants in the bog include Cotton Grass, Cranberry, Blueberry, Atlantic (Southern) White Cedar, Marsh St. John's Wort, and the insectivorous Pitcher Plant and Round-leaved Sundew. A small sedge grows profusely, carpetting areas of the bog, Rhynchospora or Cladium species. Juneberry shrubs line the approach to the observation deck.
The Pitcher Plants were transplanted into Spruce Flats Bog from the Glade Run Bog in Somerset County by members of the Botanical Society of Westmoreland County during the 1950s, including Pitcher Plants transplanted in 1959/60 by Dorothy and Carl Auserwald of the Botanical Society. Glade Run Bog, located not far from Mt Davis, near the state line in southern Somerset County, was bought by the PA Fish Commission sometime around 1960 for construction of a recreation area and lake. High Point Lake (342 acres, 2840 ft el.) on Glade Run is probably the site of the original bog, just wsw of Mt Davis. Nature lovers, conservationists, and botanists tried to stop the flooding and destruction of this unique Laurel Highland bog, with its rare plantlife, but the PA Fish Commission went ahead with construction of the lake.
Pine trees in and around the bog are Pitch Pine, Eastern White Pine, Norway Spruce, Scotch Pine, Tamarack, Austrian Pine, Eastern Hemlock. White Pine trees at the NNE edge of the bog (as seen from the observation deck) are blown into a windswept shape by the prevailing west to east winds. Ferns that dominate the bog area are the large Cinnamon, Bracken, and Interrupted Ferns. Smaller ferns are the New York, Spinulose Wood and Hayscented. The other ferns are in the woods around the bog, where also can be found wildflowers (in season) such as Wood Sorrel, Star Flower, Painted Trillium, Dwarf Ginseng, Wild Lily-of-the-valley, Trailing Arbutus, Fringed Polygala (Gaywings). The nearby Wolf Rocks trail passes through thickets of Mountain Laurel and Rhododendren. Some Mountain Winterberry (Ilex montana) are along the trail. Mountain Ash are at Wolf Rocks.
A wooden observation deck was built by the Pennsylvania Conservation Corp and the Youth Conservation Corp in 1995 and 1996.
above: autumn of 2003
above: autumn of 2003
above: stunted Atlantic White Cedar, extralimital & rare in western PA
its normal range is the Atlantic Coastal Plain, April 11 2009
above: stunted Pitch Pine in foreground, April 11 2009
above: recent rain retention, low red clumps are Pitcher Plant leaves, April 11 2009
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