Endangered Species-Description

Broad-leaved Iron Weed (Vernonia glauca) is a slender, glabrous or puberulent plant ranging between 2-5 feet in height. The 4-7 inch leaves are thin, broadly oval or slightly obovate, sharply serrated, 1-2.5 inches toothed. Flowers are branched in 10-20 groupings. They are purplish in color and are between 1/4 and 1/3 of an inch wide. The pappus is yellowish, the bracts ovate with filiform tips. It is found in woods from Pennsylvania and Maryland, South to Georgia and Alabama.

Long-beaked Bald-rush (Psilocarya scirpoides) very similar to the short-beaked bald-rush. It is usually smaller, less than one foot in height. Umbels are more numerous, spikelets are oblong or ovoid-oblong. The achene is nearly orbicular in outline, biconvex and not as flat as the short-beaked bald-rush. It is found in wet soils from eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and northern Indiana, South to Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata), a perennial glabrous bog herb with a stout, thick leafed fibrous, root stock having basil oblanceolate persistent leaves and a large pink. flower which blooms between April and May in its range. It is found in bogs from Southern New York to the Carolinas. The leaves are dark green, thin, and clustered at the base of the scape. They are approximately 6 to 15 inches long and range in width between 1/2 and 2 inches. The leaves can be pointed or blunt with a parallel vein structure. The scape is stout and bracketed below. The plant remains green throughout the year. Reproduction is through slowly growing rhizomes or a seed head that forms after the flower has bloomed.

The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) is a pigeon-sized bird characterized by a long neck and short tail. The overall coloration is brown with a dark rump and primary feathers in the adult. It's habitat includes grasslands, prairies and hay fields. In flight, it often holds its wings in a downward curve and raises them over its back before folding them to a resting position. This bird is also known as the Upland Plover in some areas in its range which extends from Alaska and Central Canada to the central United States. It winters in South America.

The Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) is a 5 to 6 and 1/2 inch long grayish bird. It is a streaked sparrow with white outer tail feathers, a narrow white eye-ring, and a small chestnut colored patch on the bend in the wing as distinguishing characteristics. It's habitat includes fields, pastures and roadsides in agricultural lands. It ranges from British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, South to the Carolinas, Texas, Colorado, and California. It winters from New England to the Gulf Coast and Mexico. It's song is rich and musical often ending with a descending series of trills.

Cooper's hawk (Accipeter cooperii) is crow size hawk also known as the Chicken hawk. Its long narrow banded tail, rounded wing tips and barred rust ventral coloring are distinguishing characteristics. It prefers an open deciduous forest that is interrupted with meadows and clearings but also can associate with a coniferous forest. The range of the bird is from lower Canada, through the United States, to Florida. It's preferred food are birds especially young chicks and ducklings.

NOTE: bird photographs came from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.

Gough, G.A., Sauer, J.R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/infocenter.html