Jun 22-24: Synchronous Firefly Outing

Last year during the Allegheny Defense Project's spring outing they discovered a population of synchronous fireflies. In the fall of last year, the Allegheny National Forest Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) approved a small grant to pay for firefly researchers to travel to the ANF in June to study this population. The field season is starting, and you can participate!  It is very important that those of us living in an around the ANF, or who are willing to visit the ANF for the purposes of this study, begin to watch for the first occurence of firefly activity.


The general plan is to gather in the campsite at the intersection of FR 145 and FR 127 in Kelletville on Friday afternoon and set up our main camp there. We want to keep Camp #11 open if possible for quiet, no-light, observations from Dusk to 2AM. Early Friday evening there will be a discussion of what we know so far about fireflies and discuss flash patterns for identifying different species.

On Saturday everyone will sleep in (since folks will have been up til 1 or 2 am) and then try to get in the water someplace, so bring things that float and a life vest. Much coffee and tea will be consumed prior to late Saturday night observations. Saturday we will be asking some of you to volunteer to go to other places in the forest to look for synchronous displays (that means driving on forest roads after 11pm).

The fireflies are affected by bright light (like car headlights) so we want to try to minimize coming and going after dark. Blue light is apparently less disruptive to their eyes at night, and red is less disruptive to ours


Link to Outing Location
http://www.communitywalk.com/fireflies/map/1513360#0004UVpb

Link to nearby campground with drive-in sites and bathrooms
http://www.communitywalk.com/location_info/1513360/9869887

What to bring:
*Camping gear
*Food (consider bringing things to share)
*Water and water filter
*Small flash light or pen light with red light and ideally blue light capability
*Chair(s) or sitting things
*Floating things and life vests.

*Firefly Flash Chart
https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/flash_chart

*Forest Map (not absolutely necessary but extremely helpful)--purchase at Forest Service office in Warren, PA, see link:
http://www.communitywalk.com/location_info/1513360/9869066

or Ranger Offices in Bradford, see link: http://www.communitywalk.com/location_info/1513360/9869070

or Ranger Offices Marienville , see link:
http://www.communitywalk.com/location_info/1513360/9869079


Info and updates on the Facebook event page.  Above photos by Ryan Conners and Theresa Darling.  More images and description of last year's outing are online at the ADP site.