Great Blue Heron fishing in Chartiers Creek near Carnegie
Nature turns up in the darnedest places. On a bright autumn day, a great blue heron patiently waits for a fish to float by—in Chartiers Creek near the Arch Street Bridge in Carnegie. A huge colony of herons nests in sycamores along Chartiers Creek in Upper St. Clair, and they can often be seen flying up and down the creek’s channel, looking vaguely prehistoric with the classic S-curve neck and arched wings. Their return to Chartiers Creek as a nesting ground indicates the increasing health of the creek; the water is clean enough to support adequate numbers of fish species to support an increasing colony of herons• Did you know Pittsburgh is becoming known as one of the country’s “greenest” cities? As we consider options for managing stormwater in the Lower Chartiers Watershed, much of what is being planned for the city of Pittsburgh, such as green roofs, solar energy, and greenspace requirements or land conservation for the public good as well as biodiversity can also be considered in our watershed to help alleviate flooding and traffic issues.