Tracy Graziano A pair of piping plovers mate at Presque Isle State Park in Erie County. Two pairs of the federally ĞŶĚĂŶŐĞƌĞĚĂŶĚŽŶĐĞƐƚĂƚĞͲĞdžƟƌƉĂƚĞĚƐŚŽƌĞďŝƌĚŶĞƐƚĞĚĂƚƚŚĞƉĂƌŬƚŚŝƐLJĞĂƌ͕ĂŶĚƚǁŽƉŝƉŝŶŐ ƉůŽǀĞƌĐŚŝĐŬƐƚŽŽŬŇŝŐŚƚĨƌŽŵŽŶĞŽĨƚŚĞŶĞƐƚƐŝŶ:ƵŶĞ͘tŚŝůĞƚŚĞŽƚŚĞƌŶĞƐƚǁĂƐŽǀĞƌĐŽŵĞďLJ ƐƚƌŽŶŐǁĂǀĞƐ͕ƚŚĞĞŐŐƐǁĞƌĞƌĞƐĐƵĞĚĂŶĚƚŚĞƚǁŽĐŚŝĐŬƐŚĂƚĐŚĞĚŝŶĐĂƉƟǀŝƚLJǁĞƌĞƚŽďĞƌĞůĞĂƐĞĚ͘ State-extirpated bird nests again in Pa. ŽŶƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶƉůĂŶŶŝŶŐďƌŝŶŐƐďĂĐŬĨĞĚĞƌĂůůLJĞŶĚĂŶŐĞƌĞĚƐŚŽƌĞďŝƌĚ͘ Absent as a Pennsylvania breeding bird since the mid-1950s, two pairs of federally endangered Great Lakes piping plovers returned this year to nest in the Gull Point Natural Area at Presque Isle State Park in Erie County. "The return of nesting piping plovers to the Lake Erie shoreline demonstrates the resolve of the Game Commission and its partners to expand Pennsylvania's wildlife community and bring back what time and imprudence had taken from the Commonwealth," noted Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Program Chief. "It is invigorating to see more endangered species making a comeback." The two nests indicate the recolonizing of Lake Erie, as well as a positive 48 response to ongoing specialized habitat management and improved environmental health within the Great Lakes ecosystem. The last recorded piping plover nest in the Erie basin was in 1977 at Long Point on Lake Erie's north shore in Ontario. L a k e E r i e 's p i p i n g p l o v e r recolonization is a product of regional and local conservation investment, the culmination of decades of nest-site protection measures along the other four Great Lakes shorelines and active habitat restoration in the Gull Point Natural Area over the past six years, Brauning explained. "Many have worked tirelessly for years throughout the piping plover's range to bring this bird back from the brink of extinction and it certainly is paying