DIRECTIONS: To get to the Curllsville strips from I-80 at Clarion take exit 62 at PA 68 and follow this west to Sligo, approximately 8 miles. In Sligo turn left at the light and continue on PA 68 for 2.9 miles, then turn left on Curllsville Road. Follow this 0.6 miles and turn right on U P Church Road. Follow this 0.4 miles (passing an old church and cemetery on the right) and as the main road goes sharp right, go straight instead out onto a dirt road. This is Hilltop Road and leads out onto the Curllsville strips site. (If you are coming from the PineyTract/SGL 330 area, you can follow PA 58 east into Sligo and turn left at the first light and then right at the second light which will put you on PA 68W. From here follow the previous directions from Sligo to the strips area.) When first entering the strips site, open fields are present on both the left and right side of the road for the first 0.2 miles or so. This area is where you can expect to see true grassland birds such as Henslow's, Grasshopper, and Savannah sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, Bobolinks, and Northern Harriers. In spring, fall, and winter Short-eared Owls can be present and have nested here in the past , although not in recent years. Depending on field conditions to the right, where landowner activity varies, there can be Killdeer and occasional other shorebirds in flooded areas during migration. This changes from year to year. Horned Larks, and in winter, Snow Buntings can also be present, as well as Northern Shrikes perched in the small trees and Rough-legged Hawks hunting over the fields. Upland Sandpipers are occasionally reported but no nesting verified to date. After passing the initial field areas the road curves around to the right and then down a short slope to the pond area. From the curve in the road until the road goes up a short hill past the pond and then right, this area is owned by a different private landowner and has not been mowed recently. It is now overgrown with honeysuckle, autumn olive, and locust and is the primary area where Clay-colored Sparrows are now found, usually easily heard and seen from the road. In this area also are Yellow-breasted Chats, Prairie Warblers, Willow Flycatchers, and American Woodcocks in spring, as well as many other species typical of this habitat. A surprising variety of waterfowl has also used the pond at times over the years in migration, so it is also worth checking in those seasons. Once you reach the top of the hill past the pond, a small road that may be walked a short distance leads down to gas wells and is not drivable. You can turn around here and return the same way, or the road to the right leads down out of the site where you meet Kline Road and you can turn right and follow this road back around bearing right back onto U P Church Rd until you will come back out to the start of Hilltop Road where the tour began (approx 1 mile).