HISTORY OF
Wildlife in Springbrook Forest
by Wayne Travers (1996)
In the nineteen fifties, the area to the South of Springbrook Forest was more heavily wooded than today. From the area of Auth at Hermleigh South to Arcola was mostly covered with wood lands with some very large old growth oak along the borders of drainage areas. We know this area now as Kemp Mill Estates.
Crossing Arcola avenue at Kemp Mill road, the area between Arcola and University Blvd. was very well covered with a good stand of timber except for a few residences between Kemp Mill Road East to the junction of Arcola and University Blvd.
Our greatest loss of wild life habitat was to our North. The forty-two acres used for Kemp Mill Forest plus the 50 acres of Wheaton Regional Park. The flood planes on both sides of the Northwest Branch had been a great refuge for deer, fox, raccoon and other smaller mammals. With Kemp Mill Forest now converted to residences there was not enough forest cover left to support the deer population. Consequently, we should not blame the deer for now dining on our flowers and gardens or the raccoons for raiding our trash cans. They get hungry too.
There has been a progressive loss of environment destructive to both plants and animals for over forty years. We were at one time rich in Blood Root. Most has now been lost to the bull dozer. Before the land was cleared for Kemp Mill Forest, I dug up about thirty-five Blood Root plants in the Fall to be transplanted. Soon I had over one hundred plants on our lot. Soon after that, we had no Blood Root. The deer had moved in and eaten every one. Many small wild flowers such as Rattlesnake Planaition and Pyrolas have disappeared. There seems to be less Solomons Seal, False Solomons Seal and each Spring, less and smaller patches of Spring Beauty and Partridgeberry. I don't know if we will have any of the very beautiful Showery Orchids this Spring. They were located by the deer this Summer. Before Viewcrest Terrace was constructed on the forward slope overlooking the Kemp Mill and Hermleigh areas, there was, each Spring, the largest display of Pink Ladys Slipper I have ever seen. I am sure the bull dozer took care of this very unusual natural planting.
In all of Springbrook Forest and the adjacent areas, I found only one patch of the rare and lovely Trailing Arbutus. I don't think it could have survived the development of Kemp Mill Forest. Many, many species of violets have been lost and others restricted in area. Despite the direct destruction brought about by building, most of our wild flower loss is due, I think, to the deer looking for food.
Over the years we have had a reduction of some animals and an increase in others. We have always had plenty of deer and we would occasionally see them near the boundaries of our lots. They usually stayed under cover and caused little or no harm. I had a great time hunting them with a camera. With the destruction of the forty-two acres North of Springbrook Forest the entire picture changed. Early on, we had a family of wood chucks with their den in an old mica mine ditch. We had two or more fox families. One fox used to raid our cat's plate, which we kept on the back patio, every morning. One woodchuck lived under our back patio for several years. The building of Kemp Mill Forest marked the end of the fox and woodchuck cra.
In the 1950's hunters with their coon dogs were active on North West Branch. Judging from the music of their coon hounds they were often successful. We had so many raccoons in the past we would have several regulars rap on the back door for their handouts. They would even leave their small kittens on the back patio under a flood light to play, eat and play in the cat's water pan while the parents went of for a few hours alone.
Opossums some years were plentiful, some years seldom seen. Some years almost weekly we would have to fish them out of the window wells. I don't think I have seen one in ten years or more.
For a number of years we had a family of Great Horned Owls. They could usually be found in a cluster of very large oaks on a ridge running from the crest of Rockford Road back to the ridge bordering Kemp Mill Forest. We enjoyed the Great Horned Owl's cals and observed them many times flying to and from their nesting areas. Friends not resident of Springbrook Forest when told of our owl residents would come out to see. The owls never let them down. The owls would fly around and should our guests stay awhile after dark, the owls would give them a concert.
Hawks were common. I think they were the Red Shoulder Hawk. They would soar over head and put on a great flying display, especially in the Fall when the leaves were off the trees. They could be seen all over the forest. At times they would pitch on low branches and set motionless watching the ground. When motion under the leaves was noticed, they would hit the ground with their talons grasping the leaves and frequently come up with a vole or field mouse. One Sunday after work, I watched two Red Shoulder Hawks team up and catch a squirrel. One hawk kept above the squirrel on the tree trunk. The other hawk was on the ground. Both hawks followed the squirrel as he circled the tree trunk. Both hawks were closing in. When the squirrel changed trees, the hawks followed. They got their squirrel.
Some of our birds are probably gone for ever from the Forest. In Spring Branch along Brookhaven Drive, near the Nelson's drive way, a woodcock used that owl wet area of the Branch as a feeding area. I would watch him in the evenings feeding and on moonlight still nights in the Spring, watch him go into his traditional mating dance on the wing with occasional vocal effects. There was another pair in the lower end of the mica mine excavations back of Clement Lane in a low flat wet place. This area was apparently rich in earth worms judging from the holes caused by their bills poking the dirt. I have not seen a woodcock since the late 1960's.
Some of our most interesting birds have not been seen in years. Some were common and observed daily in season. The Scarlet Tanager, the Black and White Warbler and the American Red Start, one of the most striking of the warbler clan usually found in heavy cover was last seen by me about 1982 or 1983 when the clearing for Ridgewell Way was going on. This was the area used by the American Red Start for nesting. A pair flew back and forth as though they did not understand what was going on. This went on for about a week. I have not seen this bird since. The Yellow Throat and the Yellow Breasted Chat are two warblers also missing since this period. I saw one Wood Thrush this Spring. Ido not know fi ti stayed in the area. I have not seen one since We used to be entertained evenings until early Fall by the very distinctive song of this bird and its close relatives the Veery and Hermit Thrush.
Each year at least one family of Brown Thrashers nested very near our house. This species, usually an insect eater, was especially partial to a rotting large oak stump next to our patio. When the new brood could fly, they would come up near our patio picking the termites and other insect out of the stump. They usually left early in the Fall or late Summer. The last time they were here, one stayed al Winter. We usually had our feeding stations filed with sunflower seed. We would also put peanuts or smaller grain out on a window sill. The window sill was a favorite spot for the Cardinals and Tufted Titmouse. These birds would tap the glass when the food was exhausted. On 2 Dec 1976, in 15 degree weather with heavy snow cover, I noticed a commotion on the window sill. A Brown Thrasher captured a peanut and went into a tunnel of snow from the sill leading into a snow covered boxwood plant. This Thrasher was definitely out of place. For several months we fed him with strips of raw meat, cheese and peanut butter. While the snow lasted in this shaded place, he kept his food stashed in the snow den and would block the entrance from any intruder be it a Jay, Cardinal or whatever. We have not had a Brown Thrasher since that fellow wintered over in 1976-77.
For several years we had a few Common Grackles. Once, at least one stayed around several years. He usually stayed near the feeding areas and whenever he saw my wife, he would fly up to the window and fi not recognized would peck at the window. When he got her attention he went into his act, spreading one wing then the other while sticking out a leg and making a raspy call but only with one wing or leg extended. He seemed to enjoy his act more than eating.
Some of our birds were transients. On only two occasions have we been favored by Cedar Waxwings. One small flock spent about a week. I first noticed them on 3 December 1976 in the forest to the rear of Clement Lane. On 3 December 198 1, a flock of Cedar Waxwings spent several days at our bird bath eating holly berries. There were probably twenty to twenty-five in this flock. They ignored the other birds and apparently pulled out when they had all the berries they wanted.
Another visitor, I think rare for this area was the Evening Grosbeak. Usually a resident of the north woods, he visited us in 1972, 1975 and 1979. This very striking black and gold feathered bird, with a heavy yellow beak, heavy chunky body, is a glutton. He can eat sunflower seed al day on the ground with the ground feeders, in the feeding station, or on the window sills. No mater where, as long as there is plenty of sunflower seed.
On one occasion, we had seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak for a day, apparently on his way in late Spring to the north woods.
In the late Spring, the Warblers would be passing through to their Summer range. In May of 1970, a flock of about fifteen or twenty Black-throated Blueback Warblers took a little rest stop of a day or two. These very attractive Summer warblers were on their way from higher elevations for nesting. In the Fall, we would have many warblers stopping in for rest or feeding, mostly feeding as they moved in the tree branches and brush so rapidly I could never identify them.
In November of 1979, we had a very uncommon visitor. It seemed so tame I thought it was someone's pet Falcon. I finally decided it was a Goshawk. This area is usually too far South for the Goshawk. I watched it catch voles and field mice. This hawk had a flight pattern different than our local hawks. This one could fly rapidly through the thickest woods while hunting. The hawk was fearless and would let me approach within eight to ten feet. He stayed around almost one week and then returned the next year for several days.
Each Winter we would have visitors besides the warblers that would stay a few days before continuing South. Among this group were the Pine Shiskins, Golden-crowned Kinglets and the Ruby crowned Kinglet. I have not seen any of these birds since the late 1970's.
The biggest surprise is the decline of the Blue Jay. This aggressive bird was around all year. They nested all over our lot. As many as five nests. In our drive we have had at least three nests In the Winter, they tried to take over the feeding stations and hassled the other Winter residents. I think the Crows had something to do with the Blue Jays decline. Crows usually nest or roost in wooded areas at night. Over the years, from World War I to now, wooded areas in the metropolitan area have been destroyed by the building of developments. I do not recall many Crows in the Springbrook Forest area in the 1950's and 1960's. Then, in the 1970's we got a lot of Crows not only roosting at night but all day long. One day in the mid 1970's, the place was full of nesting Blue Jays hatching out. About 10:30 about forty Crows swept into the forest. Al over the forest, the Crows raided the Jay's nests, threw out the nestlings, ate some of them, killed the rest and tore up the nests.
There was a great clamor put on by the Jays, much flying about making desperate maneuvers to drive off the Crows without success. There has not been near as many Jays around since. The last Blue jay nest I have seen in Springbrook Forest was about seven or eight years ago. One Blue Jay tried for over a week to ten days to build it's nest on a brick ledge almost three feet off the ground by my front door. Each day I would destroy the nest under construction and the Jay each time would protest. Usually I will see maybe one Jay in the Forest all Spring for a day or two. I don't know where they go now. There does not appear to be many around here.
One Spring morning in 1972, at just about daylight, I was stepping out on the patio to go to work and I saw two ducks flying toward me. They pitched in an oak tree about twenty-five to thirty feet away. The duck then flew off and inspected several trees having cavities. The drake stayed in the tree where they pitched. The duck did al the inspecting. When finished with her inspection, she flew back to the drake and they flew off together toward North West Branch. I had time to run back into the house, pick up a camera and photograph the drake. There was not enough light to get color but enough light to identify a drake Wood Duck. In 1979, in mid morning, a pair of Wood Ducks pitched in a large tree in the Northeast comer of my lot. The drake stayed in the tree while the duck flew off and inspected al of the trees on my lot. She then flew in and around what is now Kemp Mill Forest. After inspecting that area, she returned to the drake. They both then flew up Rockford Road inspecting trees on both sides of the road then flew down Stonington and then to North West Branch.
We still have our usual year around residences except those above mentioned. We have lost maybe half or more our White Breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren and Cardinals. I have not noticed any loss of our woodpeckers except for the Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, this one I haven't seen in ten years. nI the Fall, we still get the Brown Creeper, the White crowned and White throated Sparrows. We have not seen the Fox Sparrow in years. We still have the Morning Doves but have lost for the last ten years our resident Quail flock covey.
When our children were home, we spent a lot of time feeding the birds. They taught the Red-bellied Woodpeckers to catch thrown peanut hulls. They got very good at this and seldom missed. Of course the Jays got involved in this activity and they were also good center fielders. We used to get bags of peanuts from the Suffolk, Virginia factories. We would feed the birds over 250 pounds of peanuts a year.
I think the favorite bird of our family is the Tufted Titmouse followed by the Carolina Chickadee or possibly the Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Red-bellied Woodpecker can catch thrown peanuts, thrown at any speed or any angle or altitude. The Tufted Titmouse is the only bird who can count, or at least the kids said eh could. Placing our hand outside the window, or at the feeding station with it heaped with peanuts, unshelled, "Tuffy" would demonstrate his technique. By placing one peanut on the bottom of the pile with three seeds rather than the usual two seeds, Tuffy would sit on your hand, or wrist, until he would turn peanuts over or spill them out of your hand until he found the peanut with the three seeds. He would then take of with the larger one. The Carolina Wren was too small to take a whole peanut in his mouth but he was very successful with shelled nuts. He was best at this hand feeding if I would stand behind a large tree. The birds learned to expect this peanut treatment. They would meet us on the road or when ever they saw us walking in the neighborhood they expected us to have a peanut in our pocket for them.
When my son Jess returned home from the unpleasant mess in Southeast Asia in the early 1970's, the first few days home he got reacquainted with Tuffy Titmouse. He noticed carpenter bees working on the overhangs and facia board of our house. Getting a step ladder, he was trying to drive of the carpenter bees and close up their holes in the overhang area. Tuffy Titmouse saw Jess, came over and pitched on his head. This drove off the carpenter bees. Tuffy got his peanut and stayed on Jess' head who was then able to finish his repairs. Jess said Tuffy Titmouse was the only living thing besides his family that welcomed him home from the war.