Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Bird Walk 6/22 - Black Vultures!!


The Friends of the Springfield Woods hosted another Baltimore Greenspace Bird Walk on the morning of June 22 in the Springfield Woods.  It was again led by Mike "Birdman" Hudson and his mentor Bill.


Mike Hudson:  "I divided our birds into the three categories you'll see in the document. They correspond to the categories used to confirm breeding birds in Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas (a compilation of birds that breed in MD and where they breed). The birds with one star are species that are, to some degree, forest specialists. Of them the Acadian Fly and Red-eyed Vireo are the most reliant on woodlands. The Black Vulture gets three stars because, not only is it somewhat of a shy and specialist nester, its also fairly uncommon in this part of Maryland (about 1 Black for every 60 or 70 Turkey Vultures)."

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Observed- Species seen in the area, but birds exhibited no breeding or other behaviors to indicate nesting, and therefore no conclusion can be drawn to likelihood of nesting in area.

Mourning Dove 5
Chimney Swift 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Common Grackle 10
American Goldfinch 5

Possible- Species observed in the area and was exhibiting breeding behavior such as singing or scolding, however no behavior such as feeding young or visiting nest observed; likely that bird is breeding or attempting to breed in area, but not enough information to confirm.

Downy Woodpecker 3
Eastern Wood-pewee 1*
Acadian Flycatcher 1*
Great Crested Flycatcher 1*
House Wren 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Chickadee 4
Cedar Waxwing 12
Red-eyed Vireo 2*
House Sparrow 5

Confirmed- Species was seen visiting nest, interacting with a mate, carrying nesting material within area, feeding young, bringing food to a nest or young or on a nest with young; bird is breeding in area.

Black Vulture Photos by Katie Lautar



Black Vulture 3***
Carolina Wren 2
European Starling 2
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Cardinal 
House Finch 3


























Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Progress Report on the Cleanup - May 2012



Here is a quick look at progress in our cleanup of the main branch of the stream in the Springfield Woods.






Main branch of stream in April 2012

Main branch of stream May 2012
Butch Berry and the stream May 2012 


And the work continues...




Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Birds of the Springfield Woods (Bird Walk 4/28/2012)

The following is a result of a Baltimore Green Space Bird Walk of the Springfield Woods on Saturday, April 28, 2012.




Baltimore Green Space Walk (4/28/2012)
Springfield Woods (2 ½ Acre Urban Woodland)
Baltimore, Maryland
Spotter:  Mike Hudson 

Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift
 


Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird


Red bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker

Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker

Empidonax Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Red eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (2)
American Robin
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Northern Parula
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler (30)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Bay Breasted Warbler
http://www.billhubick.com/photos/birds/bay_breasted_warbler.php
Bay-breasted Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat

Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee

White-throated Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird

Monday, June 18, 2012

Springfield Woods Stream - How it looked before



When I was a kid in the sixties...

...I occasionally played in this small stream in the Springfield Woods in our historic (although we didn't know it was historic) Wilson Park neighborhood in Baltimore, MD.

Dwaine, Bobby, Mitchell, my brother Bruce and I would run through the small forest catching snakes and salamanders.  Some we would keep as pets, some we would sell or barter with other kids in other neighborhoods.  Dwaine and I made a killing when we found a beautiful and rare albino garter snake, which we sold to a classmate.

But I do digress.  

A few decades later, when I returned to my Wilson Park neighborhood after living elsewhere, I wondered what happened to that little stream.  

No one seemed to know or even cared, assuming that the little spring just dried up over the years. Even a couple of educated friends clearly stated that the water table was most likely all gone now and there couldn't possibly be water underneath the neighborhood and the woods.  Surely the city would've cut all that water off  by now and diverted it into some kind of underground pipe which would empty into a sewer and into the bay.  

Being curious, I entered the serious thicket of sticker bushes and poison ivy of the present day Springfield Woods and discovered to my surprise that the little spring was indeed still springing! The spring flows directly out of the earth and could still possibly be a fresh water spring.  (No, I have not taken a drink yet.  The water still has to be tested!)   Despite all the junk, sediment and debris, that water was still flowing and it is clear and doesn't smell like polluted water.  Believe it or not.   

After informing a a few neighbors, who just looked at the trash filled mud puddle as just that, which, to be honest, it was, I convinced a couple of  them to spend an hour of so helping me begin the task of cleaning it out.  And thus began the Friends of the Springfield Woods of Wilson Park, Baltimore.  

This is how it looked when we started cleaning it in January of 2012. 

-- Butch Berry














Friday, June 15, 2012

The 1876 map of stream location

Thanks to Miriam Avins of Baltimore Greenspace for providing the map of the Springfield Woods stream last documented in 1876.  Below is the map with the street grids from the present day (2012).

The 1876 map of northeast Baltimore with present day street grid.



Original map of NE Baltimore 1876.
The spring location on the 1876 map. 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Location of the Springfield Woods

The Springfield Woods are located right off of East Springfield Ave, between Minerva (one block from The Alameda) and St. Georges Avenue in the historic Wilson Park neighborhood.