Couple turn rural acres into haven for endangered birds, native plants

Jane and Tom Heineke had looked at numerous places before finding a 289-acre tract near Holly Springs in 2003. The couple, who were living in Bartlett, instantly knew it fit their idea of a perfect retirement place in the country.

"As soon as we drove up the drive, we knew we liked the topography," said Tom, describing the way the land slopes upward before it levels out.

"We looked at each other and said, ‘This could be it,'" Jane said.

What they didn't know then was that purchasing that land in that place would lead to an opportunity to turn former farmland into a haven for endangered birds and other native wildlife as well as a visual reminder of their roots on the Illinois prairie.

"What we're doing here is farming wildflowers and native grasses," said Tom, a professional botanist and wetlands specialist who grew up on a farm near Bloomington, Ill. Jane, whom he met at Illinois State University-Bloomington-Normal, lived in El Paso, a small town near Bloomington.

The Heinekes and several other ecology-minded landowners in Hudsonville are working with Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Holly Springs to provide habitats for endangered grassland birds such as bobwhite quail, eastern meadowlarks, loggerhead shrikes and Le Conte's sparrows.

Participation in the project, which is partially funded by a Toyota TogetherGreen Innovation grant to Strawberry Plains, was a good fit for the Heinekes.

Tom, who has a doctorate in botany from Southern Illinois University, worked for the Corps of Engineers in Memphis for 10 years before starting his own wetlands consulting firm. Jane, who taught at the old Auburndale School, also worked in the consulting business.

Overton Park Conservancy hired him to survey all of the plant species in the park.

Now retired, he is still keeping records. This time it's a tally of species of plants and animals living on the property: 135 birds, 22 mammals including bobcats and coyotes; 24 butterflies, 44 grasses and wildflowers, many of them prairie plants.

The rich diversity did not come naturally.

The Bermuda grass that covered much of the 70 acres that had been pasture land is inhospitable to ground-nesting birds like quail and most plants other than undesirable weeds.

To get rid of the grass, the couple hired a local farmer to apply herbicide twice. Occasionally, they battle Johnson grass that pops up on the edges of their fields.

Once the Bermuda was killed, a mixture of wildflower seeds suited to our climate was "drilled" into the ground with equipment that attaches to a tractor.

The rest of the property was either already wooded or was left alone to begin the process of becoming a forest once again.

Over about 10 years, once-clear spaces are filling with oaks, red cedars, farkleberries, Chickasaw plums, sumacs, hickories and American and winged elms.

A few weeks ago, fields in front of and behind their home had blossomed into vibrant seas of color created by the flowers of black-eyed Susans, yellow and purple coneflowers, monarda (beebalm), verbenas, sunflowers, butterfly weed, coral honeysuckle, milkweed and more.

To calm the exuberant show just a bit, the Heinekes put in a small area of lawn in their front yard. Jane also insists on a few non-natives for cutting such as irises, hollyhocks, hydrangeas and day lilies as well as oregano, rosemary, fennel, parsley and cilantro for cooking.

In raised beds filled with compost made by layering leaves, grass clippings, manure and other organic materials, they also grow asparagus, beans, cucumbers, potatoes, Malabar spinach, squash, pumpkins, watermelons and cantaloupes.

This year, they are trying a new pepper, Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, which is considered to be the one of the hottest peppers in the world with 1.2 million units on the Scoville scale of hotness. Habaneros, by comparison, sometimes hit the 350,000 unit mark.

They also grow figs, blueberries and red raspberries and gather four to five gallons of the tiny blackberries that grow wild in the area now returning to a forest.

Fields of flowers are much like the "Field of Dreams" in the baseball movie that popularized the saying, "If you build it, they will come."

"The birds we've been managing for are showing up," said Chad Pope, ecologist at Strawberry Plains and a neighbor of Heinekes who is also participating in the grassland bird project.

So many sparrows are now wintering at the Heinkes and at Strawberry Plains that about 70 people participating in three birding workshops last February spotted nine species including the rare Le Conte's.

This summer the Heinekes are enjoying the colorful presence of far more indigo buntings and goldfinches than prior years.

In some ways, meadow-style gardens similar to but smaller than the Heinekes' offer a low-maintenance way for homeowners to enjoy native plants.

"We don't plant every year; we add no fertilizer and provide no supplemental water," Tom said.

But anyone who has tried to create one knows the drawbacks. Following the fantastic peak bloom time, typically in June, the plants go through a necessary but ugly period when the seeds are maturing before they drop to the ground to produce next year's plants.

"Some of the grasses we grow are tall enough to hide some of that," Tom said.

Big blue stem grass and Indian switch grass grow 6 to 8 feet tall. Little blue stem grass, side oats grama grass, Virginia wild rye and Canada wild rye are shorter.

In the fall, several of these grasses produce pink or purple feathery inflorescences that almost glow when backlit by the sun.

The key to long-term success with prairie plants and the wildlife they attract is fire.

Burning off stubble from fields every other year or so seems like a drastic measure but it actually invigorates the soil.

It removes thatch and woody weeds to make room for desirable plants and the insects they attract. It exposes the soil so birds can find seeds, and the nutrient-rich ash left from fire enhances the soil.

The landowners participating in the Audubon project use the prescribed burn services of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Certified burn technologists from the agency and Strawberry Plains prepare their sites for safety issues before doing controlled burns.

"Most of the work is done before we light a match," said Pope, adding that the practice is becoming so common in the area there is now a Coldwater River Prescribed Burn Association, named for the nearby river.

Controlled burning also prevents spontaneous brush fires that can be difficult to contain during periods of drought.

About one-third of the Heinekes' fields are burned each year, and the others are cut for hay, including the wildflowers.

"The wildflowers actually make the hay more nutritious," Tom said.

The Heinekes had no idea when they purchased their property in rural Mississippi 10 years ago that it would be home to a great diversity of plant and animal species. Nor did they expect to live so close to a group of people who shared their conservation and environmental ethic.

"We were fortunate to find so much in this small place," he said.