Upper reaches of the Webbs Mill Branch

Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
Last Friday after work my friend Russ called me to let me know him and his family were going to go out for a ride that eveing in Greenwood to look for some deer and listen to the frogs and whip-poor-will as darkness feel on the woods. He wanted to know if Tracey and I wanted to follow along. I was not going to turn down a Friday evening ride through the pines after a stress filled week of work!

The ride was our run of the mill evening tool through the woods, many deer sighted and plenty of frogs and whip-poor-will to listen too. We did have one special sighting that evening, as we were coming down Kerns Ave. almost to Bloody Ridge Rd. we had a very large jet black Coyote come out into the road in front of us. we stopped as the coyote came out into the road. The coyote also stopped at the same time and gave us enough time to get out of our Jeeps and get a good look at him as he got as good of a look at us. This was the first time I have ever seen a coyote stop to stare me down.

We decided we were going to come back the next day to explore the area he came out of. My friend said he found a area with water in it on Google Earth that he wanted to check out and also mentioned the Webbs Mill Branch. So 9 am Saturday morning we met up and hit the woods.

Russ found some sandy open areas on Google Earth he wanted to check out. This was one of the areas, a nice place to stop and take a break and enjoy a drink after battling the thick scrub oak that surrounds it.
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As we came upon The area with water in it this is the sight we saw.
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As we came to the edge we found this in the leatherleaf.
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Upon further investigation we saw were the deer laid to die in the mud,moss and muck. Something pulled the skull and one hind leg out of the muck.
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We found the culprit! Coyote.
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I am not sure if this area would be considered a spong or a vernal pool? It looked like at one time it had Cedar in it that were cut.
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A cut stump with cranberry vine growing on it.
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The far end of the wet area looks like it has water in it most of the year and is the deepest part.
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As we got near the Webbs mill Branch you had to be careful where you stepped or you were sure to go over your boot.

Stick out.
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Stick in that same spot just of a hummock.
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The Cedar, Moss and Sedges along the Upper reaches of the Webbs Mill Branch.
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The upper reaches of theWebbs Mill Branch.
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We poked around on the Webbs Mill for a few before we headed back to the truck. On the way out we came to a area that had black pipe in the ground with a cap on it. Test well or old home?
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The area.
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We also found a Pine Snake den in this area.
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Also found a Pine in this area growing like a piney goal post.
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As we came out to the truck this Box Turtle was almost like he was there to greet us.
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Headwater area of the Webbs Mill Branch along Bloody Ridge Road.
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Chris
 
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RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,057
3,328
Pestletown, N.J.
Great photos Chris, looks like a good day. The woods is drying up quickly.
Tonight's rain here was a little help.
Was Russ doing jumping jacks when you cut the yote tracks ?
:)
 

Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
Was Russ doing jumping jacks when you cut the yote tracks ?
Oh yeah! He was picking out spots for sets, figuring out where he is going to park to check his sets. He was speachless after we saw the big, black coyote!

Is this the location of that sink?
Yes that is the spot. Have you been there?

I thought the Box Turtle was a male. Red eyes for male and yellow eyes female?

Chris
 

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,344
333
Near Mt. Misery
Nice report and photos, Chris! I have seen black coyote puppies in the stafford forge area. I heard a couple other reports of black coyote being around in Medford WMA (of all places).

Jeff
 

Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
Looks like Russ is really enjoying himself!
Yes, he had a good time. We did 2.5 miles. All bushwacking. He was sore the next day. We went up to one of our private pieces of land on the Monmouth/Ocean boarder and he said "no busting brush today".

Is this the location of that sink?
Is that what an area like that is called? Similar to India sink?

Chris
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,575
301
43
camden county
Al and Guy, that red eyed boxie is a girl, more then likely looking to nest. While males have red eyes females do as well but a different shade of red. Males are an intense red while females are red with the centers change towards red brown. Also this rarely gets listed in field guides and is a common mistake when sexing males and females on eye color....another indicator is the shape of the head, males have more of a beak and bigger head. Chris any more shots of the box turtle, in particular the back of her?
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,674
4,851
Pines; Bamber area
Is that what an area like that is called? Similar to India sink?Chris

No, that is just a name I use once in awhile. I use it to describe to myself a gathering of waters into a sort of basin that does eventually lead to a bigger body, like a creek. What you have there technically in my mind is the blockage of a Cripple, allowing water to gather and appear. Did you see an earthern blockage somewhere at the downstream end? That is the only reason you see it, I believe.

Of course, I defer to Mark, the Spung-man. I'm betting he has the real deal explanation.
 

dogg57

Piney
Jan 22, 2007
2,912
379
Southern NJ
southjerseyphotos.com
Sexing Box Turtles by William Tracy
There are [two] basic things to look for when determining the sex of a box turtle, and many other turtles for that matter. I have listed and illustrated each, starting with what I feel to be the most reliable to the least reliable.
1. The tail - most reliable sex determining feature.
The tail of a male will have the cloaca [vent] positioned farther down the tail located beyond the edge of the plastron and in most cases, beyond the edge of the carapace as well. The tail will also be obviously longer and thick at the base than that of a female.
A female's will usually be much smaller with the cloaca located close to the body.
2. Coloration
This is the most obvious, and the first thing anyone notices about a box turtle.
The eyes of a male are usually bright red. Males will also tend to be brightly colored, especially around the head, neck and front legs.
Females will tend to have dark brown to reddish brown eyes, and are usually the drabber sex.
This is the least reliable method of sex determination. I have seen females with red eyes, and some are quite colorful.
 

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Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
Chris, a spung is an enclosed basin. Here is an example:
I was just not sure what the sink area I found was. I have a good idea what a spung is, seen plenty of them in my time.

Bob, didn't notice a earthern dam. It was very thick around it, also I was not looking for one. Could have been one there.

Chris
 

Spung-Man

Piney
Jan 5, 2009
1,000
729
65
Richland, NJ
www.researchgate.net
Hewey,

Bisbee (1971: 290) in his place names book (Sign Posts in History of Burlington County, New Jersey) quoted G.A. Chamberlain as saying, “People have grown old and died arguing as to the difference between a cripple and a spung.” Chamberlain was an American diplomat and local author who wrote short novels about rural South Jersey, including the Pine Barrens. One thriller called The Red House was made into a film noire with Edward G. Robinson. I think the wife summed it up best as "he's scared, she's scared, everyone's scared." According to local lore the novel was based on an actual red brick structure once located near Makepeace Lake, Weymouth – since burned down.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_House_(film)

The novelist was also friends with Amelia Earhardt who used to fly in and visit him on a regular basis at his Salem County farm. If you like South Jersey literature, the Arts and Humanities Department at Richard Stockton College has an on-going series of exhibits at their library celebrating our literary heritage. For example, The Red House was one of the volumes featured during their Pages from the Pines:

http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=69&pageID=344

The latest exhibit was Writing a Revolution:

http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=69&pageID=436

Spung is an archaic term for a pocket, more specifically a pocket in the sash around the waist of breeches. Sometimes they were a sewn-in fob, sometimes they were a free-hanging pouch. Some “northern” Pineys still call their spungs “pocket bogs,” simply a modern adaptation for spung. From my studies on Piney Speak, your depression appears to be a spung or “pocket” of water that just happens to be within a cripple. I’m assuming that short valley is intermittently hydrofilled, and lacks an actual modern year-round flowing stream channel. Otherwise the channel would be a branch or run. I’d have to ground truth the features to be certain.

Spungs are often round, but their forms vary from round to oval to elongated to irregular. I agree with the Pinelands Commission Science Staff's preference for intermittent pond over vernal pond. There are naturally occurring spungs within the upper reaches of waterways.

S-M
 
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