On a misty, warm October morning, venerable oak trees casually shed their leaves as chipmunks rustled among acorns and asters at Camp Sagawau, a Cook County forest preserve in Lemont Township. One of the camp’s naturalists, Laura Rericha of Mokena, was leading a group on a nature walk. On each side of the trail darted scores of tiny songbirds, consuming seeds, berries and insects. Rericha explained that the food provides precious energy for the birds’ long migration, sometimes as far as South America.
She stopped on the trail, quickly pointed her binoculars toward the treetops and identified a fox sparrow.
“I’ve seen some wonderful things, like a scissor-tailed flycatcher that you don’t normally see here. Birds are biological indicators of (environmental) change. As forested areas disappear, we’re seeing a great change in their numbers,” Rericha said.
Fluctuating bird population statistics are just some of the ornithological wonders the 27-year-old Rericha has stored in her vast memory bank. On a moment’s notice, she can recite the common and scientific Latin names for a seemingly countless number of birds, their breeding dates and nesting patterns, anatomical features, territorial and breeding songs, courtship procedures, flight speeds and more than 50 other complex bird topics.
She has gleaned all of this from more than 20,000 hours of studying books and scientific journals. She spends an additional 2,000 hours a year in local forest preserves observing birds.
“There’s a wealth of information out there that’s unknown,” Rericha said. “I hope to share my knowledge with those who have the same love.”
Floyd Swink of Wheaton was among the observers on Rericha’s walk. The author of numerous botanical books and a nationally known plant taxonomist, Swink said, “I’ve birded for 59 years, and there are many things I’ve seen (with Rericha) that I’d never seen before. She’s has more than doubled my knowledge of birds.”
Last summer, Swink and Rericha observed red-shouldered hawks at a local marsh. It was mating season, and the male was attempting to attract a female.
“You’ll see the male circle above the female, and he drops his talons as a courtship procedure. The female then circles above him and drops her talons. She’d seen it many times, and I never saw it once,” Swink said.
“She can recite in detail from memory nearly all of the pertinent data for literally hundreds of American bird species. She’s one of the most brilliant field ornithologists in America today.”
That comes as high praise from Swink, who at age 77 has mentored numerous scientists, botanists and ecologists during the past 40 years while working at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Swink began teaching Rericha about plant identification after the two met at Lake Renwick Nature Preserve in Will County this spring.
“Floyd is a fantastic teacher,” said Rericha, who for several years has used “Plants of the Chicago Region,” co-authored by Swink and Gerould Wilhelm, to evaluate natural areas.
Marsha Davis Minarich of Joliet was birding with Swink at Lake Renwick when they met Rericha.
“She walked along with us, and Floyd and I were in a total daze. Every bird in the distance she could hear and identify. Her knowledge was remarkable,” Minarich said.
When they came upon a group of small ducks, the greater and lesser scaup, which are difficult to distinguish, Rericha explained the subtle differences in the shapes of their heads and body colors to help tell them apart.
On one 12-hour study trip to the Indiana Dunes this summer, Swink introduced Rericha to rare plants and quizzed her on hundreds more.
“I don’t think she’s ever taken more than once or twice to recite a plant and describe it. She lives for one thing — to learn. The birds, insects and the flowers are all an ecological web of life. The more she learns, the more she can connect (all of it),” Swink said.
The stink bug and pink-flowering obedient plant is one curious insect-plant relationship that Swink has shown her.
“The obedient plant — Physostegia virginiana — is named for the way its flowers stay in place when you turn them. You’ll often find Cosmopepla bimaculata, the stink bug, in the flowers,” Rericha said.
“It’s a classic example of a host plant relationship,” Swink added.
While Swink has introduced her to trees, shrubs, ferns, wildflowers, mosses, lichens and insects, Rericha shares her knowledge about how various birds use plants for nesting material and food.
“Plants are interesting, but birds are mobile and always changing. All these things have a connection. They’re pieces of a puzzle,” Rericha said, adding that knowing about how birds, plants and other organisms interact provides insights on natural environments.
Raised in Villa Park and later in Oak Brook, Rericha and her sister Lisa often went on nature walks to Fullersburg Woods in DuPage County with their parents, Susan and Gary Spinka of Aurora.
“My husband and I have always loved nature,” Susan Spinka said, “and (the family) spent just about every weekend at the woods walking, gathering leaves and looking at plants. Laura seemed to be drawn toward science, and her school projects always amazed me.”
Rericha’s deep appreciation for birds developed about 1991.
“I began buying bird books, and the more I found out, the more I saw (in the field). It’s all so exciting, especially finding nestlings of rare species,” Rericha said.
She often stays up reading until midnight. During the spring, she will rise at 4 a.m. to observe birds that stop to feed while on their northward migration. She has seen baby red-winged blackbirds fall from their nests, which are suspended among reeds and cattails, into the water.
“One of the adaptive strategies of nestling blackbirds is their ability to swim. I have seen many times when they’ve fallen out of the nest and row to shore with their wings flapping. Adults cannot swim,” Rericha said.
The white-eyed vireo isn’t recorded on any northern Illinois breeding bird survey, but Rericha has studied a small group of them near her home for several summers.
“Will County is a rich area for several bird species. My studies are important because I’m looking for idiosyncrasies, things that are different from (those recorded in) the past,” Rericha said.
Although she excelled in biology and other high school science classes, Rericha was forced to postpone college because of illness. She married in 1993 and has a son, Daniel, 5, who often accompanies her on nature walks.
“My husband (Michael) is extremely supportive,” Rericha said. “He’s allowed me to stay home with Daniel and continue my studies.”
For the last two years, her part-time job as a seasonal naturalist at Camp Sagawau has helped pay for her books and scientific journals.
“I have drawers filled with notebooks of my own observations, and I have a lot of notes on the computer,” she said.
Retired biology professor James Landing of Chicago has observed birds since 1954. Landing met Rericha when Swink was giving a presentation on plants for the Ft. Dearborn chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society at Chicago’s Montrose Harbor last summer.
“She can talk about (how the feathers molt and change) on a Baltimore oriole for more than a half hour. Most good birders couldn’t do that for more than two minutes. They don’t know that much about any single species. Any topic about a bird, behavior or plumage, she would start and there’d be no end to it. I’ve never met anyone in the bird world like her in my life,” Landing said.
Said Michael Konrath, Camp Sagawau’s director: “She seems to have a photographic memory of plants and birds, their names and identification, and an incredible ability to recall it. She does a good job, and we’re fortunate to have her on our staff.”
In just eight weeks, Rericha learned more than 800 plant species under Swink’s tutelage.
“Laura’s forte is her memory. Most people have a photographic memory, but there’s often no film in the camera,” Swink said, laughing.
Yvonne Woulfe of Oak Lawn, a naturalist at Camp Sagawau, often gives nature walks and presentations with Rericha.
“She is a joy to work with. She’s intelligent, dedicated and a good person,” Woulfe said of Rericha. An elementary school teacher for 28 years, Woulfe gives Rericha pointers on effective ways to convey complex scientific information to children.
Rericha was among several experts who spoke in November at the DuPage County Environmental Commission’s conference on Canada goose populations. According to conference coordinator Richard O’Hara of Downers Grove, “Floyd often refers to her as a walking encyclopedia, and she certainly fits the bill. She’s a self-taught expert. What she’s done is to provide herself with the knowledge you’d expect a person with a PhD to have.”
“You can tell how intense she is when talking about birds,” Minarich said. “She closes her eyes, and (the details) start pouring out. She reminds me a lot of Floyd. To retain that much knowledge, you need a photographic memory, and those two possess it.”
Rericha and Swink are working on a book of Midwestern birds, which they hope to show to potential publishers next year.
“Floyd and I want to influence people — to show them that the natural world is so unbelievable and that it’s rapidly disappearing,” Rericha said.
“If people are trained in nature, future generations will appreciate conservation. I know Laura will learn more about plants. My goal is to make her the leading biologist in America,” Swink said.
Although Rericha plans to finish college — she’s currently attending Governors State University in University Park — Swink is hopeful that she will pass many of her classes simply by taking proficiency exams.
Back on the trail, Rericha raises her hand to stop the group. From a nearby branch comes a bird’s song that sounds like “tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle.”
Another bird quickly responds with a rapid “ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.” She points to a pair of Carolina wrens, rare in our area, and explains one way to identify them by the song alone.
“The male sings first, and the female chatters right after him. They’ll do this several times.”
She sees the nature walk as a chance to expand participants’ knowledge.
“People need to get out and look at nature in different ways. Kids especially are so interested, and that’s important,” Rericha said. “They’re the citizens of the future.”
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For more information on Camp Sagawau nature programs, including cross-country skiing this winter, call 630-257-2045.
