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A tribute to Gainesville nature parks

To my readers,

To understand why I choose to make my blog about nature areas around Florida, it first helps to understand how I was raised. I come from a small town in South Florida called Coconut Creek. In my home town, there’s a massive state park, lots of trees and tons of man-made canals.

Growing up so close to all those canals and park space really taught me to appreciate nature. What impacted my understanding of nature more then living around parks and canals, was going to school in an area that did not have the same abundance of nature areas. 

When I was young, I would walk half a mile as the sun rose through lush greens my hometown offered to the bus stop. The bus would take me through Collier City, a neighborhood of the city of Pompano. When I was growing up, large parts of Collier that no trees, bushes or grass.

I almost lived in Collier City. Immediately after I was born, my mom chose to have an apartment in the lush green bubble of Coconut Creek than to have a house in an area that then was a sandlot.

Growing up in my green bubble, and then going through the polar opposite of Collier City really gave me a complete picture. Fast forward a few years, and I ended up choosing the University of Florida specifically because it seemed greener than other universities I had visited.

With so many parks in Gainesville, paired with my love of nature, it only seemed natural to explore a few spots and share them with you all. I hope you enjoy my blog, and as a bonus I included some pretty cool footage in the mini post below.

Sincerely,

Dillon Skelley

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(Video/Dillon Skelley)

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232 steps into the mouth of the Devil’s Millhopper

Alachua County is home to over 30 parks and preserves, with more planned for development. Over the next few posts, I’ll try to highlight some interesting information about a small sampling of these parks.

On March 30, I headed out to the northern part of Gainesville to explore the popular Devil’s Millhopper. The park features a 120-foot-deep, 500-foot wide sinkhole near its center circled by a half-mile trail. If sinkholes aren’t your thing, it also features a nice picnic area near the entrance

Pictured above is the entrance to the park, this is generally where events may be held. The structure houses educational graphics about the park. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

Pictured above is the start of the decent into sinkhole its self. Don’t let the beautiful trees fool you, the boardwalk features a staggering 232 steps. Along the way down you’ll find educational plates that teach you about the sinkhole. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

Pictured above is one of the streams that feed into the Devil’s Millhopper. According to the park’s brochure, these streams are mostly created by acidic rainwater that help form the sinkhole itself. This stream has a bridge built over it that provides a good view of it and surrounding plant life. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

The shot above was taken from inside of the Devil’s Millhopper, showing water exit the side of the sinkhole as it flows into the bottom of the cavity. According to one of the information plates, the moss featured in this shot has been damaged over the years by individuals sitting on top of it. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

Pictured above is the actual bottom of the sinkhole. Near the center of the photo is a darkish-brown line that shows where water will sink into the Florida Aquifer before heading to the Gulf of Mexico.  Due to the moisture and heating of the sinkhole, it features a wide array of life. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

The Devil’s Millhopper can be a punishing trek thanks to Florida heat and its large number of stairs, but it’s worth the trip out. In the next post, I’ll be covering another curious part of the park – a few of its 12 species of oak trees.

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Bluff oak, and laurel oak and live oak. oh my

In this post, I will provide an introduction to another interesting thing to do at Devil’s Millhopper: learning about trees. The location is great for learning about trees because many of them have name plates that describe the plant’s species. Learning about Devil’s Millhoper’s various tree species can also help to add some variety to a hike through the park, because animals can be hard to spot in the thick forest.

According to information posted at the entrance of the park, the park features at least 12 different types of oak trees. I’m not the type of person to pass up the challenge of finding a bunch of oak trees, so below I’ve attached photos of the different kinds I found.

Pictured above is the bluff oak tree. The bluff oak apparently reaches 30-80 feet tall, and is desirable for its uses in urban planning. It produces small acorns that are popular with animals. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

Pictured above is a laurel oak. Although the larger laurel oak doesn’t look like much, the smaller ones are actually very pretty. As much as I might like the smaller ones, apparently, the larger ones can have a variety of problems associated with them. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

If the laurel oak is a nightmare, then the live oak pictured above is a blessing. Apparently, the tree can live for centuries and is so resistant to hurricanes that it can help protect your house. It’s so effective at helping to protect a house that having a single live oak on your property could even boost your property value by $30,000. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

The ominous looking tree pictured above is called a sand live oak. The sand live oak is similar to the live oak in almost every way, but one of its few differences are its leaves. On a more interesting note, this tree also grows differently depending on where it’s being grown. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

The tree pictured above has one of my favorite names, the Swamp Chestnut Oak. The Swamp Chestnut can grow up to a whopping 100 feet tall. This species of tree is apparently excellent for attracting deer. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

So, in total I found about 8 different kinds of oak trees labeled throughout the park. While Devil’s Millhopper might not be the easiest place to find animals, my next location might just be the compete opposite. In my next few posts, I’ll be covering a trip I took to Sweetwater Wetlands Park.

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Exploring Gainesville’s Sweetwater Wetlands Park

On April 2, I headed over to Sweetwater Wetlands Park, one of Alachua’s newest parks, as construction was finished on the site in 2015. The wetlands are artificial, built after the original wetlands were drained in the 1930s.

Pictured above is the entrance to park. Here animal spotters can write down what they spot at the park on a white board, or fill out a survey about their experience. The park is popular with bird spotters, so the Alachua Audubon Society posts lists of events here. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

At the heart of the park, the main trail splits off into two smaller trails pictured above. The gravel trail wraps around the whole park, while the boardwalk is fantastic for spotting birds. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

The first picture is of an alligator that I managed to spot directly under the boardwalk area. The gravel trail featured sunbathing gators and turtles. The gravel trail is best walked in the morning because it has very little shade. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

While at the park I was fortunate enough to come across a small event. Tyler Carney, a UF political science major, showed off a red rat snake to a crowd of children. Carney said this species of snake can actually make great pets. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

Pictured above are a few pieces donated by a UF professor the day before the event. While the gator this skull came from must have been large, the Florida record is a bit over 14 feet. Danny Rohan, the park ranger, said the snail shells pictured above came from an evasive species. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

In the first shot, Carney holds a baby gator that had recently hatched. Carney said a baby gator can call its mother for help in a moment’s notice by making a gulping sound. In the second shot Rohan holds an older gator so visitors could pet it. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

Overall, I had a great time over at Sweetwater Wetlands Park, but it offers more than just scaly friends and trails at the park. In my next post, I’ll be covering a sampling of the many birds that call the park home. 

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Birds in Gainesville sing Sweetwater

While getting to pet a live gator was very cool, Sweetwater Wetlands Park also features a great deal of different bird species to photograph. I took over 250 photos while at the park, so these mark the best bird photos I snapped, along with some fun facts about each.

Pictured above is a Common Gallinule also known as a Common Moorhen. This one was kind of cute because you could see it darting in and out of its bush. They feature duck-like bodies and can use their feet to walk on top of vegetation in the water. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

These three shots above feature the American Coot. Coot also look much like ducks, and, just like the Common Gallinule, they can walk on vegetation. The two lower shots feature a Coot fishing for small fish in the water. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

These two shots feature a Double-crested Cormorant appearing out of the water. The Cormorant is interesting in that it’s one of the few birds around the park that dive into the water to catch food. Cormorants can often be seen spreading their wings to dry on the shore. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

The blackish birds pictured above are known as Boat-tailed Grackles. Boat-tailed Grackles get their name from the plumage that appears on the males. While male Grackles have a blackish appearance, the females are brown in color and are much smaller. (Photos/Dillon Skelley)

The bird spreading its wings in the shot above is called a Great Egret. A gorgeous bird with its bright white wings, Great Egrets sadly were nearly driven to extinction due to demand for their feathers. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

The majestic looking bird pictured above is a Great Blue Heron. One of my favorites from childhood, the Great Blue Heron can often be seen fishing using its long legs to wade into water. Despite its narrow neck, they are actually capable of snapping up gophers. (Photo/Dillon Skelley)

Like the oak trees featured at Devil’s Millhopper, I was only able to snap a photo of a small portion of the bird species that can be found at Sweetwater Wetlands Park. The abundance of birds at the park make it easy to get a decent shot with any quality camera. I’d recommend Sweetwater Wetlands Park as an early stop for anyone looking to explore Alachua County’s diverse park network.

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Plant sale supports butterfly enclosure with Florida friendly plants.

The Florida Museum of Natural History’s Spring Plant Sale a few minutes before opening. Museum employees help set up more than 150 plants for sale. Many of the more rare plants are grown on premise in a small green house. 

Ryan Fessenden, the manager of the Butterfly Rainforest, speaks to the crowd of plant enthusiasts before the sale begins. Fessenden manages both the small weekly plant sales and the larger seasonal sales at the facility. Proceeds from the various plant sales help fund parts of the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum. 

One of the few non-native plants featured at the sale, the fragrant delight heliotrope originates from the Peruvian Andes. While a few of the plants at the sale are not native to Florida, all of the plants are Florida friendly so they won’t harm native plants. Plants like the heliotrope are popular at the sale due to how well they grow in Florida.   

The spider flower is a great nectar plant, meaning most people buy them to attract butterflies to their gardens. Like many of the nectar plants featured, this one sold out in under five hours at the sale. This particular flower attracts a species of butterfly called the great southern white.

While the plant sale is going on outside, inside museum goers explore the 6,400-square-foot butterfly enclosure. The proceeds from the plant sale help pay for education staff and researchers for the butterfly exhibit. The exhibit has no temperature control so it features natural conditions.

One of the more than 1,000 butterfly residents in the enclosure, a tree nymph butterfly sits on some pink pentas. Pentas are popular at the flower sale due to their reputation as superior nectar plants. While pentas are from Saudi Arabia, many of the butterflies in the exhibit are actually raised on farms all over the United States.

Information on the various plants was provided by Ryan Fessenden.

Information on the plant sale was provided by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s website.