This week's featured nominee for Florida's Special Places comes from Rex Rowan, a board member for Alachua Audubon Society and author of the book A Birdwatcher's Guide to Alachua County, Florida, which he co-wrote with Mike Manetz. Please enjoy his entry for the one-of-a-kind San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park:
San Felasco Hammock State Park – the name derives from San Francisco de Potano, the 17th-century Spanish mission to the local Timucuan tribe – contains the southernmost large tract of eastern deciduous forest in North America. The Alachua Audubon Society was instrumental in having the land purchased by the state in 1974, so it’s only right that about 25 members of Alachua Audubon and the local birdwatching community rallied at San Felasco on the 13th to support its continued existence and availability to the public. A group photo was taken and then – not surprisingly – everybody started down the trails to do some birdwatching.
San Felasco’s 7000 acres, located on the northwest border of Gainesville, are divided into northern and southern sections by an extensive forested wetland called the Sanchez Prairie. The north tract is open to horseback riding (eight miles of trails) and mountain biking (30 miles). The south tract is open to foot traffic only (12 miles).
I walked the Spring Grove Trail in the south tract last June. It’s 5.7 miles long, and it took me from 9:45 to 3:20, but it was a beautiful day and my walk was exhilarating rather than exhausting. I could have been time-traveling 150 years into the past as I ambled along the trail through the rolling pine forest, with low ground vegetation and tall, widely-spaced, fire-blackened pine trunks receding into the distance. I saw numerous butterflies and other insects, a five foot Yellow Rat Snake crawling slowly with its nose angled down and its tongue flicking, and 38 species of birds, among which the most notable were an Eastern Wood-Pewee, an Indigo Bunting, an Acadian Flycatcher, 10 Yellow-throated Vireos, 16 Summer Tanagers, 26 Pine Warblers, 7 Red-headed Woodpeckers, and 4 Hooded Warblers.
That kind of experience in so rich a natural environment – just a few minutes from Gainesville! – is worth protecting.
A special congratulations to Alachua Audubon Society, who recently celebrated their 5oth Anniversary!
