Bird Book

To prove my dedication to the naturalist world, I went to Borders tonight and purchased the Birds of Florida.  It has full color pictures, lots of info, and looks very informative and interesting.  I hope to identify a lot of species with it.  I didn't know Florida was hope to so many birds!!!

The Longleaf Pine Tree

I can't believe I'm writing a blog about a tree, but as they were ever-present during my recent Wekiwa hike, I thought it best to include info about them (as well as a pic).

Longleaf pines (Pinus palustris) are common in the Southern U.S.; they are even the state tree of Alabama.  They grow primarily in sandy areas, which explains their presence at Wekiwa, where the ground was extremely dry and sandy (I could even see little sand piles scattered around).  

When the pines are young, they resemble grass or a fluffy little bush, not a tree at all.  They can live up to 500 years, and are a home to many species, including the elusive Fox Squirrel.  Their needles are in groups of three and their cones are absolutely humongous, around 11 inches long.  If one of those things hit me in the head, I'd feel it for a few days!

Wekiwa Trip

Last Saturday, my class visited Wekiwa Springs State Park much too early in the morning for my liking.  I had canoed down the Wekiwa River a few times before, and had gone swimming, but I never hiked the trails before.  To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know the park had trails.  But it does...oh, it definately does.

Wekiwa has 13.5 miles of hiking trails.  As you can see on this map, they all intersect at various points so you can easily switch trails to go whatever direction you want.  We started at Sand Lake and walked to Mill Creek, observing wildlife on the way.

Above is a pic I took of the Springs when we first arrived there.  A few people were already swimming, even though it was like 9am.  They were so lucky!  

But we weren't there for mere recreation.  Our job was to learn about the park's ecosystem and inhabitants, which I'll describe in my next blog posts.

Becoming a Naturalist

Let me first say, I've always loved nature, but I've never been a "nature lover."  You know, the kind that eats wild plants or hangs a boa constrictor around her neck because it's so cute.  So while I've grown up with a sincere appreciation of the great outdoors, I've never been very hands-on with it.

That's about to change.

I am a 24-year-old college student and this blog is part of a course in Florida naturalism I'm currently taking.  I hope to continue it well after my class is over; learning is a lifelong process.  I'm technically supposed to write my journal down, but I find that a blog is much easier for a computer geek like me.  :-)

My camera is a Fujifilm FinePix A360.  It has always been a reliable camera that takes pretty clear shots...until recently.  I think there's some dust or maybe battery corrosion in it that makes it not want to start up properly.  I tried cleaning it last night and today it worked a little better, although it did have a few false starts.  I'll clean it tomorrow with a cotton swab and a flashlight.