Nature Walk

Twelve Oakland Nature Preserve members and guests enjoyed an interpreted nature walk Sunday, January 27th, 2002. Led by our preserve biologist, Jim Thomas, we initiated phase one of our new Uplands Trail.

Starting at the trail shelter, we discussed some of the plants and animals to look for along the way. Jim explained where we were in our restoration efforts, mainly just getting started with the uplands that had been cleared and planted with citrus 50 years ago. After the citrus was killed in the big freezes of the late 80's, the uplands were planted in slash pine that had grown dense enough to choke out most other native plants and trees. One of our major tasks has been to cut down most of these pine trees to allow room for re-introducing the native species that would have been here to begin with.

The upland trail begins at the shelter and follows our fence along the West Orange Trail for a way before cutting through a wooded area to an old sinkhole. We identified a number of native species that have appeared in the cleared areas. Wild grapes, passionflower, spotted horse mint, spanish needles and some wild cherry and laural oak trees were observed.

What better way to share a beautiful Sunday afternoon than a pleasant walk in the woods with the one you love?

Jim points out where the upland trail joins the amphitheater cutoff trail. Marked posts and small signs, like the one in front of the post, show you where you are along the way. The signs also identify over 40 different species of plants and animals at specific locations, and provide some background information on their function in the preserve.

The trail begins the downhill slope through a wooded area toward the old sinkhole. This area is more open, as the planted pines did not flourish here. Goldenaster, trumpet vine, and goldenrod were observed, as well as some larger live oaks. Bracket fungus is busy devouring the old dead wood along the trail, and coral bean stalks promise a beautiful display of red flowers next summer. It will be interesting to see the changes here as the seasons progress.

One of our members pauses to photograph something that has caught her interest in the sinkhole area.

Coming up out of the sinkhole, we spotted an old box turtle shell, bleached by the sun. The trail here leads to an old road that runs along the edge of the wetlands toward the amphitheater.

Here we gathered seeds from a spotted horsemint to scatter along the sides of the trail on our way.

This native plant has made a comeback on its own, and we are only too glad to help it along.

Winding back up to the trail shelter, we discovered a new gopher turtle burrow under one of the windrows of felled pines. These windrows may look unsightly to us, but they provide wonderful shelter for the small animals that will return to the preserve.

The abundance of wild grasses that came up last summer in the cleared areas attracted many seed eating birds. Several varieties of dove and quail were noticed.

The walk ended back at the shelter, and was considered a very worthwhile experience. We discovered several plants we did not have signs for, and noticed a large cotton rat mound we had not previously seen.

Jim will be leading another nature walk soon, and we welcome anyone who would like to join us. Look for an announcement on our event calendar.

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