Skip to main content

Birding in Florida: Sweetwater Wetlands Park

 In Gainesville, Florida, we really enjoyed the Sweetwater Wetlands park.

It was green and gorgeous, with water plants so lush and emerald in the afternoon sun it challenged one’s perception. Diminutive herons of the most charming powder blue perched on stumps or fished amongst reeds. The feathers of a purple gallinule shone iridescently in the sun as this diminutive waterbird walked across aquatic vegetation, looking for arthropods to devour. Red winged blackbirds called plaintively to each other from their hiding places inside of tall spans of reeds. Anhinga sat on the shore or on diminutive trees, their spear like beak cocked toward the sky, their wings askance, soaking up the sun. American Bitterns (2!!!) flew overheard, a rare site for normally secretive bird, who nevertheless seemed quite comfortable here.

We were on a boardwalk, elevated above lily pads and yet more birds. I was on the hunt for a limpkin and maybe possibly a snail kite and was wondering if I had miscalculated.

Normally when I drag the family out to look at birds, its rather desolate when it comes to people. Sweetwater park was the opposite. Joggers jostled for rank while cyclists cruised by at comfortable speeds. Young couples walked hand in hand, taking in the sights and sounds and mothers pushed strollers while fathers compulsively checked wading birds.

In a word, it was crowded.

But it turns out this was by design.

For Sweetwater Wetlands Park is not a natural place, but an artificial one. The fecund growth of marsh plants and the abundance of birds (we saw 40 species!) was not some ancient ecosystem surviving despite the growth of Gainesville. It had been made.

A park ranger explained it for us.

The wastewater plant was not designed to deal with all the people that now live in Gainesville, so about six years ago, a city planner got an idea to create this park to add to the tail end of their water treatment system, as well as catch all the creek water that runs through the main watershed of the city. All this vaguely polluted water (it is cleaned of heavy metals and pathogens at the water treatment plan) is then mixed with the water that ‘cleans’ the streets of the city, the rooves, the parking lots, as well as every leaf and twig every time it rains, before it comes here.

For before this water can drain back into the Floridian Aquifer, it passes through this network of waterways. From one pond to the next it flows, sometimes in waterfalls, often in underground pipes controlled by gates. As this nutrient rich mixture (think of the nitrates!) passes through this network of ponds, bacteria that grows on the roots of the aquatic flora that was chosen and planted here when it was built consumes everything it can. This bacteria than fuels the plants and aquatic invertebrates that thrive in nutrient dense places like this, which brings in the birds, and indeed and entire ecosystem.

We saw fish, tadpoles, dragonflies galore, wood storks, ducks, sparrows, even 10-foot-long gators!

All of this, and then the water exits the system cleaner than it would have without it. The park ranger told that in fact their water is so clean that they system they implemented is being used as a model for other places to do the same thing. A elegant solution to make an environment both safer to humans and better for animals.

Plus it was great to job at.

The pathways were elevated earth, perhaps ten feet up from the surface of the water, with mowed grass on these slopes, that the gators seemed to bask in. It was a great place for looking at gators, really, because it was so steep, and besides you could see the gators. Those that left the water were still down a slope and a good ways a way. Worrisome with a toddler?

Yes.

And the people we passed who had been watching the gators made sure to point them out to us, as well as any others they might have seen earlier. A kind gesture, giving us this bit of information with a smile and a nod. They wanted our kids there, to experience this place, but they were responsible members of the community as well, and didn’t want no kids eaten.

Refreshing!

Bird there!

We never saw the limpkin or the snail kite, but we still had a great time. Even if I did make Raquel push the stroller the entire time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Harrowing Turns and Steep Slopes

If I had to choose a word to describe today, I would choose ‘harrowing.’  Harrowing (adj) acutely distressing.  Ex: Driving 6 hours through up and down twisting mountain roads when you have only three days of experience driving an RV is harrowing.  We knew going in that today was going to be rough. Our plan is to make it to Michigan in a relatively quick amount of time, so we can enjoy the cooler temps and take our time on the way back down. A solid plan, I hope, except it involved frontloading the trip with a couple of long-ish days.  I’m sure there’s people out there that think six hours of hauling is nothing. Previous to this trip, the most I ever hauled was my kid and a watermelon on a trailer on my bicycle. Yesterday we drove three hours, and that was alright, but it was nothing like today.  I have driven through both Oklahoma and Arkansas before, so perhaps some of the blame lays on me. I associate Oklahoma with cropland and Arkansas with… the woods? I guess?  Now I associate th

The Quest for Venture Begins!

We woke up at six am today to begin our adventure. Months ago, we decided to buy an RV and a truck to tow it across the country with our two kids to see as many national parks and birds as we possibly could with two kids under five.  I would call today a success With the help of two grandmas and a grandpa, we got our house clean and ready for our renter to move in tomorrow. Without too many tears, we hugged our goodbyes, loaded our kids in the carseats, and prayed that everything was stowed safely in the RV.  We were reasonably sure it was. After all, we had gone camping in it before… once. Last week. And it went mostly fine. What was the worst that could happen?  The drive itself was less than pleasant. It was a drive I’ve made quite a few times. IH 35 North to Waco is less then spectacular in my book. Strip malls and future suburbs cut into the gently rolling hills that tested the cruise control of my F150. With fuel economy around 10 mpg (less than half of what I’d hoped for ( sorry

Towing an RV on the Blueridge Parkway in Autumn

 We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I can only describe it as stunning. We entered at its very northernmost origin, in Afton, Virginia, and immediately began to rise, up from the Shenandoah valley, on twisting roads that grew richer and richer in color as we gained in elevation. We stopped in a grove of elms, having passed up the first few scenic pullouts because the crowds were too heavy. We found ourselves alone in a yellow forest lined with black trucks, a brown carpet of freshly fallen leaves on the ground, and lichen thick on the rocks. Leo was in a sour mood (he had just woken from a nap that he had needed to be a bit longer) but when I took a handful of leaves and tossed them into the air, his frown turned into a mischievous smirk. The whole family then scuttled about, grabbing leaves and tossing them into the air. And then the moment was over, and it was time to get back in the RV and drive. We didn’t make it far before I pulled over at a proper scenic pull off, with a