About this Event
Explore Florida: Alachua County Hotspots
9am-2pm (not including drive time from St. Augustine)
Join us for this 1-day field trip to Alachua County to explore some of Gainesville’s top birding hotspots – Paynes Prairie Preserve SP (La Chua Trail) and optionally, the Sweetwater Wetlands Park. They both have terrific habitat, and a diverse range of bird life – and are easy to hike. This field trip is limited to 15 people.
We will kick the day off promptly at 9am at the La Chua Trail parking lot (4801 Camp Ranch Rd, Gainesville, FL 32641), which is accessed via the north entrance to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. First written about by William Bartram in 1774, the 22,000-acre park has a unique land feature called the Alachua Sink that drains the water from the prairie into the Florida aquifer, Florida’s primary source of drinking water. Sometimes the sink gets plugged, turning Paynes Prairie into a giant lake!
From the parking lot, we’ll follow the trail through an old barn before we reach a fantastic boardwalk and some raised dikes (1.5 miles roundtrip), and lots of gators! This is truly old Florida habitat. Winter is the best season to bird the Prairie basin. We’ll look for American Bitterns, Sandhill Cranes (thousands winter here), Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, Marsh and Sedge Wrens, a variety of waterfowl, and many species of sparrow (including Vesper, Grasshopper, White-throated, and White-crowned, Savannah, Swamp, and Song). However, IMO, the special treat are the many Snail Kites that nest along Prairie Creek. If we are lucky, we may also come across some of the surprises found over the years, including American Golden-Plover, American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Red-necked Phalarope, several species of Anis, Flycatchers, and Kingbirds, and Dickcissel. And if we are REALLY lucky, we may see some bison or wild horses off in the distance, who roam freely in the park.
Here is a link to the eBird hotspot summary that lists more than 275 species sighted at the La Chua Trail: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L623357
After a couple of hours, we will take a late-morning break, so bring a snack or early lunch with you. For those that would like to continue on to our second destination, we’ll then head over to Sweetwater Wetlands Park – which is only a 10-minute, 4-mile drive away (325 SW Williston Rd, Gainesville 32641).
Opened in 2015 by the City of Gainesville, the 125-acre Park consists of wetlands and ponds which were created to improve the water quality of the wetlands in Paynes Prairie and the Floridan Aquifer. Part nature preserve, part stormwater wetlands treatment facility, the shallow man-made wetlands are a haven for wildlife, especially birds. Given our early walk at La Chua, we’ll walk only 1 mile or so of the 3.5 miles of well-maintained crushed gravel walking trails / boardwalk, where more than 260 species have been sighted in less than 10 years. It is a hotspot for rarities, including Vermillion Flycatchers and Whooping Crane, along with regulars such as Snail Kites, Limpkin, Wood Stork, Virginia and King Rails, Spoonbills, Kingfishers and Painted Buntings. Similar to Paynes Prairie Preserve, this is alligator country!
Here is a link to the eBird hotspot summary for Sweetwater Wetlands: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2620730
Note that the Paynes Prairie Preserve – La Chua Trail is a 1 hr 40 minute drive (approximately) from downtown St. Augustine, so you will need to get up early that morning to reach the parking lot in time, or drive out the night before. There is a $6 per car admission fee for the La Chua Trail, and similarly a $5 per car fee at the Sweetwater Wetlands Park.
We encourage you to consider joining the St. Johns Regional Audubon. You can join for as little as $15/year, which can help us continue and expand our work. To join, follow this link: https://stjohnsaudubon.com/membership/
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
4801 Camp Ranch Rd, 4801 Camp Ranch Road, Gainesville, United States
USD 0.00
