Location: Oscar Sherer State Park
Trailhead (Google Plus Code): 5GGQ+CF Osprey, Florida
Hike Length: 5.5 miles
Time Estimate: 3-4 hours
Habitats: Scrub, Pine Flatwoods
Notes: Nice trail featuring Oscar Sherer’s unique habitat. To see scrub jays and red-headed woodpeckers, go early.
- Wildflowers – Look for a wide range of wildflowers here, which change with the seasons.
- Black Vultures – Black vultures have black heads, unlike the turkey vulture’s red head, and have light tips on their black wings if viewed from below.
- Animal tracks – As this hike is only lightly travelled, there is almost always a chance to see fresh animal tracks in the sand and mud.
- Longleaf Pines – The pine flatwoods is the home of slash and longleaf pines. They are sometimes hard to distinguish, but the longleaf pines have particularly large cones.
- Multiple habitats/Ecosystems – This hike will take you through a variety of Florida’s Habitats/Ecosystems.
- Sandy Earth – Notice the sand underfoot. As far as you are from the beach, it doesn’t feel like it.
- Florida Scrub Jays – Florida Scrub Jays live here, an endangered species limited to the scrub habitat.
- Gopher Tortoise – Look out for gopher tortoise burrows and the endangered gopher tortoise.
