30 Days in June: Day 8, John Mahon Park

John Mahon Park Kiosk and Trailhead

What do you do if you only have an hour and you want to get away from it all? You go to a City Nature Park! And that's just what I did on Monday. I have a limited schedule this week and so I saved some of my favorite City nature parks on my "must visit list" for just such an occasion. Gainesville is very fortunate to have 20-plus public nature parks.  I discovered John Mahon Park, a sweet little sanctuary just off of a busy road, a couple of years ago when my husband broke his collar bone and had to have a lot of physical therapy. The park is located behind a medical complex, right in the heart of Gainesville, but as soon as you walk through the gates all connections to city fall by the wayside. If you walk slowly and stop to enjoy the inhabitants, a visit to this park can easily fill an hour and then some. But the trail is only about a half mile long, so you can walk through quickly if you want. I enjoyed my past times there so much that I wanted to be sure to go back again. And also, I thought my chances of seeing a Barred Owl there were pretty good because I'd seen them there before. My target list for John Mahon Park was small. I hoped to see a Summer Tanager, an Owl and a Red Tailed Hawk. Things were looking very promising for the Tanager when I saw the sign at the trailhead, but in the end I did not have any luck. I did see Cardinals, Bluejays and Carolina Wrens. Zebra Longwing Butterflies were everywhere, probably attracted to the Yellow Passionflower that was twining all through the woods.

Yellow Passionflower (Passiflora lutea)

A Walk in the Woods

The park honors several people who were instrumental in its creation and in protecting Gainesville's natural wonders. It is named after Dr. John Mahon, an environmentalist and advocate who helped preserve land for Paynes Prairie and San Felasco State Parks. And there are 2 benches in memory of Susan Wright and Dr. Kathy Cantwell, who both fought fiercely to protect the natural spaces in Alachua County from development. I feel a great sense of reverence each time visit the park or see these benches. I sit and look out at the beautiful space and I am inspired to be an advocate and protector, too. When I die, I think a bench or beautiful natural place would be a nice thing to leave behind.

Memorial Bench

As I walked I saw the remnants of spring wildflowers, Green Dragon and Trillium, as well as early summer flowers like Ironweed and Beautyberry. I was surprised to find a flower I'd never seen growing in the wild before--Carolina Scalystem. I have a lot of it growing in our yard, but they are plants I bought at the native plant sale. Thinking back, I seem to recall that my plants were part of a big group that had been rescued during the construction of the medical complex next door, so maybe ours were related to this one! In any case, it was nice to recognize it.

Trillium, or Spotted Wakerobin (Trillium maculatum)

Beauty Berry Flowers (Callicarpa americana)

Carolina Scalystem (Elytraria caroliniensis)

I found a big Carolina Mantleslug on a rotting log. These slugs can get impressively huge but they are mostly harmless, preferring to feed on fungi.

Carolina Mantleslug

Then, walking around a bend, something big and quiet flew low through the trees and up into a tree behind me. A Barred Owl! Hooray! I never get tired of seeing owls. They fly so quietly and rarely make a sound, at least during the day. But then when spotted, it is not uncommon for the owls to just sit and stare back. This owl and I watched each other for a while, until I felt like I had bothered it enough and walked on.

Barred Owl

Near the end of the loop I saw this tree. My first thought was that the gash looked like a funny, open mouth, and then I saw the stick that looked a little like a cigar hanging off the lip. I couldn't help myself and picked up some Sweet Gum Balls for eyes and created a little forest jokester.

Nature Humor

With just 5 minutes left before I had to leave, I walked out of the park to a pond in a sunny open space. I'm not sure what I hoped to see, but I looked up just as a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk flew over. And I caught this dragonfly perched on a branch over the trail. It was a nice way to spend an hour.

Red Tailed Hawk

Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly

June Bird Count: 79 (80). Natural Places Visited: 12

Sanctuary in the City

I did a little multi-tasking today. I needed to drive my husband to an appointment, so while he was taking care of his business, I took a walk through a City of Gainesville Nature Park. Gainesville is lucky this way. We have about 23 nature parks, scattered throughout the city. They encompass a large variety of habitats and serve multiple purposes--nature sanctuaries, picnic areas, playgrounds, sports fields, and education centers, to name just a few. That's the great thing about urban nature parks. They give people an alternative to sitting inside in fluorescent light, checking email and catching up on facebook. When you have a nature park a convenient distance from you, it is possible to take a quick trip over during lunch or spend quality time while you wait for someone else. A visit to a nature park can give you an excuse to take a walk and get some exercise, a chance to see wildlife and plants close to home, or can give some much needed buffer from the sounds and hubbub of everyday life. In addition, urban nature parks provide important opportunities for habitat amid our growing cities. Pockets of sanctuary for plants and animals gives them a place to thrive and survive amid human development, and gives us a convenient opportunity to enjoy them.

The place I went to today is called John Mahon Nature Park. It is located off of a major street that runs right through the heart of Gainesville. It is on 10 acres, tucked in between a busy medical complex and a blood bank, next to the road. On the way in, you pass a storm water retention pond, where I was greeted by two big frogs. Maybe River Frogs or Pig Frogs--I have a hard time telling. There was a pretty meadow in in the pond area, which will probably be submerged when we get more rain. Lots of dragonflies and butterflies flew around in the sunny area. I walked down the road leading to the actual park and found nice picnic tables and an informative kiosk. Inside the gate, I came to the trail which is a loop through the woods, maybe a half mile long. I walked it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything. (It seemed like a great place for owls, but I didn't see any.)

Dragonfly Watching Me

American Painted Lady on Spanish Needles (Bidens alba)

Pond Frog

Thick, Dark Woods

It was thick with trees and pretty dark. An interpretive sign explained that the habitat was once fire dependent upland pine forest, but now that it was surrounded by homes and businesses, burning is no longer possible and the forest had become overgrown with oaks and vines. Another interpretive sign gave information about the responsibilities of living around a nature park, such as cleaning up after pets and controlling invasive exotic species. Unfortunately, many urban nature parks in the area are plagued by invasive exotic plants such as Coral Ardesia, which I saw all along the short trail. Plants escape from landscapes and end up where they do not belong, choking out native vegetation and decreasing the natural diversity of an area.

Tell-Tale Red Berries of Coral Ardesia

Walking the loop I heard some Cardinals, Carolina Wrens and Chickadees. I saw several Zebra Longwing butterflies fluttering around. They prefer shady areas. There were only a few flowers growing in such a shady place and I could see the leaves of flowers that would bloom later in the season, such as Elephant's Foot, Hammock Snake Root, and Iron Weed. I was pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of Green Dragon plants. They are related to Jack in the Pulpit and have a similar shaped flower. There was also a small bed of Trillium. And a whole lot of poison ivy!

Carolina Wren Singing in the Woods

Green Dragon Flower (Arisaema dracontium)

Trillium (Trillium maculatum)

Leaves of Three, Leave it Be! Poison Ivy

With so many trees and vines it was fun to look closely at the shapes and textures all around me. One tree looked like a huge animal paw planted in the ground, while a Cherry Tree branch had beautiful stripes. Giant Grape vines hung across the hammock, sometimes twining around a branch and squeezing it until it bulged. The Greenbriar vines were prodigious, with many as thick as my thumb and lacy green ferns were scattered among the Saw Palmettos. On the second trip around, next to a big tree root that I thought looked like an animal den, I found a pair of Five Lined Skinks.

Big Oak Trunk--Doesn't it Look Like an Animal Paw?

Cherry Tree Bark

Vine Wrapped Around a Branch

Lacy Fern

Skinks and Their Den

Off in the distance I could hear people doing construction work on houses nearby. I passed a couple with a baby who were walking their dogs. Otherwise sights and sounds of most of the human activity were absorbed by the trees. It was like stepping out of the city for a moment. I spent less than an hour in the park. Then it was time to leave. Sanctuary in the City.

Little Snake Shed on Green Briar Vine (Smilax sp.)