We had hiked at the Naval Oaks eighteen months ago and I had been eager to revisit. The Longleaf Pine forest of the Florida Panhandle is one of my favorite habitats and there are pockets of it in this 1300 acre preserve. Unusual for us, we started this hike in the mid-afternoon with the winter sun low in the sky, making wildlife observation and photography challenging.
The preserve is a remnant of the federal Live Oak Tree Reservation Program. During the war of 1812, naval ships built with a support structure of Live Oak timber demonstrated great resilience to cannon fire from the British fleet. Following the war, leaders were concerned about the decreasing availability of mature Live Oaks on the Atlantic coast. In1828, the Secretary of Navy, Samuel Southard, under the direction of President John Quincy Adams, acquired 5 parcels of land, totaling 60,000 acres of forest in the Pensacola Bay area, to supply the Naval Ship Yard at Pensacola with Live Oak lumber. However, with development of steel hulled ships, the need for Live Oak lumber plummeted, and over time the majority of the land was turned over to local governments. The exception was thirteen hundred acres of land on the Florida Panhandle, along the Gulf of Mexico, which remained in federal hands and was never developed. In 1971 this site was placed under the administration of the National Park Service as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and it is an outstanding piece of greenspace.
On our previous visit we had hiked the middle section of the preserve, utilizing the Andrew Jackson Trail which transects the property. For this outing we wanted to hike the northeastern section, utilizing a loop trail created by using the Old Quarry Trail, the Borrow Pit Trail, the Brown’s Pond Trail, the Beaver Pond Trail, and a small segment of the Andrew Jackson Trail.
We entered the preserve on the eastern boundary where there is a small parking area that does not appear on the map. We were about a quarter of a mile from the Gulf Coast. Almost as soon as we entered the preserve we were greeted by a somewhat mystical creature above us in the shadows of a pine tree.
And then he flew off.
As it arced into the clear blue sky, the sun struck his tail feathers and we saw a sudden flash of cinnamon red, causing the four of us to gasp in excitement – a very close encounter with a Red-tailed Hawk. We knew then that it was going to be a good outing.
The initial appearance of the trail was what I expected. This section of the preserve took a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 so there were no towering trees.
But with nature, in destruction there is opportunity. With the loss of most of the tree canopy, more light reaches the ground where we saw a flush of new growth and plant diversity, offering a new “recovery” habitat that was teeming with birds and reptiles. Full recovery will take centuries, not decades.
In addition, this area had somewhat recently experienced fire. It was unclear whether that was natural, accidental, or a prescribed burn.
The junction of the Old Quarry and Old Borrow Pit Trails was marked by this large Sand Live Oak – truly a majestic specimen for this species. Sand Live Oaks are more typically stunted in growth and found closer to the shoreline, where evolution has selected for the ability to withstand wind. That is perhaps why it is one of the few remaining sentinel trees that withstood Hurricane Ivan’s wrath.
Sand Live Oaks have evolved to survive in the dry, high salt, high wind environment of the coast, with small, thick leaves with curved edges – features that lessen moisture loss.
One unique feature is the ebony colored acorns, one of which is also seen in the title photo. The dark color is caused by a high tannin level. Tannins cause the acorns to taste bitter, limiting the consumption of them by animals and therefore increasing the likelihood of germination.
As we headed north on the Old Borrow Pit Trail, further from the direct hit of Ivan, the landscape filled in and there were some large trees.
The upper segment of our devised loop, Brown’s Pond Trail, was somewhat narrower, and had an element of rolling terrain, which is unusual so close to the coast.
Brown’s Pond was really larger than a typical pond, and viewing was initially somewhat limited by thick undergrowth. We heard some frogs and a Wood Duck but really could not see them.
As the hike continued along the shore, progressively better views were obtained – not open, but enticing.
It was in this area that we saw a large twin Southern Magnolia, one of my favorite trees, taking on a unique golden glow as the rays from the low winter sun passed through its leaves.
Upon leaving the wetland we found ourselves in a healthy Longleaf Pine woodland. These are characterized by well spaced trees with Saw Palmetto and grasses beneath them. Episodic fire, which clears the forest floor, is critical to maintaining this habitat, and for allowing the germination of the next generation of Longleaf Pine trees. Without fire, deciduous trees like Live Oak and Tupelo would out complete the Longleaf pines and the habitat would be lost.
I think that is well demonstrated by the photo below which shows an amazing number of Live Oak seedlings awaiting the opportunity to grow. Fire, which historically happened every 2 to 3 years, would prevent deciduous trees from overrunning the habitat. In the 1900’s, the fire suppression philosophy led to a decline in Longleaf Pine forest acreage, negatively impacting the populations of many species endemic to the Longleaf habitat, including the Gopher Tortoise and the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, which were labeled “threatened” and “endangered’ respectively. With the use of prescribed burns, the health of the Longleaf Pine forests have improved and the species are recovering.
We finished this hike with about 3.5 minutes to spare before sundown.
Odds and ends:
As a tree guy I spend a lot of time looking up into the canopy. Not only is that risky due to trip hazards along the trail, but neglecting observation of the forest floor and understory will lessen the intrigue of the hike. For that reason I will concentrate on some of the things that we observed on this outing, on or close to the ground.
Part of the joy of heading south in late November is that you still get to see wildflowers. One that we see flowering regardless of the time of the year is Scarlet Sage. They are an important source of nectar for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Monarchs during their migrations south in the fall.
Another was Delaney’s Golden Aster. We have seen it on previous Northwest Florida hikes, including in the harsh environment of the exposed barrier islands.
Woody Goldenrod is not really a Goldenrod as we know them. It is a semi-woody plant that survives the winter.
I share these photos because the photographer is a mycophile, “one who is passionate about fungi”. Sometimes they are colorful or have exotic shapes – but other times they just are part of the community of earth tones on the forest floor. If you too are a mycophile I would suggest that you join Bluesky Social, a relatively new platform. There you will see many photos of beautiful fungi.
But this one was a learning situation for us. Initially we thought that it was sand that some insect or crustacean had pushed up. But with further study we found out that it was a fungus with the unusual common name of “Dog Vomit”. We saw this late in our hike and the photo was taken in the dusk. It is a member of the slime mold family which are a group of fungi involved in decomposition on the forest floor.
One particular fern was noted throughout this walk. Somewhat uniquely, it always consisted of a single frond arising from the sand. I believe that it is Tailed Bracken Fern. Bracken ferns occur across the globe and have historically been considered one species, but botanist are now separating them into about 8 to 12 species through the use of genetic analysis. The exact number is a point of disagreement amongst the fern botanists.
When trying to identify ferns, it is important to look on the underside of the leaves to looks for the positioning of spores. In this case no spores were present. In Bracken ferns a single frond is just a small part of a much bigger plant. The plant consists of a black underground rhizome that can spread as much as 1300 feet and sends up fronds sporadically along the way. Not all the fronds will be involved in spore formation so you may have to look at many to find one that displays spores on its underside.
Late fall and winter are also a great time to appreciate the simple beauty of seed heads in their wide variety of forms.
One thing that I enjoy when in the forests of the panhandle is the contrast of the plant life there. We go from the dainty beauty of the ferns, to the threatening appearance of:
Yucca
And Prickly Pear Cacti
No forest floor and trail review would be complete without a discussion of the interesting scat (the naturalists word for poop) that we had a chance to study. The most notable thing about these two were the apparent undigested acorns present. While I can’t be absolutely certain that this is Black Bear scat, black bears are notorious for being poor digesters of acorns. And the pile in the second photo was substantial. There were signs warning of bears in the preserve.
This ant observation intrigued us from the start. We saw numerous colonies that were surrounded by black debris. My internet research identified this as a characteristic of the Harvester Ant which inhabit Longleaf Pine forests. The black debris is charcoal that remained after fire. No one knows why they collect the charcoal and what role it plays around the opening to the colony. One ant expert reported on-line that he tested 8 different hypothesis for why they do this and none of them panned out scientifically.
I present this next photo just because of the irony. Last week I wrote about our first identification of Crossvine, which was seen while hiking in Frankfort, Kentucky. Then, one week later we saw it again 650 miles away in Gulf Breeze, Florida.
It is not on the forest floor but it sets the tone for a southern wetland – Spanish Moss. It is in fact not a moss, but rather a bromeliad, the same family as the pineapple. They do not harm the trees they grow on as it gets all their water and nutrient needs from the air.
And lastly, I just liked this photo. It hones back to the famous Robert Frost poem. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
The actual full poem is:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In summary, our revisit to the Naval Oaks section of the Gulf Islands National Seashore was worthwhile. Our 2 mile hike went through 3 distinct habitats – recovering woodland, lake shore, and mature Longleaf Pine forest. As always, the little observations were very enriching to the experience. The exciting thing is that with 1300 acres, there is still much of the preserve for us to hike.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns and Caroline Burns Grizzle.
Overview:
Location – Gulf Islands National Seashore Park Headquarters is at 1801 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze Fl, 32563. The parking area for this trailhead is a little east of that address, on Bayshore Road, on the north side of US 98. (see map above)
Parking – compacted sand on the right side of Bayshore Road. Parking for 4-5 vehicles.
Facilities – restrooms at a nearby beach/picnic area that is on the shore of Pensacola Bay (see map above)
Trail Conditions – generally wide and made up of loose and compacted sand
Benches – none on trail
Picnic Tables – many at the nearby beach area
Kids – the loose sand in some areas could make for tough going for kids under 8
Dogs – allowed on a leash in the Andrew Jackson area of the Naval Oaks but they are not allowed on the beach.
Links:
https://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/naval-live-oaks-area.htm