Finding Treasures on the Trail - Bill's Memorial Trail

We spent part of the weekend in Tallahassee and on Saturday morning (before the heat set in) we were up and out early to take a walk. A little exercise combined with bird and butterfly watching with a surprise thrown in for good measure.


Lafayette Heritage Trail Park is located at the east end of Heritage Park Blvd. in the Piney-Z subdivision. You'll find picnic tables, a playground, bathroom and drinking water at the small parking lot. Also lots of trails for walking and biking. You can even bring your pooch as long as he's on a leash and well behaved.

A New Trail for Us

As we ventured around Piney-Z lake we crossed the railroad tracks and found a trail we'd never walked before. 

In the summer of 2013 this trail was hand cut with a machete by Karen Harvey the running coach for Florida State University. She named the trail for her late father and marked it Bill's Trail on a hand painted Frisbee. Later the trail received a professional sign. 

"Bill's Memorial Trail: Designed and Maintained by a Loving Daughter"

The trail completes a 2.7 mile loop around Piney-Z lake. The loop includes a beautiful covered bridge and wooden walkway that winds through the woods. But it's on Bill's Trail that you'll find the art lab. A covered pavilion with a picnic table and all kinds of material for arts and crafts. You can paint rocks, pine cones and pictures. Leave your mark in one of the many journals or take a book from the little free library. A fun way for families to get out and enjoy nature. Even the adults in our group took time to paint a rock. 

There's a watering station at the art lab for thirsty dogs and you'll find boxes of dog bones in the little free library! 

The art lab is thanks to John Kalin, a long time trail maintenance volunteer with the City of Tallahassee. When Karen Harvey moved away from Tallahassee in 2015 she asked John if he would maintain the trail and he readily agreed. John's the one who added the art lab and stocks and maintains it. What a great way to encourage families to get out and enjoy nature. 

Part of the raised boardwalk. A nice shady walk under beautiful oak trees. 

There's always something new to find when you get outside and take a walk. Keep your eyes open and you might find a treasure or a surprise along the way! 

Finding treasures along the way.

Walking With the Birds

Monthly Beginner Bird Walk 

Our local Audubon Society hosts a monthly walk at a local park to share their knowledge and love of our local birds. It's mainly for beginner birdwatcher but experienced birders join as well.

We met up at 10 a.m. at Fort Caroline National Memorial and joined 25 others on a walk around the fort loop. It's September but still hot as Hades and super humid here but we were a hardy group ready to conquer the Florida wilds on our bird quest.

We've walked that trail before and the 1 mile loop usually takes about 20 -25 minutes. Add a little more time if you want to check out the fort. Today however it took us almost 2 hours!

When you bird watch on a walk you walk 10 steps and stop and look up. Walk 10 steps, stop and look up. Very slow going. But it really makes you stop and take the time to look around and focus on not just the birds but the trees, plants, butterflies and spider webs.

This is my third time joining this walk and I've observed there seems to be two types of participants. Those who really want to learn about birds and expand on their hobby and those who just want the social experience.

The social seekers tend to bond quickly and move just as quickly keeping pace not with the birds but with their conversation. And that's not a bad thing. We all need social connections and a bird walk is a great place for just that.

The serious wanna be birders tend to gather around one of the two leaders trying to soak in their vast knowledge.

Did you know that you can identify a bird by the song he sings? Or that some birders can name a bird as it flies by in a blink of an eye just by the color or the stripe on it's wing? Or that you can find all kinds of little birds flitting among the Spanish moss because it's full of bugs that the birds feed on? How about the fact that some birds migrate and some live here year round? Is that little bird a Pine Warbler, a Magnolia Warbler or a Yellow Rump Warbler?

Whew!

So much to learn and there's no better way to learn than by joining up with experienced birders. I'm sure there are some highly competitive birders but so far the ones I've met are just as excited when someone else spots a birds as if they spotted it themselves. I like that.

So today our walking was more like standing and shifting to the next spot but it was still a walk. I'm looking forward to a great season of bird watching and walking.

The Birds I Saw Today

(I've only listed the ones that I saw with my own two eyes)

3 Snowy Egrets 

1 Turkey Vulture (soaring overhead)

1 Red-Bellied Woodpecker

2 Downy Woodpeckers (male and female)

1 Pileated Woodpecker

1 Great Crested Flycatcher

8 Tufted Titmouse

2 Carolina Wren

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Northern Cardinal 

Get outside and see what you can see!