of grazing animals — deer and Seminole stock. In summer 

 Pickerel Weed (Pontederid) occurs as purple seas of flowers 

 in solid expanses of many acres' extent. Cattails and the 

 lavender-flowered Water Hyacinths are conspicuous in the 

 prairie vegetation, and in many scattered ponds the great 

 round leaves and huge, long-stemmed, yellow blossoms of 

 the American Lotus form aquatic gardens of rare beauty. 



This big, wet savanna, rich in insects, fish, frogs, reptiles, 

 and small mammals, provides an important feeding ground 

 for thousands of aquatic birds, including resident and 

 migratory ducks, rails, coots, gallinules, and the hosts of 

 showy, long-legged wading birds. It is also the home of 

 small bands of the magnificent Sandhill Crane. 



The Prairie, like other shallow lakes of the area, has 

 had a varied history. It was once an Indian pasture. In 

 Civil War days corn was grown on it. Twenty years later 

 a steamboat was making regular runs from Rocky Point 

 to Bivin's Arm. 



In 1961, the owners, Camp Ranch, Inc., in cooperation 

 with the Gainesville Garden Club and the Florida Game 

 and Fresh Water Fish Commission designated a strip on 

 either side of the right-of-way of U. S. Highway 441 as 

 a wildlife sanctuary. The remainder of the prairie is closed 

 to hunting, fishing and visiting. 



LAKE TUSCAWILLA (or Cuscowilla) — A two- 

 square mile marsh, at times becoming a shallow lake, a mile 

 south of Micanopy. The Cuscowilla Indians, visited by 



Bartram, had their town on the shore of the lake. In 

 1959, the owners of the lands adjacent to Tuscawilla co-' 

 operated with the Florida Audubon Society in making it 

 a wildhfe sanctuary. It is an important feeding ground 

 for a colony of Wood Ibises. American, Snowy, and Cattle 

 Egrets are usually to be seen feeding among the grazing 

 Black Angus cattle on the broad pastures around the lake, 



MICANOPY WOOD IBIS ROOKERY— This is 

 located in cypress swamp in the lower reaches of the River 

 Styx. It was designated a sanctuary by the owner, Ben 

 Franklin, in cooperation with the Florida Audubon Society. 

 Several hundred Wood Ibises nest in the tall trees of this 

 sanctuary. Prothonotary Warblers, Barred Owls, and 

 Pileated Woodpeckers, are typical residents. It is not open 

 to the public, and the only access to the locality is either 

 by boat or along a railroad track that bisects the area. 



ORANGE LAKE — ^This large lake, just at the southern 

 border of Alachua County, was at one time one of the 

 most famous localities in the State for observing birds. 

 Vicissitudes in its levels have at times greatly reduced the 

 once tremendous bird colonies that nested on the floating 

 islands. Normally, there are good numbers of White Ibises 

 nesting on the sixty acres owned by the Florida Audubon 

 Society, as well as many herons, Least Bitterns, Boat-tailed 

 Grackles, and gallinules. Access by boat only, for which 

 contact Don McKay at Orange Lake. 



Marjorie Carr 



HIGHLANDS HAMMOCK 

 STATE PARK AND VICINITY 



Birders who camp will find Highlands Hammock State 

 Park near Sebring a good base for operations, since High- 

 lands Hammock State- Park itself has good birding and is 

 so located that it afitords a base for trips north through 

 the phosphate pits of Polk County, and south to Lake 

 Okeechobee. 



The birds actually welcome the campers to Highlands 

 Hammock State Park for they swarm over the camping 

 area begging, and (believe it or. not) the Yellow-throated 

 Warbler is one of the most persistent beggars here. He is 

 accompanied by Bobwhites, Red-headed and Red-bellied 

 Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, Meadow- 

 larks, Bluejays, and Mockingbirds. 



The hammock (hard woods) section of the park is 

 always full of small birds such as wood warblers, vireos, 

 flycatchers. In the cypress swamp and marsh areas, water 

 birds such as ibises, storks, and herons come and go. Anhingas 

 are always here and occasionally the Limpkin and the 

 Prothonotary Warbler. 



The pinewoods has Bluebirds, woodpeckers including the 

 Red-cockaded, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. The pine 

 scrub adds the saucy Scrub Jay. 



On the entrance road to Highlands Hammock State Park 

 is Lake Jackson where Black Skimmers, Ring-billed and 

 Bonaparte's Gulls, Forster's Terns, as well as coots, galli- 

 nules, and cormorants may be found in season. 



If for any reason the water birds are not visiting the 

 park, the birder is sure to find them on a trip to the 



TOM ROYAL 

 The Sandhill Crane is a resident in peninsular Florida, with 

 the center of its population the Kissimmee Prairie region. 



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