Brooker Creek

11/12/15
Weather: 86 degrees, slightly breezy, sunny.
Again I was the first to arrive at the park, this time it was an hour early. The drive into the park was very long and interesting. Other students said they saw gopher tortoises and armadillos on the way in but I wasn't lucky enough to spot any. This park was beautiful with very nice wooden walkways towards the beginning of the trail.
Brooker Creek receives prescribed burns and we were able to spot some of the burn marks on the trees. The ecosystem is a pine flatland so it needs burning to replicate natural processes. We came upon a portion of trail that was completely submerged muddy water. Considering I had a class afterwards I decided against adventurously plunging my feet into the mud and instead I found several "dry" paths on the outskirts of the trail. We saw frogs int the swampy, muddy trails. This was expected because amphibians thrive in muddy, wet environments. In the swamps at the begining of the trail spotted water bugs stirring up the water. They generated a lot of ripples in the water where they were swimming.