Brooker Creek

Brooker Creek Preserve

Address: 3940 Keystone Rd, Tarpon Springs, FL 34688

Weather: Around 84 degrees, little breeze.

                Brooker Creek Preserve is about 8,700 acres, and has all different ecosystems including swamps, the creek runs all throughout the preserve which is able to seen more in some locations than other, and forested wetland makes up a lot of the other areas.

                Thought out the park and near the creek we were able to see ferns, duck weed, limbs of trees, and area where the water once was when the area floods. The further we walking into the park the more we saw pines and saw palmettos. A little deeper into the parks we saw an area that is normally maintained by fire, but it appeared that it hasn’t had a controlled burn in a long time due to houses being right behind the area.

                There are many areas of Brooker Creek where hammocks are able to be seen, the understory, shrubbery, and groundcover has made it a diversity full of richness which allows many different things to grow. Throughout out walk we witnesses many things including a beautiful woodpecker in a tree, many different types of flowers, and a Gopher tortoise before most of the class showed up and he ran back into his hole.

                Throughout the field trip we saw forested wetland, then we were able to see on one side of the trail thick hammock and flat lands on the other side. Also, I got to witness wild holly growing in the Creek area.