(Emerson Point, Florida)

On the southern shores of Tampa Bay, at the mouth of the beautiful Manatee River, lies an island that is a magical mix of modern and ancient. Emerson Point Park has a long and rich history of human habitation dating back thousands of years. Today it is owned by the State of Florida and expertly maintained by the Manatee County Conservation Lands Management team.

This 195-acre park has been a favorite with fishermen throughout the millennia because protected waters, sea grasses, and thriving estuaries border its 15 miles of shoreline. To the east is a narrow channel separating the park from mainland Palmetto. To the south is the mouth of the Manatee River, called the Oyster River by Indians who marveled at its abundant stocks. To the west, off in the distance, is Egmont Key and to the north lies Terra Ceia Bay, listed as an Outstanding Florida Waterway.

Emerson Point is also a favorite with hikers and walkers because its miles of trails offer boundless possibilities -- small loops, longer treks and hidden treasures. The Terra Ceia Trail sprouts watery overlooks: boardwalks that bend off the trail and lead to the shallows on the shoreline. Another leads to an observation tower that offers a breathtaking vista of Tampa Bay from over 60 feet up.

One of my favorite hikes is the Restoration Trail, which offers an ever-changing landscape as crews pluck out invasive exotic plants to make room for wildlife-friendly native species.

Less than a year ago, the left side of the trail was dominated by Australian Pine. This noxious exotic is considered a pest plant because it spreads quickly and nothing grows under the trees. There is minimal value to wildlife, and the areas they inhabit become an ecological wasteland. But all that has changed: The trees have been removed and we are watching the return of American beautyberry, wild coffee and cedar that will draw wildlife back. A few dead Australian Pines left as “standing snags” are essential to woodpeckers and potential homes for nuthatches, screech owls and bluebirds.

This is a great butterfly park because of the profusion of flowering plants. Bidens, lantana, ironweed, sida, wild lime, partridge pea, firebush – some call them weeds, but “one person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.” These flowers attract buckeyes, pearleyes, frittilaries, sulphurs of all kinds, swallowtails and my personal favorite, the zebra longwing butterfly, sometimes tagged as Florida’s “Official Insect.” An orange grove planted by early settlers in the 1870s attracts giant swallowtails which prefer citrus as a larval food source.

I walk this trail several times a week during the school year, sharing the native plant stories with students. They learn about native vs. exotic plants, and participate first-hand in removing a particularly insidious weed, the Air Potato Vine. Prizes are awarded daily to the team with the heaviest haul, and the largest and smallest air potato. Since the program started in the winter of 2001, we’ve worked with over 2000 students to remove 3,100 pounds of air potato vine (Dioscora bulbifera) and 1,500 pounds of ceasar weed (Urena lobata).

As the trail curves heading west, we come to a large pond teeming with bird life. Woodstorks, great blue heron, American egret, little blue herons and ducks of all sorts, including a pair of wood ducks, flock to the pond. I ask the students to identify those pink birds with the funny-shaped bill. In unison, they reply: “Flamingoes!” I explain that the pink birds are actually Roseate spoonbills, and that we are very fortunate to see such a large group of them.

My eye catches an unusual sight. It looks like a palm growing out of another tree. This is the strangler fig, which begins its life as an epiphyte, growing on the palm tree. As the fig grows its roots reach the ground and begin their stranglehold on the palm. Eventually it will entangle the entire palm and kill it. Survival of the fittest?

Another side trail takes us through a 1000-year-old Indian village. We try to imagine what life was like then: “The heavy growth of trees you now see would not have covered everything: The shell mounds would have gleamed white in the sun, topped and surrounded by thatched houses. Smoke from cooking fires drifted skyward as people worked at their daily tasks and children played. Canoes of hunting parties landed along the shore to unload the day’s catch while the air filled with an irregular rhythm of conch shell hammers tapping open shellfish.”

A hush falls over the students as we walk among shell middens that have been here over 1000 years, remnants of a culture that lived and died on this shoreline.

A giant gumbo-limbo has fallen in the woods, but lying on its side we get a feel for the immensity of the tree. The name itself is magical: gumbo-limbo. The tree is easily identified by its large, twisting limbs and reddish peeling bark. While no one knows why, we always see the gumbo-limbo at midden sites. Is it because this tropical tree prefers the calcium soils caused by the shell remains? Or is it because the resin of the gumbo-limbo is a form of copal, burned as incense offering to the gods?

Our haunting walk through the woods ends abruptly at a clearing. To our right is the Manatee River and to our left is the largest known temple mound on Tampa Bay. We look up and imagine the chief and shaman leading a ceremony for the villagers below. For reasons unknown, the ritual buildings on top of the temple mound would be regularly burned down. The people would cover the mound with another layer of earth and shell and erect new buildings. In this way, the temple mound grew over the years in size and elevation. The native people started building this mound around 800AD and abandoned it about 1500AD.

A recent rain has turned the resurrection fern a lush and verdant green, carpeting the branches of the giant live oaks that protect this ancient temple. We are reminded that, as visitors here, we are guardians of both the past and future. We try to identify with the spiritual importance and natural order that the passage of time has given to this special place.

Naturalist Karen Fraley is the owner of Around the Bend Nature Tours (www.aroundbend.com) in Bradenton. Teachers who wish to schedule a free field trip, funded by grants from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Pinellas County Environmental Foundation and the Florida Native Plant Society, may call Karen at 941-794-8773. Groups welcome also!

Getting there: Take I-275 across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Stay right for US 19, then take Business 41 into Palmetto. Turn right on 10th St. W. (2nd traffic light) and continue on to Snead Island. Follow signs to Emerson Point Park (right on Tarpon Ave., left on 17th St. W.) From I-75, take Ellenton Exit #43 and proceed west to Snead Island. Open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset, Emerson Point offers hiking trails and a canoe trail to Terra Ceia Bay. For additional information, contact the Manatee County Conservation Lands Dept. at 941-776-2295.

By:

Karen Fraley
Around the Bend Nature Tours
Bradenton, Florida
941-794-8773 | www.aroundbend.com