A Winter Visit to Cockroach Creek Greenway

Winter photos taken on the “Felda Ridge Trail” at Cockroach Creek Greenway Nature Preserve; January, 2025. Photos by James Robe.

Earlier this January, I paid a visit to Environmental Lands Management Coordinator, Mary Barnwell, at her office in Cockroach Bay Nature Preserve, while on my way to visit the “Felda Ridge Trail” at Cockroach Creek Greenway Nature Preserve—one of our lesser-known locations on the Hillsborough County Hiking Spree. I was a bit nervous to ask how the properties she managed had fared during 2024’s hurricanes, Helene and Milton.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear positive news. While she did have a list of human structures damaged—office building, missing pole barn, wrecked shed, issues with the well—She was animated by changes brought on by the storm, as well as the resilience of certain areas.

Summer photos of Cockroach Bay Nature Preserve, a sister preserve to Cockroach Creek Greenway; June of 2023. Photos by James Robe.

Completed in 2012, the Cockroach Bay restoration project transformed land disturbed by mining and agricultural uses into a mosaic of braided tidal creeks and freshwater ponds designed to filter nutrients and revive transitional saltwater habitats. Over time, however, some ponds became overgrown with vegetation, including invasive plants, creating dense foliage—while suitable for rails, blackbirds, and sparrows—deterred shorebirds and wading birds. Terrain and wet conditions made it difficult to open these areas up with fire, mechanical, or chemical means.

Not more than two weeks after my visit, Barnwell sent me this picture. Evidently, the ponds in Cockroach Bay are filling up with great egrets, American coots, gallinule, white pelicans, scaups, teals, northern shovelers, wood storks, spoonbills, and more! Photo by Mary Barnwell.

Mary explained that hurricanes Helene and Milton had delivered a much-needed reset in Cockroach Bay Nature Preserve. Storm surges flushed saltwater into the system, killing back freshwater vegetation, including invasive species, reopening the habitat. She anticipates a surge in shorebirds such as killdeer, sandpipers and yellowlegs, and some seabirds like terns during fall 2025 migration. This is a silver lining to Florida’s extreme weather, the storms did in hours what years of manual management couldn’t.

Unlike its restored sibling, Cockroach Creek Greenway Nature Preserve’s pine flatwoods remained largely unscathed by the hurricanes (although many pines were damaged or felled from high winds). This relatively intact ecosystem, dominated by tall pines and fire-dependent understories of grasses and palmettos, owes its resilience to a rigorous prescribed fire regimen. Burns every 2–6 years prevent overcrowding, reducing risks of catastrophic wildfires, insect infestations, and wind damage.

In the flatwoods proper, only a small handful of trees has succumbed to the extreme winds. Photo by James Robe.

Fire is a natural filter, diseased or weak trees succumb to controlled burns long before storms arrive, leaving behind sturdy survivors. After Helene and Milton, the flatwoods of Cockroach Creek Greenway saw less blowdown when compared to areas where fire suppression allowed dense, unstable trees to accumulate. Species like the endangered crested caracara and northern bobwhite quail—both reliant on fire-dependent ecosystems—continue to be seen here.

Prescribed fire supports the habitat—and in some cases even the seed germination—of native forbs and grasses. Although January is not the optimal time to photograph flowers, I was still able to find some of my favorite plants. From left to right, top to bottom: Wild pennyroyal (Piloblephis rigida), Atlantic St. John's-wort (Hypericum tenuifolium), Purple Thistle (Cirsium horridulum), and Rose-rush (Lygodesmia aphylla). The Purple Thistle may be far from fun to handle, but their impressive blooming stalks should make visiting the red trail in the spring a treat. All of these plants depend on fire adapted ecosystems. Photos by James Robe.

Cockroach Creek Greenway’s centuries-old hydrology, uninterrupted by development, ensures natural drainage during floods, and locally adapted native plants, evolved to withstand Florida’s extremes, outcompete invasives. These factors contribute to the landscape’s ingrained ability to rebound.

Disturbed areas lack this resilience. In some conservation lands, decades of agricultural runoff and soil disruption have left the sites vulnerable to invasives such as Brazilian pepper and cogon grass. Barnwell notes that intact ecosystems are like a well-trained immune system. They resist invaders and recover faster, while disturbed lands are far more costly and difficult to manage.

It is not just exotic plants which misbehave without fire. When clustered too closely, cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) can form a ladder of fire, exposing the tops of neighboring pine trees to more stress during otherwise routine burns.

Maintaining quality habitat with prescribed fire is more important than ever. The 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map confirmed Florida’s warming climate, with southern Hillsborough County now half a zone hotter. Tropical invasives, from Mexican petunias to Nile monitor lizards, are advancing northward. Cockroach Bay, bordering Manatee County, is on the front lines.

Likewise, Storm-driven saltwater intrusion is a preview of sea-level rise. Coastal habitats will erode, but conservation corridors—like those linking Cockroach Bay to Cockroach Creek Greenway—may offer refuge for species pushed inland.

Photo by James Robe.

When asked the best time to visit Cockroach Creek Greenway, Barnwell defied my expectations of the usual fall and spring recommendations: mid-summer. There are at least 28 freshwater marsh areas scattered throughout the preserve which really come alive in the summer, and this is what she really wants people to experience on the blue trail. As the water level rises, plants such as native water lily, spatterdock, pickerelweed, and bladderwort bloom in force as the marshes draw in an abundance of wading birds. Finally, she went on to point out one of the most iconic features of the summer, Florida landscape—the towering storm clouds which build up in the afternoon and fill the horizon.

I know I will be back to visit Cockroach Creek Greenway in the summer and snap some more dramatic photos to share. For those who haven’t been able to visit the southern Hillsborough County nature preserves, I highly recommend taking a look at the ELAPP properties available to visit.