The Trailblazer

Hillsborough County's ELAPP Nature Preserves are a paradise for butterfly enthusiasts, and no one knows better than Bill Carlisle. Bill is the Prescribed Burn  Coordinator for Hillsborough County’s department of Conservation and Environmental Lands Management. A lifelong Riverview resident, he has a great sense of humor, and possesses the roughly hewn countenance that one can only acquire from decades of wildland firefighting and environmental lands management.  What else comes with that experience? In Bill's case, a multitude of excellent animal and plant pictures! In this article, I am going to cover several of the butterfly species he's documented in our Nature Preserves, as well as some of the host plants you can include in your garden to help support these incredible animals! Remember, a host plant is a plant that a specific butterfly species lays its eggs on and the caterpillars feed on. Long Tailed Skipper ( Urbanus proteus ) Skipper butterflies are often mistaken fo...

One of the best places in Hillsborough County to celebrate spring is also one of its best kept secrets: Eureka Springs.  Springtime at Eureka Springs Conservation Park – perhaps better referred to as a botanical garden – is a verdant paradise of blossoming flora. While walking through the park’s front entryway, you are transported to an oasis of beautiful plants, greenery, and peace. It's not merely a park; it's a sanctuary where time seems to slow, allowing guests to immerse themselves in the beauty of their surroundings. A large oak with staghorn fern, bromeliads, lichen, and other life growing upon it. Eureka Springs Conservation Park is possibly our most unique park. The 30-acre property was gifted to Hillsborough County by entrepreneur Albert Greenberg. After serving in the first World War, Greenberg travelled the world acquiring unique tropical plants and chose to settle them in Tampa.  In the 1930’s, Albert started Everglades Nursery and Aquatic Plants and bought what i...

Just last year, my partner and I were staring at a bare, sandy patch in our backyard. The earth had been graded high during construction, and grass stubbornly refused to grow there. The only thing holding back erosion was an increasingly expensive layer of pine straw. It's about time , I thought, to finally follow my own advice and plant some frogfruit. Frogfruit as seen from above. These specimens have their characteristic white and purple blooms. Photo by Jade Fortnash. I was first introduced to the plant Phyla nodiflora, better known as frogfruit, as a butterfly host plant. If you want Common Buckeye or White Peacock butterflies flitting around, tuck some frogfruit into your garden. However, the more I chatted with older gardeners, the more I heard a familiar refrain: "Oh, I used to play in meadows of that stuff as a kid! Haven't seen it in ages." These days, much of the arable land in Tampa Bay has been developed for agriculture or housing. Extraordinary quantitie...

Have a hard time finding out where you can do what activities in Hillsborough County? Never fear. While there are a lot of ways to recreate, we've created this guide to help get you started. Additional fees may apply depending on the activity or site; for instance entry to a Conservation Park is $2/vehicle, launching a motorized boat at a boat launch is $5, and renting a kayak is $25. If you want to save some money on entry fees, you might consider purchasing an Annual Pass .  Lastly, take a few seconds and check the page of the park or preserve you plan to go to before heading out - trail closures, construction, or other things that may impede your recreation will be noted.  Hiking The easiest way to begin outdoor recreation is to just get outside and start walking - and there are plenty of places to hike in Hillsborough County. You can join the Hiking Spree between November and March to get rewarded for your hikes, or you can hike all year long at any of our parks and ...

March heralds warmer weather, spring break, and the end of the Hiking Spree – as of publication there is only one month left to complete your 8 th annual Hiking Spree hikes! What do you do when you’ve completed the Hiking Spree? 1. Double check to make sure you're registered . We forgive you if you were so excited to hit the trails that you forgot. 2. Fill out the Hiking Spree Completion Form online, you’ll need the confirmation you receive to pick up your rewards and we need this to know which trails are your favorite! 3. Step outside and collect your prize! We’ve introduced more in-person pickup sites to help you get your rewards as soon as possible. Bring your confirmation and collect your rewards at any of these locations: • Bell Creek Nature Preserve • Carrollwood Village Park • Conservation Parks Admin Office • Edward Medard Conservation Park • Gardenville Recreation Center • Jackson Springs Community Center • Lettuce Lake Conservation Park • Lithia ...

Arguably, the most important survival technique employed by the animal residents of Hillsborough County’s Conservation and Environmental Lands is reproduction, but romance can look quite different for wild animals. Here’s the top five wild love affairs in our area, from the most dedicated, to the most bizarre! 1. Adrenaline Junkies: The Bald Eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) Cartwheel Courtship The Bald Eagle thrives in the nature preserves and conservation parks of Hillsborough County, with active, monogamous pairs fishing and nest building in properties such as Upper Tampa Bay , Eureka Springs , and Morris Bridge Conservation Parks . Visit in the fall as nesting season approaches, and you may see something alarming! Two juvenile bald eagles practicing the "Cartwheel" courtship behavior. Photo by Paul VanDerWerf; CC BY-2.0 Bald eagles linking claws in midair. Photo copyright ChristiLaLiberte. The Bald Eagle's courtship ritual looks more like mortal combat as pairs perfo...