Early Morning at Sweetwater Wetlands

This past Saturday I met with some other photographers from my local photo club at Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville Florida.  I recently received an annual pass to this excellent park on the edge of Paynes Prairie for my birthday, I look forward to visiting much more throughout the year to come.

The park is designed to help naturally clean wastewater runoff from Gainesville, in the past this wastewater would dump directly into Alachua sink and directly into the Florida Aquifer without any natural filtration.  A series of man made wetlands allow the runoff to be naturally filtered and also gives local wildlife access to a good source of food.

We started the day just after sunrise at 7:30 AM, the moon was still high in the sky. This time of day is known to photographers as the “Golden Hour” for the excellent light that is cast early in the morning and just before sunset.

Once inside the park we found lots of wild birds scouring the shallow waters for their morning meal.  This Common Moorhen was one of those birds.  The Moorhen is in fact very common in the park and gets overlooked by the birders that frequent the park.

Next we saw something a bit more rare, a Green Heron.  I find the name of this bird to be quite confusing because it is not green at all.

As we attempted to continue along the curved boardwalk a Great Blue Heron landed on the railing in front of us as to say thou shall not pass.  We both stopped for a while watching each other and us taking photos but eventually it continued on as did we.  Here it is in the heat of the standoff.

Another common bird of the wetlands of Florida is the Red Winged Blackbird,  this is another slightly confusing one.  The male of the species is in fact a black bird with red on its wings, however as you see here the female is not black at all and also does not have any red on it’s wings or anywhere else.  These birds are quite talkative and they like to perch of the tall grasses found in the wetlands and prairies.

Springtime is especially pretty around Paynes Prairie and the wetlands. The pickerel plants produce a sea of the lovely purple flowers you see here.  I love the striking colors of these flowers and enjoy photographing them to try and capture that beauty for eternity.

Further along the trail we say a tiny Palm Warbler jumping from branch to branch of a small cypress tree.  I managed to capture the bird sitting still for just an instant, I really liked the color contrast and the lovely early morning light.

A bit further along another female Red Winged Blackbird was doing a bit of a dance on this tall grass, almost seeming impossible that this tiny grass could hold such a bird.

Then a moment later we heard a clatter in the air, a group of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks flew by in a Thunderbirds like formation.

As we were making our way out of the park to leave we saw this brightly colored Purple Gallinule looking for a bite to eat itself.  This birds bright colors are quite incredible.  I would love to capture one on or near the flowering Pickerel.

Just as we were leaving we noticed this Blue Flag blooming just near the waters edge next to the boardwalk.  Again quite a stunning color and a beautiful way to end the hike.

I hope you enjoyed these photos from our hike.  If you get the chance, a visit to Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Gainesville Florida is highly recommended. You can find more information at http://www.sweetwaterwetlands.org/

All photos copyright me, Wesley Hetrick (2018), please do not use without permission.