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The WFSU Ecology Blog
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    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
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Roaming the Red Hills

by Sarah Dodamead April 22, 2016

Over the course of ten adventures, we explore the Red Hills of south Georgia and north Florida. It’s a region shaped by a rich ecology, starting with a large, privately owned longleaf forest, maintained through fire for the purpose of quail hunting, but beneficial to many species. From there we head down to the Red Hills’ rivers and lakes, and the wildlife within them. We also explore our rural heritage, where local agriculture still thrives.

Here we have collected all of our Roaming the Red Hills EcoAdventure series for a special episode of Local Routes.  While we had to cut some footage for the air version to fit its time slot, we have no such constraint here.  We ‘d like to thank Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy for providing funding for this video series, as well as to the local musicians who lent their music to the videos: Tracy Horenbein (who composed music specifically for the series), Belle and the Band, and Gary Asbell.  Our narrator was Jim McMurtry.  Roaming the Red Hills was produced and written by WFSU Ecology Blog producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

If you’d like to read a little more about any of the adventures seen in the program, you can visit the WFSU Ecology Blog:

Part 1 | Quail Hunting and Accidental Conservation in the Red Hills

We witness a Red Hills tradition that has had a large impact on area ecology: The quail hunt. To create a favorable habitat in which to hunt quail, landowners in the Red Hills created a thriving ecosystem in which hundreds of species thrive, including many that are endangered.

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Part 2 | Red Cockaded Woodpeckers and Fire in the Red Hills

Jim Cox bands a seven day old red cockaded woodpecker and takes a group of FSU Biology students to a fire dependent, old growth longleaf pine forest.  We see how fire benefits plant and animal species in the longleaf habitat, including endangered species like the red cockaded.   

Jim Cox of Tall Timbers Research Station bands a 7 day old red cockaded woodpecker.

Part 3 | Peeking into Gopher Tortoise Burrows at Birdsong Nature Center

One of the cutest critters to depend on fire in the longleaf habitat is the gopher tortoise. At Birdsong Nature Center, we learn the value of their burrows.

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Part 4 | Lost Creek: Hiking an Ancient Forest

At Lost Creek Forest in Thomasville, families explore an old growth forest at the headwaters of the Aucilla, and learn how to make use of native plants.

Joe Burnam teaches children to process and use yucca plant fibers to make rope at the Lost Creek Forest in Thomasville, Georgia.

Part 5 | Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail

Students at Thomas University are helping map a new paddling trail.  On a scouting mission with them, we kayak- and walk, climb, wade, and hack our way through- the Ochlockonee River in Georgia.  

Dr. Christine Ambrose of Thomas University with Vicky Redden, a member of the Ochlockonee Water Trail.

Part 6 | Ochlockonee Bio-Blitz | Kids Experience Florida River Wildlife

On a sandbar in the Apalachicola National Forest, children immerse themselves in turtles, frogs, fish, butterflies and more on the Ochlockonee River for the Ochlockonee Bio-Blitz. Biologists from Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy, Florida Fish and Wildlife, and the Friends of the Apalachicola National Forest were on hand to help the kids identify the many species they saw.

Running a net through the Ochlockonee River on the Ochlockonee Bio-Blitz. The river that day was full of fish, frogs, and turtles.

Part 7 | Sweetgrass Cheese Shop- Celebrating Farms of the Red Hills

Local farms in the Red Hills are part of an agricultural tradition dating back to the Apalachee. We go farm to table at Thomasville’s Sweetgrass Dairy.

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Part 8 | Eluster Richardson | Painting Life on a Red Hills Tenant Farm

Eluster Richardson recreates scenes from his childhood, as he paints watercolors of tenant farm life for the Jones Tenant House Exhibit at Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy.

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Part 9 | Lake Iamonia Duck Hunt

After a mild winter, hunters worried that ducks wouldn’t migrate before the season ended. We go to scenic Lake Iamonia on the last day of the season…

For a segment on duck hunting in Lake Iamonia, we met at 5 am, covered ourselves from head to toe in camouflage, and waited for ducks in the early morning sunlight.

Part 10 | Cycling Monticello’s Historic Canopy Roads

We cycle down canopy roads through historically black communities in Monticello, where we meet Dr. Flossie Byrd. Dr. Byrd recounts the invaluable education she received there in the 1940s.

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Come adventure with us in the Red Hills, Apalachicola River and Bay, the Forgotten Coast, and More! Subscribe to the WFSU Ecology Blog by Email.

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iNaturalist

iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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View robdv’s observations »

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The WFSU Ecology and Education teams at the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Open House and Plant Sale, May of 2025. Photo by Clara Mullins.

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The WFSU Ecology Blog
  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • Secrets of the Seep: A Voyage into the Mysteries of Ocean Carbon
    • Finding the First Floridians: Underwater Archeologists Uncover Florida’s Prehistory
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
    • Backyard Blog
      • My Year in Bugs: the 2022 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Ecology Blog | 2021
      • Backyard Blog November/ December 2020
      • Backyard Blog September/ October 2020
      • July and August 2020 Backyard Blog
      • Backyard Blog June 2020
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      • Backyard Blog March 2019
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      • The Backyard Bug Blog 2018
    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • Wasps of North Florida: The Bad, the Ugly, and the (yes, really) Good
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources