Phinizy Swamp Nature Park

Phinizy Swamp Nature Park
Phinizy Swamp Floodplain
Location within Georgia
Location	Augusta, Georgia
Coordinates	33°23′25″N81°57′31″W
Area	1,100 acres (450 ha)
Governing body	Phinizy Center for Water Sciences
phinizycenter.org

Phinizy Swamp Nature Parkis a 1,100-acre (450 ha)nature parkinAugusta, Georgia.The park containswetlandsandwoodlandsand has a campus for water research and environmental education, which includes a visitor center. It has manybald cypressesdraped inSpanish mossand forests ofloblollytrees. Birds commonly found at Phinizy Swamp include:red-shouldered hawks,great blue herons,sora,wood ducksandbald eagles.Sometimes the park yieldsraritiesfor Georgia, includingblack-bellied whistling ducks,which nested in the park in 2010, and acave swallow,in 2004.

History

As part of afloodplainof theSavannah River,the area known as Phinizy Swamp is a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) natural wetland created by the confluence of Butler Creek and the Savannah River. The swamp derives its name from Victor Francois Phinizy and his family, who owned a homestead on the land, first settling in 1778.During the 19th and 20th centuries, the wetlands were converted to farm fields and cattle pastures, and in the 1950s and 60s they were part of a beef farm for the Gracewood state-run mental health institution. In 1973, the city of Augusta acquired the land, but it remained unused until 1993, when the city was ordered to update its wastewater treatment system. The city decided to restore the site to a wetlands ecosystem and use it as a tertiary treatment stage for water from the nearby wastewater treatment plant. As part of the construction of the wetlands, the city also established the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy, which later became the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences.

Wildlife

Close views of King Rails are one of the main draws for birders visiting Phinizy Swamp Nature Park.

Phinizy Swamp is designated anImportant Bird AreabyBirdLife Internationaland hosts over 240 species of birds.

Arthropod diversity is also high, with manyodonatespecies occupying the wetland cells. Mosquitoes are abundant at dusk, predominantlyCulex salinarius.BothUranotaenia sapphirinaandlowiihave been documented here.