Two of my favorite quotes from Henry David Thoreau are the perfect gateway for today’s New Year edition of the Wilder Side of Oakland County. I did not have to look up these quotes for they have been part of my spirit of adventure for as long as I remember. In 1876 Thoreau wrote these timeless words:
“I wonder what the world is doing today.”
“I went to the woods because I wished to see if I could not learn what life had to teach — and not, when it came time to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Henry David Thoreau
January
I hoped that on the first day of January, the sun would shine brightly, the snow would be deep, and I would be trudging about in woodland in my snowshoes or on a backcountry trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Cross-country skiing on the Graham Lakes Trail in the Bald Mountain State Recreation Area or around Crooked Lake at Independence Oaks County Park were my backup plans if blowing and drifting snow made the trip north unwise. None of that came to be. One thing is certain however, Coyotes are romancing in the moonlight. I often hear them at night from my partially open bedroom window!
February
Perhaps by February real winter will arrive and our thoughts will be attuned to Punxsutawney Phil and his shadow.
March
Ever since I was a long-haired, bearded, tree-hugging hippie tapping sugar maple trees at Goddard College in the woods of Vermont, I have looked forward to the season of sap flows and making syrup. Consecutive nights below freezing and days above freezing are necessary for a sap flow, and once buds begin to open, the season is over. If conditions are favorable, I‘ll be tapping my maple trees to collect and boil sap into syrup. If conditions are not good, I will order maple syrup from my old friends at the Pitkin Farm in Marshfield, Vermont.
April
Early morning woodland walks are wonderful in April. They let me welcome back the dawn of spring as the first of the bloodroot (sanguinaria canadensis) flowers emerge and spring peepers peep. If I am lucky, I will witness the male woodcock doing his best to attract a female with his spiraling acrobatics and buzzy, repetitive peenting call. (Listen here)
SPECIAL NOTE: Don’t forget to mark your calendar for April 8, the day of a total solar eclipse. FYI: A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth.
May
May is a marvelous month of “lights, camera, action” for everyone who loves embracing nature. I could write a book about May. Maybe one day I will. The air feels fresh and songbirds are singing. Wild turkeys are gobbling, strutting and fanning their mostly bronze tail feathers. A personal note here as to my “to do list.” A few days before the Memorial Day weekend, I’ll be crossing the always beautiful, sometimes stormy, Manitou Passage on a National Park Service boat to reach my “happy place,” South Manitou Island. That’s where I will remain for my seventh tour of duty throughout June as the lighthouse keeper for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
June
June is a marvelous month in so many ways. My turtle-loving friends will be in their glory watching painted turtles align themselves on floating logs to bask in the sun. Being cold-blooded creatures, that external heat source warms their bodies and helps reduce the number of parasites on their bodies. Snapping turtles will be lumbering ashore to lay their eggs. Garter snakes and Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes will also be basking in sunny areas, and sometimes that means on a trail. As for me, I will be watching the seasons from the catwalk of the 1871 lighthouse tower and may even create a special edition blog while I am there since nature knows no borders.
July
July is a great month for adventuresome discovery for adults and little kids alike. I am almost always out and about in the dawn’s early light in my meadows and nearby woods. Bumblebees will be visiting my bergamot and coneflower blossoms. Fantastic forest fungi will be flourishing and magical-looking moths of every shape and color flit about porch lights. I will await my favorite, the Luna Moth. It’s also a great month for thunderstorms!
August
Love is in the air, that is if you are a treefrog. These well-camouflaged arboreal frogs sing from trees and shrubs when humidity is high and seem to really sound off before a thunderstorm lets loose. Gray tree frogs can change their skin color rather rapidly from shades of gray and green to almost a brownish color. Because of their camouflage ability, they are heard far more often than seen.
September
It’s a wonderful month of adventure, discovery and fun. Summer wildflowers are at their peak, ruby-throated hummingbirds are beginning to migrate, and cyclists and hikers are hitting their favorite trails. If you don’t know where to look for trails, some of the most popular ones are the Polly Ann, Paint Creek, Clinton River, West Bloomfield, Michigan Airline, Huron Valley and the Milford Trail. Don’t forget our Metro Parks and Oakland County Parks all have wonderful trails, with many being fully accessible.
October
As days shorten, I find myself increasing the number of hours I am in our parks, armed with my camera of course. I might walk a few hundred yards or multiple miles before selecting a quiet place to sit to just see what I can see. Some of my favorite photos have been captured that way including the lead image of the majestic buck. Try it! It’s a great way to enjoy both the subtleties and action-packed moments of nature. If you get restless sitting, just walk softly, stop often, and look and listen. You will not be disappointed in the golden month of October.
November
This is perhaps my favorite month to watch Bald Eagle activity at their nests at my favorite nest location in northern Oakland County. On those visits, I also take pleasure in just watching clouds of every shape and size float by. November always brings an influx coming my way and the rare chance of seeing a snowy owl near our county. Last November, I was delighted to hear a Great Horned Owl hooting just as I dozed off to sleep and was more than pleased a few days later to see it perched on the limb of a dead tree down by my swamp.
December
The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year occurs Dec. 21. That fact reminds me the days that follow will be getting longer gifting me with more hours to explore, enjoy and learn from nature at some of my favorite parks. We are fortunate to have some really great parks in our area. Some of my favorites are Seven Lakes State Park, Indian Springs Metropark, Kensington Metropark, Stony Creek Metropark as well as Addison Oaks, Independence Oaks, and Orion Oaks County parks. Although not a park, Bowers School Farm stays active in winter and is a wonderful, educational place to explore with your children. My advice to you: Don’t be like a woodchuck and hibernate all winter. Enjoy the wonders of nature’s way!
Jonathan Schechter is the nature education writer for Oakland County Government and blogs about nature’s way on the Wilder Side of Oakland County.
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