Intriguing and eye-catching surprises of nature are all around us. To discover them walk slowly, stop often and look about. If you are watching your smartphone screen, listening to music through earbuds, or just staring straight ahead, you will miss many of the wonders of nature as summer days draw near. I’ve developed a habit of scanning both sides of a trail and my phone is almost always turned off so there are no distractions or temptations. Some creatures are well hidden, while others trot about in clear view.

Last week when I went walking in the middle of the day, and stopped at the docks at the North Unit of Independence Oaks County Park to spy on the eagles through the telephoto lens of my camera.

In addition to watching adult eagles soar overhead, I was able to photograph the juvenile eagles in their lofty tree top nest. The eaglets do not yet have white head feathers that crown the heads of the adults. That’s a slow process and they won’t have white heads and tail feathers until their fourth or fifth year. After watching the eagles and listening to the background chorus of toads, I headed to the main park.

I started my park trek near the boat house and followed the pathway that loops around Crooked Lake. This trek turned into a three-hour adventure thanks to nature’s distractions. I was only a few hundred yards down the trail when a small turtle emerged from the woodlands and crawled across the trail to reach the lakeshore. 

I rarely interfere with nature but with the large number of runners, hikers, dog walkers and cyclists on the trail I decided to give the turtle a helping hand. It was not until I bent over to pick it up that I realized it was not a common painted turtle, but a far less common Blanding’s turtle, a threatened species. These semi-aquatic turtles are easily recognizable by their bright yellow throat. After showing the turtle to a few young children who also noticed it, I carried it across the trail and watched it safely continue its trek to the water.

Another surprise encounter awaited me further along the trail. A large northern water snake was slithering towards the water. They are avid aquatic predators, with frogs and small fish being the usual prey.  Although not aggressive towards humans, if you try to pick up a large one, it will most likely bite in self-defense. I was happy to merely capture a few seconds of it slithering.

A green frog was perched on a log not far from the shoreline, but I suspect it would not be the meal for the snake. Dragonflies were zipping about and they were most likely on the menu for the frog. I moved closer to capture a few photos of this very common amphibian but when my foot hit a dried branch it leapt into the lake.

It was only then that I noticed something else perched on the end of another partially submerged log near the shoreline. I zoomed in with my camera and quickly recognized it as a young snapping turtle, draped in algae. I’ve rarely seen snapping turtles on dry land, with the exception a few years ago of watching a very large female snapper laying eggs on South Manitou Island. 

Barely a hundred yards further down the trail from the snapping turtle encounter, I noticed movement in tall vegetation near the southeast end of Crooked Lake. At first, all I could see were a pair of adult Sandhill Cranes walking slowly, pausing often, and seemingly looking down at something I could not see.

I was puzzled at all their pausing and never saw any of their classic jabbing downwards when cranes hunt for dinner. When they reached a small clearing that gave me an excellent view, the reason for their behavior became obvious. I was in an excellent location to capture photos of their colt; the proper term for their chick. That encounter was an excellent reminder to walk slowly, stop often and look about when hiking on the wilder side of Oakland County.

Jonathan Schechter is a naturalist, eagle watcher and nature education writer for Oakland County Government and blogs about nature’s way on the Wilder Side of Oakland County.

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