Hawk Woods – Not Just For The Birds!

Hawk Woods

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

The distant din of traffic from M-24 and I-75 was barely audible when I heard a rather odd sound. It seemed to come from a small pond nestled away on the west side of Bald Mountain Road in Auburn Hills. It sounded something like a hoarse frog struggling to sing an unknown melody. I knew it wasn’t a spring peeper, wood frog, or chorus frog, the three species most likely to have been singing in the last weeks of April. I tried to peer through a thick wall of invasive phragmites for a better view of the hidden songster, but had no luck. As I advanced off trail, my steps made a crunching noise on dried sticks. Then, in a burst of speed and flurry of wings the “frog” and his companion erupted into flight. That’s how my unforgettable and most delightful early morning exploration of the 80-acre Hawk Woods Nature Center began.

Continue reading