Oakland County Parks and Recreation (OCPR) is home to two amazing nature centers – Red Oaks Nature Center in Madison Heights and Wint Nature Center in Clarkston – and both offer exciting indoor and outdoor programming all winter long!
Legends crediting Native Americans with the “discovery” of maple sap flow into our history as easily as sap drips into a bucket on a sunny day on the dawn of spring. My favorite maple sap legend embraces the ways of nature, and salutes the keen observations of the first Americans. It goes something like this: Squirrels licking at sap, dripping from broken sugar maple twigs, in the waning days of winter attracted the attention of Native Americans. The liquid was collected to use in cooking and the process of evaporation sweetened the sap. The rest is history. I accept that as factual, for I often note “sapsicles” forming from broken maple twigs as the duel between winter and spring accelerates. I have also witnessed squirrels lapping at this gift of nature. When hiking in the early days of spring, I follow the behavior of squirrels and sample the trailside treats.
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
If you’d like to learn about the wilds surrounding your everyday life, you’ll love our map of nature centers in Oakland County. This interactive map, created by Oakland County’s award-winning GIS team, will lead you on a journey across the county, from center to center, helping you plan a trip to any one of these great locations to learn about the natural world. Sunshine or rain, summer or winter, these nature centers are there for you to help grow your pool of knowledge!
Heritage Park in Farmington Hills. Photo credit: Jonathan Schechter
Hiker T. Moose, that’s the name of a trail, not a moose that hikes. This was my destination on the wilder side of Oakland County two weeks ago under a quiet gray sky, a scene enlivened by serenading songbirds birds, the emergence of woodland wildflowers, and the overhead flight of Sandhill Cranes. Almost six years had passed since my last trek on that oddly named trail and back then my exploration was on cross-country skis. On that day the shoreline of the Shiawassee River was laced in ice and all but obscured in swirling snows. And just like back then, there were no encounters with moose this time either along that meandering portal to nature’s way known as the “Hiker T. Moose” trail.
The morning was perfect for a winter exploration. Fresh snow fell much of the night and continued well into dawn. My trailhead greeting party consisted of cascades of accumulated snow sliding off the boughs of white pine trees, and what sounded like the excited warning chatter of an eastern fox squirrel. I stopped to assess the situation.
Squirrels don’t just sit on tree branches talking to themselves. I decided the squirrel’s concern was the motionless Cooper’s Hawk that I noted seconds earlier perched on a nearby tree. I trudged forward, the hawk flew off, and the squirrel scampered down about ten feet, leapt over to another branch and continued to watch me closely. Perhaps the chatter was a welcoming greeting for me after all. I chattered back and we shared pleasantries for a few moments.
