Polly Ann Trail

The Magic of May: A Time to Discover Nature’s Way

Oakland County, MI Government Leave a comment

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

Rains on the first day of May accelerated the growth of delicate woodland wildflowers and the spring prize of the fungi world, morel mushrooms. It sent frogs to every puddle and pond, and skunks meandering for grubs at dusk. May sees Sandhill Cranes and Osprey back on their nests. Turkey Vultures now perch on rural barn roofs to catch the morning sun. Turtles bask on logs and goslings explore their shoreline world. Snapping turtles and northern water snakes swim through the shallows. Fawns wobble in dappled sunlight, and beavers come on shore in the cover of darkness to fell trees for their home improvement projects. This is the way of the magical month of growth and birth and renewal, a month we call May, a time to discover and share nature’s way. Continue reading →

GOATS ON THE POLLY ANN TRAIL

Oakland County, MI Government 2 Comments

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

The non-motorized Polly Ann Trail is a vital and increasingly popular segment of the growing network of trails and greenways in Southeast Michigan that enhance the quality of life, provide healthful outdoor recreation opportunities, and serve as windows to the world of nature. The easily accessible 14.2 mile long Oakland County section of the Polly Ann Trail begins in Orion Township and meanders north through the Village of Oxford, Addison Township, and the Village of Leonard. Woodlands, trailside wetlands, and farmlands dominate the Wilder Side of Oakland County trail landscape as it nears the Lapeer County line. On any spring day, hikers, joggers, walkers, and cyclists will hear the territorial songs of birds and courting frogs, and may see sunning turtles, soaring hawks and an abundance of small mammals and the occasional deer.

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Spring Beauty of the Woodlands: Round-lobed Hepatica

Oakland County, MI Government 1 Comment

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

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My love affair with a delicate spring wildflower, the round-lobed hepatica, transports memories back to my nature-embracing, hill-trekking, wide-eyed freshman days at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. The farm fields, meadows and wooded hillsides of the Green Mountain State became my nature discovery center. Seasons in Vermont progressed rapidly. Winter melted into maple sugar and mud season, and the amazing ephemeral wildflower season then followed. I quickly discovered hepatica my first spring in Vermont. Hepatica was a wild and free flower, so unlike what I knew from my suburban home, with closely cropped grass and flowers planted in neat rows. In Vermont, hepatica was called liverleaf, and it was this wildflower, that is now approaching peak bloom in the dappled sunlight of the oak woods on the Wilder Side of Oakland County, that helped set me on the path I still follow. Continue reading →