spring

2022 NoHaz Collection Days

Oakland County, MI Government 1 Comment
Paint being collected at NoHaz event

Let Oakland County’s NoHaz Collection team help you safely dispose of household hazardous materials ranging from pesticides, paints, air fresheners, propane cylinders, cleaning solutions, prescription medicines, and more.

You’d be surprised just how many everyday items are considered hazardous waste. Many of the objects that help us in our daily lives become dangerous when disposed of alongside regular rubbish. Do you have an item you’re unsure about? View lists of accepted and non-accepted materials in the FAQ section of Advantage Oakland’s NoHaz web page, or call the NoHaz Hotline at 248-858-5656.

2022 NoHaz Collection Dates and Locations

Registration links will be posted approximately three weeks prior to each collection event.

All events will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 30

Oakland County Service Center Campus
1200 N. Telegraph Road, Pontiac
Follow signs once on campus

Saturday, June 4

Oxford Middle School
1420 Lakeville Road, Oxford
From M24/Lapeer Road, travel east on Burdick Street

Saturday, July 23

Kensington Church
4640 S, Lapeer Road, Orion Township

Saturday, September 24

Oakland County Service Center Campus
1200 N. Telegraph Road, Pontiac
Follow signs once on campus

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Hopping & Slithering Into Spring!

Oakland County, MI Government 2 Comments
Eastern milk snake

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

Song birds are singing, daffodils will soon appear, and one of my favorite, often overlooked signs of spring has entered its kitten-fur phase. Kitten-fur? The “furry” feeling catkins of pussy willow are now at their peak and free of snow from Monday’s mini squall in northernmost Oakland County.

Their blossoms produce abundant pollen in the early days of spring, a discovery I learned from watching my foraging honey bees.

The blue sky days of spring are taking hold, and with increased hours of daylight and thawing of vernal ponds and frozen earth, the great awakening of our snakes, frogs, and toads is accelerating. Today I’ll be sharing snippets of information on a dozen of my favorite snakes and frogs that are slithering and hopping about. They have been waiting longer for spring than you and I have been. Let’s welcome them!

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Stony Creek on the Dawn of Spring

Oakland County, MI Government Leave a comment

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

“It is fortunate, perhaps, that no matter how intently one studies the hundreds of little dramas of the woods and meadows, one can never learn all the salient facts about any one of them.” –Aldo Leopold

Embracing the ebb and flow of our seasons is much like awaiting the return of a long absent friend that departed months earlier. We know the return will eventually occur, but never seem to know exactly when our friend will arrive back in town, especially if their name is spring. Spring’s arrival is fickle. Sometimes spring can sort of sneak into town unobserved—and then its warmth is here! However, one thing is certain: no matter where you wander in woods and meadows; those introductory words of Leopold are so very true. I am glad they are!

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Oakland County’s Vernal Ponds – Alive With Wood Frogs!

Oakland County, MI Government 4 Comments

Photo credit: Taylor Reynolds

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

We knew winter really was over and spring was firmly taking hold on the wilder side of Oakland County when my hiking companion and I unexpectedly encountered an ancient amphibian ritual deep in the woods of Bald Mountain Recreation Area. Although light rain fell the evening before, the sun was shining. Only a few, very small remnants of snow remained on north facing slopes of the glacially sculpted, wooded hills, and the temperature had just reached 55°F. Those environmental conditions were perfect for the encounter that was about to occur.

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One Week into the Wonders of Spring!

Oakland County, MI Government Leave a comment
An Eastern Bluebird looks down from his perch on a branch, the background in the image is blurred.

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

“At the end of winter, there is a season in which we are daily expecting spring, and finally a day when it arrives.” – Henry David Thoreau The Journal, 1837-1861 (Thoreau, 2009)

The Spring Equinox is an exciting symbol of rebirth, growth, and awakening. Creatures that hibernated are stirring, birds are returning from distant lands, and the earliest of spring’s woodland wildflowers are pushing up through thawing soils. For me, that moment of recognition of the passing of winter was not the appearance of lawn-hopping robins or the emergence of crocuses. It occurred on the first day of spring at Bear Creek Nature Park in Oakland Township. That’s where a friend and I watched an Eastern Bluebird perched on a tree limb, waiting for an insect to appear in the meadow below. Perhaps its sudden downwards plunge and the capture of a bug that followed was confirmation to the bluebird that, as Thoreau once wrote, “ . . . and finally a day when it arrives.”

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