One Hot Summer

Jessica Rizza writes about our hot summer this year in today's post, and how this affects the animals and plants at Fenner. Come out to Fenner to see for yourself!

It has been one hot summer this year; it’s the hottest year in U.S. history (so far) to be exact! There are many ways that we all deal with the heat. Some people spend their time at beaches and pools cooling off in the water, while others choose to stay indoors in the air conditioning. We, as humans, know how to beat the heat, but what about all the wildlife here at Fenner? The native plants and animals have had to devise their own plans to deal with this hot summer, just like we have.

For example, to deal with hot temperatures, deer will find a low shady area during the day to bed down in. There, it is cooler and there are no direct rays from the sun! A shaded area with a small pond or stream is preferred even more. If you want to spot some deer in the summer here at Fenner, go hiking out on the trails and keep an eye out for shaded moist places.

American toads and green frogs adopt the same strategy. To see frogs and toads in the pond behind the Visitor Center on a hot summer day, you might have to get a little dirtier than one would think. To stay cool, frogs and toads bask in the pond under fallen logs, overhanging trees, or dead branches. An area like this is one of their favorite places to keep cool. 

The native flora, however, isn’t so lucky. With the low precipitation that we’ve had here in Lansing there is only so much a plant can do to conserve its available water. A plant can’t get up and move to a shaded moist area like animals can, thus, a lot of plants around here have suffered losses due to the extreme dry heat we’ve had (especially the open grassy areas).

 
The moral of the story is to try to enjoy the heat and being outside because we’ll have a foot of snow again before we know it!

Fixing the Tank

In today's post, Jessica Rizza talks about our new tank, built to resemble the natural environment of its residents: our 2 box turtles and our American toad. She and many others have been working hard to maintain this tank for all of our visitors to enjoy!

A couple months ago, we acquired a new 200 gallon tank from our program manager, Katie Woodhams. We had a vision for the tank to resemble a natural environment as closely as possible. We placed the tank in the library/gift shop and filled it up about 1/3 with dirt from the nature center on one half, allowing visitors to observe worms, beetles, and any other burrowing insects that may have traveled in with the dirt. On the other half, we sealed off the dirt and added water and rocks to make a natural pond for the box turtles and American toad that were being kept in it.

However, a few weeks after sealing off the pond portion, we realized that something was wrong. The seal for the pond broke and water was leaking into the soil and saturating it to the point at which the insects and plants in the soil might drown and die. We needed to do something, and fast.

The pond portion of the tank was soon drained, the water that was infiltrating the soil was drained, and the acrylic and silicone seal for the pond was re-made, this time using reinforcements underneath the glass to ensure it could withstand the pressure of the water and keep its seal from breaking!

That was not our luck, however. Once again, the pond water began to leak into the soil. This prompted us to give the turtles and toad a temporary home (which you can view in the Visitor Center) while we cracked down on this problem and fixed it once and for all.

We are now collaborating on using a glass support to hold the water in the pond, sealed with silicone on all sides, and covered up with a natural looking substrate that will withstand the turtle’s claws and the water in the pond! It is an ongoing project that we expect to be finished with soon.

Come to Fenner soon to check out the new and improved box turtle and toad tank! 

July Birds of the Month

In today’s post, one of our volunteers, Nathan Martineau, writes about two birds that can found at Fenner right now. Check it out, and try to spot one today!

Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)

One of four species of sparrows that nest here at Fenner, the Field Sparrow is a bird of pastures of tall grass, scattered with shrubs.  Due to its lack of prominent facial markings, this sparrow possesses a distinctive baby-faced look. While it is often quite a challenge to catch sight of one of these little sparrows, a much easier way to locate them is their song, which is quite loud and reminds many people of “a bouncing Ping-Pong ball.” 

From mid-March until mid-October, Field sparrows can easily be heard—and often seen—at two locations at Fenner:  the first is the vicinity of the Field Pond, which is often the only place where it is possible to see one of these birds.  The second place is the field that formerly held a buffalo for many years.  On the trail map, this area should appear to be south of the Service Drive (light gray), near the intersection of the Turner and Tamarack (blue and pink) trails.  You are practically guaranteed to hear Field Sparrows here, although the scale of the place, combined with restricted access, makes it extremely difficult to see one here.  In migration, it is often seen flocking with Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina), especially in spring.

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

Many people say that the bluebird is the bluest bird in North America, but a male Indigo Bunting certainly gives a bluebird a run for its money!  Indigo Buntings can be found in forest edges and weedy fields here at Fenner from May through September.  As well as being abundant in spring and fall migration, it is a common summer resident and breeder throughout Michigan.  Indigo Buntings commonly eat the seeds of plants such as grass, dandelion, thistle, goldenrod, and other weedy plants. The bulk of their diet, however, consists of invertebrates like grasshoppers, beetles, flies and caterpillars.  

Letting a few dandelions go to seed will often attract Indigo Buntings to your yard in migration. At Fenner, I recently saw Indigo Buntings on the ground in the parking lot, which is unusual. I have also seem them out in the prairie.  Right now, they are found in breeding pairs and sometimes they can be seen singing from the tops of the trees on the prairie.

The Awesome Solace of Nature

In today’s post, Ken Sattler shares the solace he feels at Fenner, but also how “literally awesome” a trip to Fenner can be for people of all ages! 

I walk the trails here at Fenner as often as I can find time to, which is not nearly as often as I would like. There is solace here when I do. Everything seems as it should be – functioning exactly as intended. It is not quiet, but it is peaceful. It is not still, but it is calm. There is always a flurry of activity, if one cares to look carefully enough, as life and natural processes unfold. Something interesting is always waiting to be discovered.

The prevailing atmosphere, though, is one of quiescence. The natural world is intentional and teeming and productive and vibrant and sustainable here, while also remaining graceful and exquisite. There is a lesson to be learned in this, I think, though what it is exactly eludes me for now. Perhaps there are many lessons to be learned in this, each dependent on one’s own experience of life.

As in nature, however, Fenner also has its occasional outbursts of complete pandemonium. If pandemonium can be productive, though, then this is. My halcyon reverie is periodically – and refreshingly – checked by the calamitous riot of children and adults discovering that there is life outside of X-Box and iPhone, and that it is life worth experiencing. It is the welcome din of child-like discovery. Around every turn is something to behold – something which can make a kid exclaim, in a way that only a seven-year-old can, “Come over here you guys! You have to see this! This is, literally, awesome!”

Literally awesome. It is not virtually awesome, or hypothetically awesome, or abstractly awesome in a philosophical kind of way. Nor is it simply “awesome.” It is literally awesome – awesome in a way that cannot afford to be overlooked – awesome in the most definitive sense possible. The kid isn’t wrong. It is. That is nature, and that is Fenner. Often subtle. Sometimes in your face. But always, literally, awesome.

A Summer Night Hike: Taking the “Adventurous” Trail

Today’s post comes from Katie Woodhams, our Program Manager. On a Summer Night Hike here at Fenner, she rediscovered an awe of nature through observing wildlife and the circle of life firsthand. Read about her rich experience, and come to Fenner for our next Summer Night Hike on Friday (July 13), 8-10pm!

Whenever I tell people that I work at a nature center, their first reaction is always some sort of exclamation about how lucky I am to get paid to be outside and having fun.  While I do have fun at work, I have to tell you – it’s a rare occurrence for me to actually get outside!  While our camp counselors and naturalists are out blazing trails, I can usually be found at my desk, in a cubicle, staring at my computer like a zombie!  You probably can understand why I jumped at the chance to tag along for our first night hike of the summer!

As the sun sank lower in the sky giving the prairie grass that lovely golden glow, my fellow eco-explorers and I started off on our adventure with binoculars, field guides, camera, and smart phone in hand, loaded up with Audubon Field Guide Apps.  We had decided that the Visitor Center needed a monarch caterpillar mascot so our first stop was to go in search of one among the milkweed.  Just as we were about to give up, we found this cute little guy munching away!

Chemicals in the milkweed that are produced as a defense mechanism do not phase the monarch caterpillars.  Instead, the caterpillars accumulate these toxins in their bodies, which in turn help to protect them from predators.

After our new caterpillar friend, Heinrich, was safe in his new home inside the Visitor Center we headed back out to the prairie.  We came upon this fork in the trail and faced the age old dilemma about choosing the right path….Should we take that which is most traveled, or that which looks more adventurous?  

To the left, along the deer trail it is!

As we headed down the narrow path we discovered animal burrows and trails that we would not have seen had we taken the route more traveled.  At this point my excitement was rising and I had already forgotten all of the stress of the day.  

Just a few steps down the trail we found this entire tiny skeleton right at our feet!  We decided that it was some sort of rodent, based on the teeth.  Nearby we found what looked like a woodchuck burrow, so we inferred that this was a young woodchuck that had a little bit of bad luck.  A few steps later we came across a dead mole and spent many minutes inspecting the insect life that was “recycling” the little guy.  Hey, I know it’s gross, but we were so enthralled by the circle of life happening right before our eyes!   In nature, nothing is wasted, and we felt privileged to observe this first hand.

As the sun dipped below the tree line we headed over to the field pond.  I had heard that there was a family of wood ducks out there and wanted to see them firsthand.  Even though we snuck out onto the bridge as quietly as possible, we didn’t see any wood ducks (darn!). Instead however, we saw two mother turkeys and about 20 babies, called poults. They were getting ready for bed and picking out their roosts along the railing of the pond overlook.  I took a video as I tried to sneak up on them, but I decided to spare everyone all the heavy breathing and shaky camera work….instead, look at this cute picture below!  Mind you, they don’t look like this for very long.  Soon they will have filled their cute quota and turn into lanky, awkward, and gangly juveniles (just like people!)

As we left the prairie and entered the darkening woods, we spotted a raptor nest of some sort at the top of a red pine.  Upon closer examination at the bottom of the tree we found owl pellets!  Owl pellets are balls of hair and bones that the owls regurgitate because they cannot digest those parts of their prey.  They are fun to pull apart and investigate, and they help biologists deduce all kinds of information about the owl’s health and even the types of other animals that are living in the area.

I decided at this point to whip out my fancy smart phone and play some owl calls to try to hear if there were any in the area.  We tried Screech-owls, Barred Owls, and even Great Horned Owls, but never got a response.  Maybe we were too early, and the owls weren’t ready to wake up for the night yet! Just as we were giving up hope, we saw a large bird fly overhead.  Could it be an owl?.... Nope!  It was a Cooper’s Hawk!  The hawk landed right above us, and as I played various calls of its kind on my phone, it looked around, puzzled.  We watched it in awe since none of us had ever been that close to a wild hawk before! 

Throughout the rest of the hike I continued to act like a kid in a candy store.  While I studied biology in college, and have had many memorable experiences with nature, I still get goose bumps when I get a close encounter with a wild animal, or even if I find a pretty flower that I have not seen before. Experiences like this night hike remind me of why I went into this field, and why I believe that it is so important for everyone, especially kids, to have these same types of experiences.  In a time where one can look up a video on Youtube or watch a T.V show about nature and see high definition close-up imagery, I am still convinced that these firsthand experiences are much more memorable, as well as meaningful. There’s just something about making a discovery on your own that is so much more rewarding than having someone explain it to you on T.V.  I frequently reflect on what former Fenner naturalist Joan Brigham often stated, “Man is a part of nature, not apart from it.” Whenever I think of that statement I feel alive, complete, and ready for my next nature adventure!

Meet Eros, the Eastern Milk Snake!

Today’s post comes from Abby King, and she writes about her favorite resident animal here at Fenner – Eros, our eastern milk snake.

The Visitor Center at Fenner Nature Center is home to a variety of animals, including a family of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, an eastern milk snake, an eastern tiger salamander, some green frog tadpoles, a praying mantis, two eastern box turtles, an eastern American toad, and a common snapping turtle.

I am in the process of revamping the enclosures for each species and have gotten to know each individual animal better as a result of transferring them in and out of their renovated homes. While I like the little cat-like alien-face of the mantis, the solemn stare of the toad, and the charm of the box turtles, I’d say that my favorite so far is the eastern milk snake.

Eros, so named after the Greek god of love because he has a small heart-shaped spot on the back of his head, has so much more personality than I ever thought a snake capable of. When I was around nine or ten I kept two garter snakes as pets over one summer, keeping them alive on small toads and worms. Nickel and Dime, as I named them, both became quite tame and would wind themselves around my fingers. However, neither of them had as much character as Eros does. He is constantly on the move within his newly remodeled vivarium, sliding through the grass (he was thrilled with this particular addition to his home), drinking from his water bowl (I’d never seen a snake actually drink before), and even lifting himself up to the top of the enclosure and squeezing between the rim and lid, until he falls to the ground with a louder thump than I’d imagine his small body capable of. When I pick him up, he wraps himself securely around my hands and wrists, ready and willing to be transported to wherever I may take him.

Eros is the only eastern milk snake I have ever seen, even though they are common in Michigan. They are found in a variety of habitats, including woods, farmland, meadows, and suburbs. I tried to make Eros a home that would, to an extent, combine all of these habitats into one. Eastern milk snakes are sometimes mistaken for the scarlet snake and copperhead, which do not live in Michigan, and the fox snake and Massassauga rattlesnake, which are both native species here. However, I find that they bear only a passing resemblance at best to any of these other species. Eastern milk snakes can live up to 20 years, meaning that Eros will be entertaining us for a long time yet. 

What Can We Learn From a Tree?

Maddie Brady shares a thought on why appreciating nature is important to learn from a young age, and what we can learn from nature.

I think simple values like appreciating nature are lost in today’s hustle and bustle generation. I hope that one day when I have kids I will be able to teach them that it’s not all about what new gadget you have, it’s about remembering your roots and cherishing your family. Being at Fenner helps ground me some and helps me remember what’s really important.

I found this image online and I really liked it. Fenner is the perfect place for reflection because it’s so peaceful and secluded.

You can check out more by the artist, Joanne Raptis, at deviantart.

Taking a Hint from Nature: Try to Live Simple

Jen Ismirle writes about a recent deer sighting she had at Fenner and what it taught her about trying to live each day a little bit simpler. 

I love to see animals in the wild, and that includes any animals. I could sit for hours and watch squirrels living out their normal day-to-day romping, climbing, and foraging. It wasn’t until recently that I happened to think about why this is.

I was walking around the trails at Fenner hoping to see any animals at all, and I stopped a few times to watch chipmunks rustling through the plants, or birds singing in the trees. But then, this sauntered across the trail in front of me and to the other side:

I was beyond excited to actually see a deer in the wild that wasn’t dashing in front of my car! She was calm too, just glancing my way every so often as she swished her tail and chewed the food she found. As she meandered further from me to the point that I couldn’t see her anymore, I still didn’t want to continue walking the trail and hoped that I might catch another glimpse of this creature.

As I thought about it, I realized that in that moment, the stress of the day had evaporated from my mind. When I was watching the deer, I wasn’t thinking about the work I still needed to do or the errands I needed to run or anything else. I simply enjoyed watching this animal that had one focus at that time: finding food.

Perhaps we can take a hint from nature sometimes and not let stress weigh us down so much that we might not enjoy the world around us, or something as simple as a really scrumptious meal.