RECENT OBSERVATIONS

• After having a martin colony box up for many years, we **finally** have tenants! A pair of Purple Martins appear to be taking up residence in the apartment house just north of our main parking lot. Look for these large swallows next time you visit Seven Ponds. (5/11/22)
• House Wrens have returned! We hear their chattering song around the nature center building as pairs lay claim to a few of our songbird nest boxes. We enjoy having these fiesty little birds around. (4/28/22)
• Spring wildflowers are popping up on the forest floor. Be sure to check our Woodland Wildflower Area - a fenced in area that keeps deer out and allows wildflowers to flourish. (4/28/22)
• Wood frogs are croaking in the vernal ponds around the nature center. Listen for their throaty calls, which sound almost like a clucking chicken, during spring evenings. We are also hearing Western Chorus Frogs, whose call sounds like a thumb being pulled across a comb, and Spring Peepers, with their high-pitched calls. Listen for these spring singers on your next visit to Seven Ponds. (4/11/22)
• Tree Swallows have returned! There are six swallow species that make their summer home in Michigan, and Tree Swallows are always their earliest arrivals. We enjoy their fast, swooping, graceful flight around the nature center building. (4/5/22)
• Eastern Phoebes have arrived at Seven Ponds! Phoebes are always the first arrivals of several flycatcher species that nest in Michigan, and we are happy to have them back at the nature center. Look for these dapper little flycatchers bobbing their tail and hunting insects in front of the nature  (4/1/22)
• Two visiting birders found four Trumpeter Swans out on Long Pond this morning. This was the first-ever sighting of Trumpeter Swans at Seven Ponds. The U.S. population of this species was reduced to 69 birds by 1935. Intensive management and reintroduction efforts have allowed this majestic bird's current U.S. population to reach ~35,000, an incredible conservation success story! (3/22/22)