TRAIL REPORT & RECENT OBSERVATIONS
Seven Ponds Nature Center encompasses nearly 500 acres of woodlands, wetlands, lakes, ponds, prairies, and fields. There are over six miles of trails for you to explore and enjoy. Please check-in at the nature center prior to venturing out on the trails. Our trails are open to guests Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and open to Seven Ponds members dawn to dusk, every day of the year.
CURRENT TRAIL CONDITIONS
October 5, 2025 - A clear, sunny day and an unusually warm weekend makes today the perfect time to come out to the nature center and explore our trails!
RECENT OBSERVATIONS
- Recent visitors have reported several hummingbird moths feeding in our Pollinator Garden and the open fields in front of the nature center. Be sure to keep an eye open for these fast-moving fliers when you next visit ! (08/02/2025)
- Earl's Prairie has had a spectacular growing season, and the results are making themselves known! Many wildflowers are beginning to bloom, including compass plant, wild quinine, blazing star, rattlesnake master, and tall coreopsis. (07/27/2025)
- Monarch butterflies have made their return! Our naturalists have reported activity in the North-80, as well as around the A-frame bridge and the boardwalk trail! (07/19/2025)
- Spotted fawns are being reported around the nature preserve! You may see them out in the open feeding with adults, or alone in the tall grasses for protection. If you do encounter one, please admire them from a distance and do not approach! (07/05/2025)
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An eastern spiny softshell turtle spotted on Treetop Pond.
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One of many hummingbird moths spotted in the Pollinator Garden.
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Ghost pipe spotted along the trails
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The volunteer group from Stelantis-Chrysler working on the new footbridge leading to the viewing tower in Paul's Woods
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A fresh blooming compass plant in Earl's Praire
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A fawn spotted in the fields of the North-80
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A view of the freshly-chipped trail through Paul's Woods
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A Monarch butterfly in the Seven Ponds Butterfly Garden
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Seven Ponds Nature Photo Gallery
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Painted turtles enjoying the summer weather at Treetop Pond
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Lovely Chanterelle Waxy Caps in Paul's Woods
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Chocolate Tube Slime Mold
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A muskrat on it's way to a delicious meal by the A-Frame bridge
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Reddish Brown Bitter Bolete with its velvet-like cap
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Red Raspberry Slime Mold
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Another successful seasonal burn of Earl's Prairie!
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Bloodroot in the Woodland Wildflower Garden
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Flowering Dogwood outside the Schemm-Naish Interpretive Building
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Northern Watersnake found by Treetop Pond dock
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One last(?) snow of the season!
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A sleepy-eyed red-form Eastern Screech-Owl utilizing one of our nest boxes.
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Raccoon enjoying a winter slumber in a Wood Duck nest box.
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Adult Bald Eagle on the deer carcass
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Gray phase Eastern Screech-Owl at Seven Ponds
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American Crows: a murder scene!
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Juvenile Bald Eagles on a deer carcass on Treetop Pond
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Moonlight through the clouds just before dawn
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A young Virginia Opossum at our feeders
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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - a special winter visitor at Seven Ponds
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A Monarch butterfly in the Seven Ponds Butterfly Garden
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Wild Turkey tracks at Seven Ponds
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Aurora Borealis at Seven Ponds!
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Colors are popping at Seven Ponds!
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Paul's Woods ablaze in gold
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Red-headed Woodpecker at Seven Ponds!
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Muskrat in Waterfowl Pond
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Monarch caterpillar in the Seven Ponds Butterfly Garden
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Groundhog at home at Seven Ponds
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First of the spring Eastern Chipmunk at Seven Ponds
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Wood Duck drake on the boathouse roof
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Sunset over Seven Ponds
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Mourning Cloak resting on a utility pole at Seven Ponds
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Nature provided another stunning sunset at the ponds
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The first skunk cabbage we saw this year
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Virginia Opossum at our feeders
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Red Squirrel overcoming our "squirrel proof" feeder
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Female Common Merganser laying low and hoping to go unnoticed
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Trumpeter Swans on Treetop Pond
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ANOTHER spectacular sunrise over Earl's Prairie
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Good morning, Woodchuck! Nice to see you again.
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Woodchuck chilling out on the rock bath
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Our healthy Raccoon visitor
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Sunset at Big Pond
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"Our" Sandhill Cranes, pictured on November 8 watching over our welcome sign.
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Young turkeys on the move
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Misty morning fog over Treetop Pond
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Evening Grosbeaks on a feeder at Seven Ponds
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Slugging along on a window
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Northern Shrike, aka The Butcher Bird, hunting over Big Pond
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Water droplets on a fallen leaf - science in nature!
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Violet Dancer (Argia fumipennis violacea) at the A-frame Bridge
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Fox Squirrel in front with Gray Squirrels (gray and black form)
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Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) in Paul's Woods
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Fall fungi abounds!
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Bowl and doily web near the A-Frame Bridge
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Great Egret spotted at the Crawford Rd/Lake George Rd swamp at Seven Ponds
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Red-spotted Purple on our sidewalk
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Closed Bottle Gentian in Earl's Prairie
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Red-headed Woodpecker at Seven Ponds
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Snowberry Clearwing moth, with wings so fast they are just a blur!
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Arctic Skipper at Seven Ponds - first record for Lapeer County
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Monarch caterpillar on milkweed in the North-80
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Snow Bunting in the Seven Ponds parking lot!
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Blanding's Turtle at Seven Ponds
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Smooth Blue Aster in Earl's Prairie
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Dryad's Saddle in the North-80
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Sandhill Crane pair - and baby makes three!
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Pixie Cup Lichen
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Mayapple in Paul's Woods
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Eastern Screech-Owl roosting in Wood Duck nest box
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Baltimore Checkerspot in the North-80 fields
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206 bird species have been observed at Seven Ponds! The most recent addition to our property list was Common Goldeneye, seen on March 12, 2023. For more recent sightings posted to eBird, click the eBird logo to the right.
Our satellite properties are visited less frequently, but offer different habitat for birds. Check out the eBird reports for these two areas below:
Jonathan Woods Nature Preserve eBird reports
106 bird species observed
Richie Pond Nature Preserve eBird reports
75 bird species observed
