10K Steps: Spring in Your Step (April)
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Put Some Spring in Your Step (Week 1)
Kim High, Metroparks Master Interpreter
Two kinds of day-singing frogs will serenade you in Oak Openings Preserve along the Wabash Cannonball Trail-- especially where it passes between Girdham and Wilkins Roads. Thumbnail-sized Western Chorus frogs sing in the adjacent ditches here, making sounds similar to the noises you hear when you run your fingers along the teeth of a hair comb. Also listen for sounds similar to those of clucking of ducks coming from the wooded wetlands nearby. These calls come from Woods Frogs, a less common species whose breeding depends on the high quality vernal pools that exist in this area.
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Put Some Spring in Your Step (Week2)
Kim High, Metroparks Master Interpreter
Manhattan Marsh comes alive in spring! Take the walk around the Buckeye Basin Loop Trail to immerse yourself in the beauty of this wetland ecosystem. You will hear a symphony of sounds as Red-winged blackbirds, Canada geese and a great variety of songbirds all chime in to mark their territories during nesting season. As you gaze on the wetland waters, look for Midland-painted turtles basking on logs and Great blue herons wading in search of food.
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Put Some Spring in Your Step (Week 3)
Kim High, Metroparks Master Interpreter
Early spring wildflowers carpet the mature woodland habitat of the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Northwest Territory Trail. Some common early bloomers here include Spring Beauty, Cut Leaf Toothwort and Trout Lily. Stop to take a look at the many kinds of native insects that are busy pollinating the spectacular display of blossoms. As you leave the woodland and circle into to open areas, listen for the long, sonorous, trills of American Toads breeding in puddles throughout the fields.
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Put Some Spring in Your Step (Week 4)
Kim High, Metroparks Master Interpreter
Walk the Towpath Trail from the Farnsworth Boat Launch Area west to Bend View Metropark and back for one of the finest displays of Redbud Trees in bloom. What this tree lacks in height it makes up for in beauty when it flowers each spring-- its deep pink, bud-like blossoms contrasting the dark bark of its twigs, branches and trunk. A small native tree, Redbud is an excellent choice for yards and gardens, and has perfectly heart-shaped leaves that look just like valentines!