12 Months of the Metroparks: September

9.2.2026

By Erin Parker, Interpretive Services Supervisor

August’s transition into September is often one of the most beautiful times of the year in your Metroparks. The goldenrods, asters, ironweeds, and bonesets are blooming. The temperatures are a little cooler with the first hints of fall in the breeze, and wildlife is on the move. Late September, as we shift into October, brings the earliest fall colors in the trees. It’s a great time of year to get outside and explore!

Look up!

Early September invites us to look up as the sun starts to set. Find a place where you can sit and observe the sky, and you may be treated to a unique fall show. From late afternoon into near dark, swallows and chimney swifts will be gathering to gorge on insects before they migrate for the winter. These fast-flying, insect-eating birds are found in a variety of habitats, from urban to rural, wherever flying insects can be found.

Chimney swifts are among the bird world’s oddities. When you look up high, these slender, long-winged birds fly rapidly, with quick, fluttery flight. Be in the right place at the right time, and you’ll see them swirl around the sky and then vanish into a chimney, church tower, or other large structure where they roost for the night. They have such long wings and tails, and equally short legs, that they cannot perch like other birds on horizontal branches! Instead, they roost vertically, clinging to the rough walls of structures and large, hollow trees where they use their tails to balance upright.

Along with swifts, you may see several species of swallows feeding on insects as the afternoon turns to evening. Often feeding lower, and occasionally even feeding on or immediately above the ground, your Metroparks are home to six species of swallows. All are fast-flying insect-eaters. Tree swallows, with their white undersides and glossy blue-black backs, are commonly found using bird boxes during the summer months, while barn swallows, with their distinctive orange bellies and forked tails, build mud nests in picnic shelters and other outbuilding roofs, often side-by-side with cliff swallow colonies. This time of year, young swallows are flying and feeding on their own, and like many migratory species, may be found in large, mixed flocks foraging for fuel for their long journeys south.

The final piece of the pre-dark show is the common nighthawk. Nighthawks are, well, not hawks nor do they come out at night, but terrible name aside, they are a fascinating part of the early September sky and soundscape. Like the much smaller swallows and swifts, nighthawks are preparing for a long migration to South America, and you may catch sight of them in huge flocks as the sky darkens this time of year.

These long-winged birds fly around with their huge mouths ready to gulp down insects. They have a fluttery flight while they’re swooping after bugs, so they are often described as “bat-like”.  They also often call during these foraging flights, so listen for a distinctive “peent” call. They can be found near or mixed in with swifts and swallows when the insects are flying, so keep an eye (and ear) out for their long, angled wings and loud nasal calls!

Look down!

If you’re out and about on the trails and paved areas of your Metroparks during the warm afternoons of September, it’s a great opportunity to see our reptilian inhabitants. Especially late in the day, when paved surfaces are warm from the sun, snakes can be found soaking up the late-summer heat.

While 18 species of snakes can be found in Michigan, many are rare or uncommon in southeast Michigan. You are likely to encounter a few common species such as eastern garter, northern ribbon snake, northern water snake, Dekay’s brown snake, and northern red-bellied snake. With careful observation and some luck in the right habitats, you might also find western fox snakes, blue racers, eastern milk snakes, eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, and eastern hognose snakes.

It’s always best practice to observe snakes where they are and not touch them. This practice of observing can also help people who fear snakes better understand and respect them. You’ll see that snakes don’t chase, don’t bite unless they don’t feel that they have an escape, and don’t really want to have anything to do with humans. They want to live their quiet lives, eating things like toads, mice, and slugs! The Metroparks (and Michigan) only have a single venomous snake, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake. Early fall is a time of movement for many snake species, as they prepare for a long winter of hibernation.

Keep an eye out while you’re exploring the trails and bikepaths, especially in sunny spots on warm days! Use tools like the iNaturalist or Seek apps to help you use your phone camera to identify snakes and other organisms you encounter – or take a picture and bring it to the closest interpretive center, where staff can help you learn more about the wildlife in your Metroparks.

Get out and explore with these programs

Adult Nature Hike: Goldenrod at Stony Creek Metropark Nature Center 9/5/2026  10-11:30 a.m. 18+, $5

Birds on the Move at Oakwoods Metropark Nature Center 9/12/2026 8-10 a.m. 18+ $5

Monarch and Hummingbird Fest at Lake St Clair Metropark Nature Center 9/12/2026 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. All ages, FREE!

HawkFest at Lake Erie Metropark Marshlands Museum 9/19/2026 and 9/20/2026 from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., All Ages, FREE

Monarch Migration at Indian Springs Metropark Environmental Discovery Center 9/19/2026 from 1-2 p.m. , 18+, $5

Birding Along the Lakeshore at Lake Erie Metropark Marshlands Musuem 9/26/2026 from 10 a.m.-noon, 18+, $5