I moved to Michigan from the South about 10 years ago and have enjoyed the outdoors over the summers each year. But this is the first time I have taken the Metroparks Trail Challenge and gone canoeing as part of a Metroparks activity. I did that this afternoon at Oakwoods Metropark.

It was a group tour organized by the staff at the Nature Center. As we paddled on the river, we saw a number of birds (swans in particular) but there were two highlights. One was spotting a yellow Prothonotary Warbler (I had to look that up after the trip for the spelling!) which I understand is a relatively rare sighting. Then in a very amusing display, we saw a bunch of Whirligig Beetles (which were in abundance on the surface of the water) latch on to a very thin leaf of grass hitching on to it for a ride with the current. It looked exactly like a miniature version of our canoe except being paddled by these tiny beetles! I wish I had taken a video. Our guide said she hadn’t seen anything like it before in all her time canoeing and taking groups out. A very fun afternoon! – Gaurav