iNaturalist Tracking Database

Frogs and Toads
Frog tracks

Frogs and Toads
Frog eggs

Snakes
tracks

American Alligator
medium

Frogs and Toads
medium

medium

Frogs and Toads
Adjacent to water

Southern Alligator Lizard
medium

American Alligator
medium

Common Snapping Turtle
With a bit more time to explore today, I wanted to find somewhere new to check out. I eventually settled on this ~70 acre, unnamed forest area in Van Buren Township. It seems to be mostly unexplored on iNat, so I thought it would be fun to put it on the map! It was a 77°F sunny day with about 50% humidity and little to no wind. Here's some info I put together about the forest, because why not Apparently it was preserved as a part of Grace Lake Corporate Center. It is bordered by Visteon Way/Village Center Dr to the east, Village Center Dr to the south, I-275 to the west, and Ecorse Rd to the north. There is a mostly unpaved trail which snakes through the forest, going primarily north to south, with an entrance off of Visteon Way in the northeast corner, and an entrance to the south off of Village Center Dr. Post-Robsen Drain starts at the southwest corner of the forest and runs to the north where it connects to McClaughrey Drain, which runs to the east and creates a border to the north. The manmade Grace Lake is only about one hundred yards away to the south. I started at the south entrance after parking in the nearby empty parking lot. Some form of security personnel came by to check on me after I parked but he was friendly and had no problem as I explained I was wanting to walk the trail. The forest was entirely hardwood from what I saw, but featured a large variety of trees, with maple and beech being perhaps the most common, especially near the south entrance. It seemed to be a mature forest as the canopy was multi-level and provided thorough coverage, and there were plenty of rotting logs and snags along the relatively low understory. I came across a handful of informational signs along the way which gave general information about wetland and forest ecology, as well as images of a few common plants. I didn't notice many vertebrate animals here, but otherwise there was plenty to see. Some organisms that I saw but didn't capture include lots of harvestmen, orange Arion slugs, white-footed woods mosquitoes, american toads, field ants and carpenter ants. Non-organisms that I saw include a 70s/80s Anheuser-Busch amber bottle and the mangled remains of a 70s blue and white Volvo station wagon complete with bullet holes.

Typical Frogs
Practice Assessment with Maria, Kirsten, & Jon

Frogs and Toads
Observed during Practice Assessment. Not a question

Slender Salamanders
tracks

North American Toads
medium

Frogs and Toads
medium

Colubrid Snakes
Observed a Colubrid snake quickly cross the trail into the brush. Unable to capture image of the fast-moving snake. These are images of the track.

Northern Alligator Lizard
medium

Northern Alligator Lizard
Tracks observed during tcna eval @firecraftnw

American Bullfrog
medium

American Bullfrog
Tracks in dried mud. Adult heard calling in lake nearby.

Northwestern Pond Turtle
tracks

Frogs and Toads
tracks

Pacific Chorus Frog
tadpoles and egg masses in puddle. They were moved to a deeper pond.

Snakes
Observed track left by a snake crossing the trail.

Lizards
medium

Lizards
medium

Sidewinder
medium

Amphibians
medium

American Alligator
medium

Colubridae
This observation relates to the serpentine tracks.