Mentor Marsh

09/28/2026

Hurrah for late season blooms for monarchs and more! Mary Ann spotted this male monarch while out on her butterfly monitoring this weekend at the nature center. Plus we enjoyed sightings of an amazingly high number—eleven different species of butterflies on our Sunday walk yesterday afternoon including a monarch. We spotted least skippers, fiery skippers, cabbage whites, both orange and clouded sulphurs, a female black swallowtail, a monarch, Pearl crescents, an eastern tailed blue, a gray hairstreak and a bronze copper!

This time of year is beautiful! Hope you’re getting out to enjoy it!
What are you finding?

This marsh sure is marvelous!

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, late September 2026
Photo credit: Mary Ann Wagner

09/24/2026

Hurrah for so many nice visitors to our amazing Marsh! Hope to see you next year!

09/24/2026

Fall is for fungi, too! As temperatures drop and moisture levels increase, it’s the perfect conditions for fruiting bodies of fungi to emerge. They are powerhouses in recycling nutrients and decomposing wood. Their underground network of mycelium is incredible and this mycorrhizal network is symbiotic and helps connect tree roots to water and nutrients. We are beholden to these incredible organisms for life on our planet!

What are you seeing when you’re out and about? Fungi are often beautiful and striking, in all forms and colors and shapes.

Had a colleague in the field show me this neat and new to me mushroom yesterday. It’s a Bleeding Fairy Helmet, Mycena haematopus. See the dark, latex fluid exuded when picked or bruised? All part of the fungi will exhibit this characteristic. Read more about this fungi at the link in comments.

Happy exploring!

Northeastern Ohio, 9/23/26
Photo credits: Becky Siekkinen Donaldson

09/23/2026

Well, hello fall! We officially tipped into this autumn season last evening though it sure has felt like fall over this past week!

Fall colors are showing up around the marsh like these colorful maples we spotted on our Sunday walk a couple days ago. Sassafras and black gum, too, are dotting the wetland rim with reds. Here we go!

Do you have favorite fall nature phenomena?

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, 9/20/26
Photo credit: Becky Siekkinen Donaldson

09/22/2026

Enjoy some Saturday evening shenanigans in the Marsh! (Turn up your sound!) At sunset on Saturday, Jamie spotted an adult eagle at a usual perch at Shipman Pond and a juvenile eagle flew in and perched in the same tree, joining the adult. A third eagle, another adult, flew in and some chatter ensued! Sure wonder what was being conveyed with the vocalizations!

By about now, this year’s fledged young are completely on their own and independent. As long as there’s ample food and open water to fish, eagles remain year-round at the marsh. And since they’re not defending their nesting or fishing territory, our eagles are more accepting of other eagles using the habitat, so we may see more than usual numbers of eagles over the fall and early winter. Go eagles!

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, 9/19/26
Video credit: Jamie Koller

09/21/2026

There was lots of life in the Marsh to fill the gaps in birdwatching on our Sunday afternoon bird walk yesterday afternoon! In addition to these pictured treasures, we were excited for close views of Marsh Wrens, a Lincoln’s Sparrow, a handful of Bald Eagles and most exciting, a male (Gray Ghost!) Northern Harrier! There are always treasures to be found, even on a drizzly late summer walk!

This marsh is marvelous!

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, 9/20/26
Photo credits: Becky Siekkinen Donaldson

09/20/2026

What a fun weekend sharing the wonders of birds and Mentor Marsh with visitors attending the Headlands Bird Fest from far flung places and ones who just live around the corner but have never stopped in to visit with us or explore our trails! It's so fun to share these avian treasures and these special habitats with them!

Our Mentor Marsh Nature Center is open until 5 pm today, plus we're leading our Sunday walk today focusing on birds, of course! Meet at the Mentor Marsh Nature Center at 2 pm and dress for the weather!

Enjoy these treasures from yesterday morning's bird walk in the wild western end of Mentor Marsh!

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, 9/19/26
Photo credits: Matt Valencic

09/19/2026

Tonight’s open house at the Wake Robin boardwalk is cancelled as we can’t see the sky through the clouds! We’ll try again at a later date, so keep your eyes open for it!

NEW FREE EVENT for 2026!!! Join CMNH astronomer Monica Marshall to take part in International Observe the Moon Night at Mentor Marsh Wake Robin Boardwalk. This occasion encourages nature AND Moon enthusiasts and fans of astronomy to gather in celebration of our lunar neighbor. International Observe the Moon Night takes place each year in September or October, when the Moon is around its first quarter phase. This day will offer great opportunities to observe prominent features on the lunar surface, where shadows will enhance the Moon’s cratered appearance. Bring flashlights or headlamps to light your way!

Festival registration is not required for this free event. Everyone is welcome to attend!

🌕Nature at Night: International Observe the Moon Night - Saturday September 19 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm


Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Rose Leach

09/19/2026

Good morning from Mentor Marsh! We’re kicking off our Behind Locked Gates bird walk as part of the Headlands Birding Fest this morning and the marsh sure is stunning this morning! Woohoo!

Early birds spotted/heard include a Sedge Wren, Lincoln’s Sparrows, a juvenile Bald Eagle and lots of the regulars. We also spotted a perched female Kestrel with about 5 Northern Flickers harassing her when we were scoping the hike last night, so hope we see this kind of action today.

Folks spotted an Ibis flying west past the mouth of the Grand River so we’re scoping for this rarity, too!

Hope you’re spending some time outside this weekend! And see lots of treasures! Pop in the nature center or up at Headlands Beach to see us, too!

Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, 9/19/26
Photo credits: Ken Schneider

09/18/2026

Shipman Pond is certainly a serene scene at the northeastern end of Mentor Marsh. This feature of the larger Mentor Marsh wetland complex is part of the old, abandoned river channel of the Grand River. This pond is the scoured out, deeper area in that northern bend and retains open water habitat to this day. Shipman Pond is named for early conservationist, Charles Shipman. This open water habitat is today bisected by Headlands Road and the bridge crossing the open water. You can catch glimpses of it from SR 44 just south of the state park as well as from the western side, on foot from our Zimmerman Trail. It’s truly a hotspot year-round as birds find refuge here, foraging and recharging during migration or a habitat for the birds who nest here.

In eBird, we list our birds sighted to specific "hotspots" and with the size of the Marsh, it's most correct to list the birds where exactly you've spotted them. If you're a birder, you may have noticed a switch in the naming conventions recently of this hotspot to Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve--Shipman Pond. Shipman Pond to the north of Headlands Road was once owned by ODNR Division of Parks and Watercraft and Shipman Pond on the south side of Headlands Road is part of Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve. The north side transferred to ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves several years ago and is all now part of Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve, with management overseen by DNAP and CMNH. Yes, the water on both sides of the bridge has always been Shipman Pond, but now our eBird checklists will reflect it as well!

Shipman Pond is bordered by reeds, cattails, shrubs, and patches of open water, creating a small but productive stopover site for migrating birds. Parking is available at the Zimmerman Trail lot or at the west end of Headlands Beach State Park. The pond can be viewed from the roadside or by walking the bridge on Headlands Road.

You can read more about the Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve--Shipman Pond eBird hotspot in the links in comments.

Maybe we'll see you out birding at the Marsh this weekend as part of the Headlands Birding Festival! Our trails are open dawn to dusk and the nature center will be open from 10 am-5 pm all weekend, too! You can join us for our 2 pm Sunday hike, a bird walk this week! See links in comments for this weekend's activities!

Mentor Marsh's Shipman Pond