Nature's Kingdom Conservation

Nature's Kingdom Conservation Federal and State licensed non-profit organization serving the Alpena/Alcona area We are dedicated to caring for hurt or orphaned wildlife.

We are a non-profit organization serving the Alpena/Alcona area of Northeast Michigan.

10/06/2026

Northern Michigan is putting on a show!

Peak fall color is arriving across the U.P., and northern Lower Michigan is getting close.

Save our updated 2026 Michigan Peak Fall Color Prediction Map and start planning your fall adventure.

Some areas of the western U.P. are already at or past peak, so the next couple of weeks are going to move fast. 🍁

10/02/2026

🦅 Another eagle rescued today.

Nature’s Kingdom Conservation just rescued an adult eagle. A brief examination during capture revealed that it was severely emaciated. We don’t yet know what led to its condition, but it is in need of further care.

We will be transferring the eagle to The ARK in Roscommon for continued evaluation and rehabilitation. We’re grateful to have their help giving this beautiful bird a chance at recovery.

Thank you to everyone who supports our rescue efforts. Your kindness helps us be there when wildlife needs us. 💚

💚 Help us stock up for winter! 🐾Nature’s Kingdom Conservation needs donations of canned green beans and plain ground tur...
09/30/2026

💚 Help us stock up for winter! 🐾

Nature’s Kingdom Conservation needs donations of canned green beans and plain ground turkey to help feed our animals through the winter.

Feeding everyone during the colder months is expensive. Our omnivores receive green beans and ground turkey with essential mineral supplements as part of their meals to support a healthy weight and nutritional balance.

We would appreciate:

🥫 Canned green beans—no salt added preferred
🦃 Plain, unseasoned ground turkey—frozen rolls like the one pictured are welcome!

A few cans or a few pounds can make a difference! Please keep turkey frozen or refrigerated until drop-off.

Donations can be dropped off at Muddy Paws in Alpena or Nature’s Kingdom Conservation in Herron.

Thank you for helping us care for the animals this winter! 💚

💚 Can you spare a few cans of green beans? 🐾Nature’s Kingdom Conservation is stocking up for winter, and we need canned ...
09/30/2026

💚 Can you spare a few cans of green beans? 🐾

Nature’s Kingdom Conservation is stocking up for winter, and we need canned green beans for our animals!

Feeding everyone throughout the winter is expensive. For our omnivores, we include green beans alongside ground turkey and essential mineral supplements as part of their meals to help maintain a healthy weight and nutritional balance.

Plain, no-salt-added green beans are preferred. A few cans or an entire case would be greatly appreciated!

Donations can be dropped off at Muddy Paws in Alpena or Nature’s Kingdom Conservation in Herron.

Thank you for helping us keep our animals nourished and cared for through the winter! 💚

09/30/2026

Across much of the eastern half of the country, native shrubs and vines are ripening right now, just as migrating birds need fuel and the winter flocks start to form.

Each one on this list has a bird that shows up for it.

🍇 What's ripe, and who's eating:

- Dogwood — glossy red berries. Gray catbirds mew from the branches between bites
- Spicebush — shiny red berries. Wood thrushes fuel up on them before heading south
- Winterberry — bright red, hanging on into winter. Eastern bluebirds come back for them
- Arrowwood viburnum — blue-black clusters. American robins work through them in their fall flocks
- Pokeweed — purple-black berries on magenta stems. Cedar waxwings arrive in groups. Not for people or pets
- Virginia creeper — dark blue berries on red stems. Chickadees pick at them. Not for people or pets
- Poison ivy — waxy white berries. Nobody plants it, but yellow-rumped warblers eat the berries well into winter
- Sumac — fuzzy red clusters. Brown thrashers dig in

Each berry here has a bird. 🐦

09/30/2026

Hawk migration check-in: the kettles are thinning, the next wave is coming.

Across much of the East, broad-winged hawks peak in mid-September. They travel in swirling flocks called kettles, riding columns of warm air, sometimes hundreds of birds at a time.

By late September, the big northeastern flights are usually winding down. Farther south along the Appalachians, they often run a little later.

Don't put the binoculars away.

Ospreys, American kestrels and peregrine falcons follow the broad-wings. Red-tailed hawks and eagles bring up the rear, from mid-October into November.

The best days come right after a cold front passes. Watch mid-morning, when birds lift off, and again in late afternoon as they come down.

You don't need a mountain. A wide patch of open sky works.

09/30/2026

In a good year, a single mature oak drops more acorns in a few weeks than the whole neighborhood of wildlife can eat, and right now they're all trying.

That flood on your driveway isn't litter. It's the most important cash crop in the fall woods.

🌰 Who's cashing in:

- The blue jay is the banker — hauling acorns off and burying them by the thousands, and the ones it forgets grow into oaks. Jays have planted whole forests
- The gray squirrel does the same, one buried nut at a time, planting as it forgets
- The white-tailed deer packs on winter fat; acorns are a big share of its fall diet
- The wild turkey swallows them whole by the cropful and grinds them inside
- The black bear, where it roams, gorges on acorns to fuel its winter sleep
- The white-footed mouse hoards them in hidden larders

Here's the clever part. Oaks don't drop the same amount each year. They boom and bust on purpose — a few lean years, then a sudden glut.

The glut is so big the animals can't eat it all, so some acorns make it through to become trees. The oak feeds the whole forest and still wins.

🌿 What you're seeing isn't a mess to rake. It's a once-a-year economy in full swing — one tree paying out to a dozen species and planting its own replacements in the same move.

09/30/2026

All month, the advice was the same. Do less.
Leave the cutting. Leave the bagging. Leave what doesn't need rescuing. Flip one switch off.

Here's who showed up.

🌾 You left the seed heads standing.
Goldfinches found them. They cling to the dry coneflowers and work the seeds loose, and the seeds they drop will feed sparrows and juncos on the ground later in the fall. The stems you didn't cut became a feeder nobody has to fill.

🪵 You left the brush pile in the back corner.
Rabbits and toads slipped underneath. When the juncos show up, it's their cover from hawks and storms too.

🍂 You let the first fallen leaves lie.
Bumble bee queens spend the winter just under that layer. Luna moth cocoons ride it out wrapped in the leaves themselves.

🦋 You left the asters blooming.
Monarchs fueled up. The ones passing through are the long-lived fall generation, many of them bound for the mountains of Mexico, and each late flower is a fuel stop on the way.

🐢 You found a hatchling turtle and let it keep its heading.
If it was on the road, you set it down on the far side, still facing forward. It walked on toward water it had never seen.

💡 You turned the porch light off on migration nights.
The birds traveling in the dark passed over an unlit yard and kept going.

None of it took a trip to the store. Most of it was less work than the chore it replaced.

October comes next. In much of the North the leaves come down in earnest and the first frosts arrive, and all of this matters more, not less. Keep the stems up till spring. Let the leaves lie where they land. Leave the pile where it is.

The messy yard won September. 🌿

Busy dayWithin just one hour, I received two separate calls about juvenile red-tailed hawks spending time on the ground....
09/27/2026

Busy day

Within just one hour, I received two separate calls about juvenile red-tailed hawks spending time on the ground.

The first hawk had such piercing yellow eyes that I wasn’t initially certain of the exact species. We were unable to capture it, but the home owner offered chicken, a rat and water. It ate, drank, and has remained close to the area, so we will continue monitoring it and try again if intervention is needed.

The second juvenile was weak and easily captured. It is now safe and receiving supportive care.

Young hawks can sometimes struggle during the difficult transition from the nest to independence. Although we cannot be certain yet why these two were grounded, weakness, dehydration, or difficulty finding enough food may be contributing factors.

Please keep both of these beautiful young raptors in your thoughts as we work to give them the best chance possible. 🦅

Very busy dayWithin just one hour, I received two separate calls about juvenile red-tailed hawks spending time on the gr...
09/27/2026

Very busy day

Within just one hour, I received two separate calls about juvenile red-tailed hawks spending time on the ground.

The first hawk had such piercing yellow eyes that I wasn’t initially certain of the exact species. We were unable to capture it, but we offered chicken and water. It ate, drank, and has remained close to the area, so we will continue monitoring it and try again if intervention is needed.

The second juvenile was weak and easily captured. It is now safe and receiving supportive care.

Young hawks can sometimes struggle during the difficult transition from the nest to independence. Although we cannot be certain yet why these two were grounded, weakness, dehydration, or difficulty finding enough food may be contributing factors.

Please keep both of these beautiful young raptors in your thoughts as we work to give them the best chance possible. 🦅

Address

7110 Wegmeyer Road
Herron, MI
49744

Telephone

(989) 727-3893

Website

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