Nextgen Birders for Conservation

Welcome to an autumn bird walk with Nextgen Birders for Conservation, hosted by Luke High. We will embark upon a 3 hour walk through the park, which contains a variety of habitats that provide food and shelter for a diverse population of Northern Virginia birds. Given that this is a beginner walk, we will take it slow and focus on the basics and fundamentals of birding.

While there is no experience required for this walk, we do ask that you dress appropriately for the weather - which will likely be cold. We recommend bringing water and being mindful of the sun, as well.

We will meet shortly before 9AM in the parking lot by the visitor center. Please note that this is the visitor center located at 2739 West Ox Rd, Herndon, VA 20171. This event will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather, and an update will be posted to this page if that happens.

PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS EVENT if you need to borrow binoculars. We will take note of binocular requests and provide them as needed for the walk.

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Below is a description of the park, provided by Birding Virginia.
"Frying Pan Farm Park is a Fairfax County park that is mainly geared toward recreation, featuring a model farm and equestrian facilities, and hosting seasonal concerts and festivals. But it also boasts open fields, wetlands, mixed woods, a stream, and a nature trail winding through all these different habitats. The nature trail passes through mixed woods in the north and northwest sections of the park, and meanders by a stream (Frying Pan Branch of Horsepen Run); it is good for woodland birds. The wetland and ponds at the northeast corner (adjacent to Monroe Street) are good for herons, waterfowl and marsh birds. In the southeast and central parts of the park, the farmland and open fields are good for raptors, as well as sparrows and other seed-loving birds."

Come help work on this exciting new habitat restoration project!

Come help work on this exciting new habitat restoration project!

ARMN, the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, and the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria have been collaborating with Dominion Hills Area Recreation Association (DHARA) via NVBA's Stretch Our Parks initiative (https://www.nvbirdalliance.org/stretch-our-parks) to restore the natural habitat on DHARA property. For over a year, we've been pulling out invasive plants on this particular property and we began some planting last winter.

To bolster our planting effort, Earth Sangha granted us five woodies and 25 herbaceous plants this year. [They also gave us plants to help us on our other sites in the corridor].

Please come help us get the valuable Earth Sangha donation native plants into the ground!

There are three basic jobs (building cages, digging holes, planting plants) that need to happen that morning and we're starting a bit earlier than normal (9am) to give us a leg up on finishing by noon.

You can park on the far left side of the DHARA (6000 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, 20005) parking lot (near Ashlawn Elementary School). We will gather there, sign in, go over a few safety issues, and then move to the worksite down the stairs and across the stream. Please remember this is private property, and the owners are being kind enough to let us do "our restoration thing" on it.

Wear appropriate clothes (close-toed shoes and long pants) and bring your own water bottle. We will have some gloves and tools for you to use, but feel free to bring your own.