Facilities temporarily closed. Park is open. Trails remain open. Boardwalk open.
Please respect social distancing guidlines while in the park.
Please check here for more information.
2021 Birdathon and Beyond
Bird with us in your back yards, local parks, or other locations from May 1 - May 7. This annual fundraiser supports the Huntley Meadows Park resource management intern, who helps the Park tremendously through land stewardship and conservation.
To donate or see more information about the Bird-a-thon and Beyond, click here!
Coronavirus Resources
National
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- National Institutes of Health - NIH
- Johns Hopkins University of Medicine
Local
- Virginia Department of Health (VDH)
- Fairfax County
- Alexandria City Health Department
- Local Health Resources - Northern Virginia
- Maryland Department of Health
- Local Health Resources - Maryland
President's Message
Parks and Natural Areas Are Especially Important Now
By Cathy Ledec
Dear Friends,
Friends, the coronavirus global pandemic has brought into focus how important our parks and natural areas
are to all of us. Many are flocking to the ones in our neighborhoods for physical and emotional well-being
during this challenging time. For me, nature in our parks and natural areas is my “go to” healer. During periods of stress or challenge, I look to nature to inspire me, and I am never disappointed. These days our lives
are filled with so many challenges, worries, and things that can increase stress levels, it is especially important
for all of us to find ways and places that can bring improved balance to our lives and perhaps a sense of peace. Nature is in our parks and natural areas, and in most cases, it is very close by to where each of us is
following the Governor's stay-at-home orders. You can experience nature directly via the view out of your
window (from your stay-at-home office), or through your afternoon exercise walk next to the trees planted
along the streetscape in your neighborhood, or even by observing the potted plant on your front stoop
where bees are flying around its blooms.
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Monday Morning Bird Walk
By Harry Glasgow
The Friends of Huntley Meadows Park hosts a weekly bird walk on Monday mornings, which all are invited to join. The Monday Morning Bird Walk has been a weekly event at Huntley Meadows Park since 1985. It takes place every week, rain or shine (except during electrical storms, strong winds, or icy trails), at 7AM (8AM November-March), is free of charge, requires no reservation, and is open to birders of all interest and identi-fication levels. Birders meet in the parking lot at 3701 Lockheed Blvd, Alexandria, VA. Questions should be directed to Park staff during normal business hours at (703) 768-2525.
Photo by Ed Eder.
A previous edition of this newsletter contained a bit about brood parasitism, another fact of nature that some find appalling. Brood parasites lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and do not provide any parental care for their own offspring. Care that the "hosts" provide to the young parasites is care denied to their own young. This can have a detrimental effect on the reproductive success of the hosts and may affect their population numbers as a consequence.
If we can look at these occurrences without judging them by human social conventions, and instead see them as an integral part of nature, our joy of being outside will grow. However you perceive the creation of our world, what has developed is a natural outcome of that creation. The Hawk taking the Chickadee is an expression of the natural world. The Hawk has to eat, too. And its diet includes Chickadees. The nest parasitism discussed in our last newsletter is also a natural behavior for some species. The nest parasites we encounter in North America are usually Brown-headed Cowbirds. Parasitism by Cowbirds is increasing and has been reported as high as 70% (i.e., 70% of found parasitized nests had Cowbird eggs in them). The main reason for this increase is probably habitat fragmentation.
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Where Does My Contribution Go?
The Friends of Huntley Meadows Park supports a wide range of programs throughout the Park. Your membership dues and donations are critical to the success of our organization.
Some items we fund(ed):
- Educate the public and the Fairfax County Park Authority on the impacts of Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed changes to the easement at the south boundary of the Park. (See page 2 for details.)
- Creation of Huntley Meadows Patches, now on sale in the Norma Hoffman Visitor Center (VC) gift shop.
- Scholarships to support three interns for the summer of 2016. These interns will complete much needed programing projects. But most importantly they will assist Staff during day camps that educate and enter-tain our next generation of naturalist and environmental stewards.
- Environmental protection apprentice who will study with Park experts to learn best practices for wetland, forest, and meadow management.
- Quarterly e-newsletter to keep our 450+ members up-to-date on what is happening at the Park. Newsletter expenses have fallen with our “GO GREEN” initiative to provide more newsletters by email.
- Printing of various Park brochures and the frog stickers that adorn so many young visitors.
- Specialized training for Staff. This is usually several thousand dollars annually.
- School trips for schools throughout Fairfax County and neighboring counties. Kids are our very best ambassadors - we hear from many visitors that their kids visited on a school field trip and wanted to come back to show their families what a special place Huntley Meadows Park is.
- A donation to the Raptor Conservancy, one of our biggest entertainers on Wetlands Awareness Day. The contribution is used to feed and care for beautiful birds of prey that can no longer live in the wild.
- Generate merchandise to sell in the Visitor Center gift shop, e.g., hats, shirts, magnets, and lapel pins.
- Purchase of tools, and supplies for trail restoration, planting, invasive removal, and field studies.
- Production of the annual photography show, which celebrates local photographers and their work snapped at the Park.
- An ad for FOHMP in the playbill for West Potomac High School’s production of Starlight Express. West Potomac students help us each spring with watershed cleanups.
Who We Are
The Friends of Huntley Meadows Park was founded in 1985 and is a nonprofit organization of individuals dedicated to the protection of Fairfax County's premier wetland wildlife sanctuary.
FOHMP was organized exclusively for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes and operates under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Monday morning birdwalk has been suspended until further notice
The Monday Birdwalk takes place every week, rain or shine, at 8 AM, is free of charge, requires no reservation, and is open to all.
Birders meet in the parking lot at the Park's entrance at 3701 Lockheed Blvd, Alexandria, VA.
Questions should be directed to Park staff during normal business hours at
(703) 768-2525.
Friends of Historic Huntley
Friends of Historic Huntley is a non-profit citizen group committed to working with the Fairfax County Park Authority to assure the preservation, restoration and appropriate use of Historic Huntley and to enhance the public’s knowledge of the site and the broader historic development of the neighborhood.