We are delighted that Brad Schmonsees from The Backyard Bird Feeder will lead a guided bird walk at Great Falls Park at 5 pm on Tuesday, September 16 with Wednesday, September 17 as a rain date.  This walk is for members and volunteers - but members and volunteers are welcome to invite those they personally know to join us in this walk.    

 

We’ll meet at the Great Falls Tavern Visitors’ Center at 5 pm. From there, we’ll proceed to our first stop - the area overlooking the river where we can expect to see migrating waterfowl.

From there, we’ll proceed along the C&O towpath. This is an easy walk but sturdy shoes are always a good idea. (Also consider wearing a hat, since the sun will still be strong, and bringing water to drink).

To make the most of this opportunity, we recommend some advance planning with the resources listed below, and don’t forget to bring a pair of binoculars if you have them.

Resources:  

Download two apps from the Cornell University Cornell Lab of Ornithology, ebird, which will acquaint you with what we can expect to see based on birds recently sighted in the area; and Merlin, which enables you to identify birds by songs and calls that are being recorded in real time on your smart phone. 

Click on this link https://ebird.org/home, and once there, click on the green "Get Started" tab, which will bring you to the page with the ebird and Merlln apps for you to download to your smart phone.     

Please note the following:
Carpooling is suggested as there is an entrance fee of $20 per vehicle if no one in the vehicle has a National Parks pass.  If you have a National Park pass, which gets you free admission to the park for your vehicle, don't forget to bring it.

Admission to the park is free with a National Park Pass - if you don't have one, please click  https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm#senior-passes for how to get one.     

Members - If you need a ride to come, please indicate that you need a ride when you register for this event by setting the ride field to "need a ride".   Everyone, if you can offer a ride, please indicate that as well.  Please also indicate if you have a National Parks pass in the comments section when you register. 

Learn more about the Backyard Bird Feeder! They're coming to their new Potomac location, 10103 River Road, on Sept. 2!

 

Thank you to Diane, for making arrangements for and organizing this event for us.  She tells us that one of the birds we might see during our walk is a painted bunting, shown in the picture above.