Submitted by adorkablepenguin t3_126ptd7 in washingtondc
I have a ten week long internship in D.C. this summer and am looking for a welcoming, entry-level birding group. I'll be living in downtown D.C. with no vehicle, but would love to find some friendly nature nerds to run around outside with! After seeing a baby great horned owl in the wild, I am inspired to find more. Do any of you know of a group of birders that would be welcoming to someone new to the hobby without a vehicle?
Oh! Good thought! I have only been to D.C. a few times so figure out how far away things are in terms of the metro is a new skill to develop!
https://dcaudubonsociety.org/birding-dc
They claim to have bird walks, but their calendar doesn’t seem to be up to date.
highly recommend a hike above fletchers boat house. little slice of the wild in the middle of urban sprawl. i always see ospreys and have spotted an eagle pr two out there also.
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens has some great birding and is on the Anacostia River Trail. You can metro as close as you can and grab a CaBi bike for the rest of the way.
I’m in nova so I can speak more to that than in dc. My wife and I go out birding almost every weekend all over the area.
In DC, Theodore Roosevelt island is a great location and you’ll always run into other people birding there in the mornings. Kenilworth aquatic gardens also has a ranger led bird walk on tuesday mornings (I know it’s during the week but if you have flexible working hours could be an option, still a great location on weekends though ).
I highly recommend if you’re going to be in the area for a while to find some ways to get down to Huntley Meadows in Alexandria , VA. There are some birding groups such as the nova bird club and the Audubon society of nova that have regular field trips posted on their calendar. You don’t have to be a member to tag along with them and they definitely help new birders spot all kinds of things that are harder to spot.
I only know about the gritty and mean birder groups.
Last I checked all the birding groups look for angy birds. Sorry had to do it
The feminist bird club's DC chapter has a lot of great birding events and is very welcoming of newcomers: https://www.instagram.com/fbc.dmv/
Hung out with some Naturalists who did a Birding event for a previous job I had in NOVA. I was referred to them by Long Branch Nature Center & Park. Good time!
My girlfriend is a regular birder and knows a few groups, I'll send her this post.
Edit: She's going to dm you in a bit after she remembers her Reddit login information lol
The kenilworth walk is great, even if you can’t go a lot learning the best way to bird the park is helpful
Thanks! I'll add that to my list!
So helpful!
Wonderful!!! As a solo female in DC, groups where women feel safe from creepers is a major plus! I assume most bird people are pretty chill though!
Holy Crap! YES! Thank you!
Huntley Meadows is THE SHIT. Saw a super gorgeous and derpy Great Blue Heron there last weekend. There are frequently updated signs about what you might spot depending on the time of year. I believe they also do guided walks and there's tons of other amazing wildlife to see other than birds.
Absolutely! She birds both solo and with groups so I'm sure she'll have plenty of recommendations and/or invites.
I love this place and the water lily festival is good too, just go on an off day for that.
Unfortunately not the easiest to get to by Metro. There is a bus that drops right outside the park and more buses another 10 min walk away, but headways can be long, especially on weekends, if you don't time it properly. Doable though for someone motivated enough, and should be better once the yellow line gets running again.
But yea, Huntley Meadows is awesome
Friendly? No, it’s anarchy in these ornithological streets bruh. #TweetTweetBitch
Lolz u beat me to it!
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The new Birdhouse at The National Zoo just opened with a bunch of native birds focusing on migration. I am not sure if that is your thing, but I went and it was phenomenal. Staff was really nice too.
Look in Facebook groups. All kinds of groups to find.
My birding group is for murderers and thugs only. We will and have killed, stolen, and burned for a good look at a tufted tit or woodcock. OP better stay the hell away from us if they know what's good for them.
If you can get out there (car needed), the Patuxent has some amazing birding. Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary and its cousin across the river, Patuxent River Park, are unique habitats with fabulous birding opportunities, particularly for osprey.
I was going to say — won’t fulfill all of your birding dreams but don’t discount the zoo! The birdhouse is great!!
Howdy and welcome to DC! I often take a bike and the shoelace express to get to my favorite places to bird in dc: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Kingman & Heritage Islands, and Anacostia Park (roller rink/bridge area). I'm on the board of the DC Audubon Society (a local, volunteer-run bird-friendly group) and you can sign up for our newsletter or Eventbrite to first know about events. Hope to see you out there!
The Aquatic Gardens rule. Highly highly recommend showing up early in the summer, it gets super hot (and sometimes crowded) by about 11am and the birds tend to hide away.
Ay yo when are we gonna legalize ranch brotendo?! BIRD UP!
Second the suggestion re the Feminist Bird Club DMV Chapter! The Tregaron Conservancy also runs free seasonal Saturday morning bird walks led by Sam Krause which are great and super friendly - I don't think Sam's doing them at the moment but pretty sure she's restarting them in May/June. I'm in downtown DC and don't drive but have found you can get to some pretty good spots by Metro and CaBi - I bird regularly at Theodore Roosevelt Island and there's a CaBi bike dock right by the footbridge over to the island. I've also enjoyed good birding at Oak Hill Cemetery, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Hains Point Park, along the Potomac between Fletcher's Cove and the Chain Bridge, and the National Arboretum, all by bike or public transport. There's great info about a bunch of different birding spots around DC here: https://birdersguidemddc.org/explore-birding-sites/by-region/washington-dc-region/
As far as locations, Hains Point and Rock Creek Park are two of the best and most frequently visited birding spots in the city. In particular, the Maintainence Yard, the Nature Center, and The Ridge in RCP, the highest spots in the park, are prime locations for spotting tons of migratory birds which will be coming through pretty soon, and most any early morning you can find birders gathering there.
The last one bopped me beside the head and stole my bird guide while spotting a Carolina Chickadee. I met up the following week with a helmet and wrested my birder book back. I keep with this group since they are quiet. /s
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Damnit. Beat me to the punch.
You joke, but during undergrad birders in our wildlife programs had a reputation of being the haughtiest assholes in the school. I could totally see a birder group being mean and not welcoming
I hate to go against the grain here, but if you want to go on actual bird walks, and then you should probably ignore DC Audubon, and the official chapter of the Feminist Bird Club. I don’t think DC Audubon actually does bird walks, and the FBC walks often start at nine or 10 in the morning, which is way too late.
I can put you in touch with a group that has lots of members that are probably in your age range. I’ll PM you
I belong to the MD Birder group on FB and, at least online, it is a ray of sunshine on the internet. Everyone losing their minds over hummingbirds. Molting posts are hilarious.
But yeah, the lower the stakes, the higher the drama with hobby groups unless you do some serious community building..
Come on over and join the DC Violent Convicted Felon Birding Group! Just show up with some binoculars, documentation of your criminal record, and some snacks and you're in!
Milazzo t1_jea76zi wrote
Look into ones here in NoVa as well - you can take the metro down, and we have sooo many birding areas like Dyke Marsh and Huntley Meadows.