Fall 09

Mason Neck State Park

The Eagle Eye Volume II1, Issue iii

Fall, 2009

Points of interest: ♦

Program Highlight: Majestic Eagles

The park is open daily from 8:00 am to dusk.

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Make way for Monarchs! Hundreds of the orange and black butterflies pass through our area on their way to Mexico for the winter.

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Look for already-rotund groundhogs packing on even more pounds as they prepare for their long hibernation.

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Due to anticipated construction at the Visitor Center, we’re not holding a fall festival this year. We hope to hold an event next fall instead.

Inside this issue: Creature Feature

2

eBird: More Citizen Science

2

Fall in the Wildlife Garden

3

How You Can Help Mason Neck State Park

4

Bluebird Box News

4

Canoe and Kayak Trips

5

September Programs

6

October Programs

6

Wildlife to Watch

7

Late-season Butterflies

7

There are two “best times” to look for eagles here at Mason Neck State Park. One is first thing in the morning, when the birds are hungry and hunting their fishy breakfast. The other is between five and six pm on Saturdays and Sundays, when we hold the Majestic Eagles program. Meet our park interpreter at the Visitor Cen-

ter for a short introduction to the life and times of the bald eagle. Then go outside to look for wild bald eagles as they soar over Belmont Bay and perch along the shoreline. Osprey are also likely to be seen, but don’t miss your chance— they will leave for their winter homes by the end of October. The eagles stay here year-round, however.

The Majestic Eagles program is appropriate for any age and no registration is necessary. There is a minimal amount of walking between the Visitor Center and the overlook.

Park Manager’s Notes Well, folks, Labor Day weekend is behind us. We still have plenty of warm weekends for kayaking, hiking, and picnicking here at Mason Neck State Park. I hope you all had the chance to visit Mason Neck this summer and enjoy the park’s facilities. Did you know more people came to visit the park this summer than last summer? 2009’s attendance from June through August increased 16% over the same period’s attendance in 2008. That’s great, and I hope the future sees even more people discovering our park. We’re thrilled that the new Visitor Center expansion is moving

forward this fall. The expansion will include additional display areas, a meeting area, and last but certainly not least will include public restrooms. Once the expansion is built, our next step will be to develop interpretive nature and history displays. We’re looking forward to creating a new interpretive plan that includes the additional space. Of course the displays will be dependent on the current funding challenges faced by the Commonwealth. We are so proud of this summer’s Captain John Smith Explorers Camp. We hosted 115 children, introducing them to nature and the

history of our area. We are equally proud of the interpretive programs we presented each weekend this summer. We introduced a GPS program where visitors actually use GPS units to find points along the trail. The Majestic Eagles program also continues to be popular. Thanks to our seasonal staff for a great effort keeping the park attractive this summer. Most of our seasonal employees have returned to college, but the rest of the staff looks forward to seeing you soon. We’ll all work hard to provide you with a great recreational experience at Mason Neck State Park.

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Creature Feature: Little Brown Bat It's a bird! No, it's a plane! Actually, it's a little brown bat, or myotis (Myotis lucifugus lucifugus). Like the rest of Virginia's seventeen known bat species, the little brown bat is insectivorous. That is great news for humans, because this bat eats insect pests including nasty mosquitoes. Bats are efficient hunters, as they use sound, or echolocation, to find their prey. An insect's size, location, and direction can be determined by the sound waves bouncing back to the bat's sensitive ears. That means that the old tale about

a bat flying into your hair is simply not true; they know you are there and can easily avoid you. This flying mammal occurs throughout Virginia and the United States in forested areas, and roosts in and on caves, buildings, rocks and trees, and under bridges. Little brown bats migrate south in the fall, then mate. During the winter hibernation, females experience delayed fertilization. In April to May, mother bats give birth to usually only one offspring. The mothers and young will form up in nursery colonies in warm, dark places after the bats

leave the hibernaculum, or winter hibernation grounds. The mother bat is able to locate her offspring among thousands or even millions of other bats by sound and smell. Good places to look for bats at Mason Neck are in the picnic area and by the pond. The bats emerge in late dusk, usually heading first for water. There are five bat boxes around the main field area, so you may be lucky in seeing them leave for their nightly hunts!

eBird: More Citizen Science Last issue we described several citizen science projects you can try. This issue we’re focusing on just one: eBird.

Birders at Mason Neck State Park

Red-winged Blackbird

eBird is an online accumulation and assimilation of birding observations. Birders from all over North America report their sightings and this data is made immediately available to other birders and scientists, as well as being stored for professional and citizen scientists to look for patterns, whether regional, global, historical or seasonal. Anybody may contribute data, from experts to amateur birdwatchers.

eBird was created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. It’s been online since 2002 and is quickly gathering valuable information about bird species’ abundance and distribution. Individuals may post their sightings for a personal location, such as “my yard”, or may add their sightings to an established hotspot, a site that has frequent and numerous reports from many different birders. Mason Neck State Park is itself an eBird hotspot.

eBird gives each individual birder a quick and tidy way of organizing personal data, and also opens doors to a much wider range of information. You can find answers to your own questions about local birds, such as when the black & white warblers arrive in your area each spring. You can also use any of the data entered into eBird to answer broader questions, from what birds are likely to be seen in Mason Neck in June to how much a given species’ range is changing over the years. Any birding data is welcome in eBird, from the list of birds you saw at the feeder yesterday to your grandmother’s birding lists from years ago.

Check it out at http://ebird.org.

Spotted Sandpiper White-throated Sparrow

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Autumn in the Wildlife Garden Wondering what to do with your wildlife garden to prepare it for winter? Or are you just now planning a wildlife garden and wondering what plants should be included to brighten up the late summer and early fall? Here are a few suggestions.

If you have an established garden, you’re noticing that many of your plants and flowers are past their prime. They may seem messy and unkempt, but leaving them alone is one of the best things you can do for wildlife right now. Birds and other animals rely on seeds for food during the colder months. You may be surprised at the subtle beauty of your garden this winter with seedheads and dormant plants in shades of muted brown and gray.

Some plants, though, are not even done blooming yet. Many native flowers are still bright and colorful in autumn. If you don’t have many flowers left in your garden now, consider adding a few of these late-blooming plants when you replant next spring: Joe-pye Weed, Ironweed (pictured below), Black-eyed Susans, Asters, Sneezeweed and Goldenrod (above). In addition to providing a splash of color in your garden and nectar for

late butterflies, many of these plants also provide tasty seeds beloved by many songbirds.

You also should consider plants that have colorful berries and fruit for your fall garden. American Holly’s red berries usually last through the entire winter because they are few animals’ favorite food. Even so, they are important for birds in the early spring, particularly the first wave of northbound migrants. Native roses, such as Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris) and Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina), produce lovely red or orange “hips”, seen below. They provide tasty food for wildlife in addition to brightening up your garden. Other native shrubs that provide autumn fruit for wildlife include Serviceberry, native Viburnum, and American Beautyberry.

This season you should also be giving thought to keeping your garden and its wildlife protected throughout the upcoming winter. A nice thick layer of mulch will benefit your garden by protecting dormant roots from extreme temperature changes, as well as by slowly adding nutrients to your soil all winter. Use your lawn mower to shred all the leaves you rake up this fall, and spread the resulting confetti-like material on your garden.

Some communities also offer shredded leaves for free or for a small charge; check in your area. If you keep a compost pile or have access to community compost, an autumn mulch of matured compost is great for adding nutrients to your soil. Songbirds and small mammals will appreciate a brush pile of fallen branches and debris in the corner of your yard for extra shelter.

If you don’t yet have a garden, or are thinking of expanding your current garden, fall is a great time to start planning. Check out any wildlife gardens your neighbors might have, and the local arboretum or botanical garden for ideas and plants you might want to incorporate. If you’ve gardened this summer, now’s the time to make note of what worked and what did not, and what you wish could have gone differently. Then this winter you can peruse seed catalogs and other resources and plan how to improve your garden in the spring.

Enjoy the colors and textures of your fall wildlife garden, and keep your eye peeled for seasonal visitors. You may be lucky enough to host migrating birds like the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, or lateseason butterflies like the Checkered White shown above. You’ll also see year-round residents preparing their homes or themselves for a long winter. If you’ve prepared your wildlife garden to provide all components of habitat (food, water, shelter & space), your garden wildlife should be happy and safe as cold weather approaches.

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How YOU Can Help Mason Neck State Park 1. Leave no trace.

• Prevent your pet from getting in a dangerous fight with another family’s pet.

• Discard your trash in proper receptacles. • Take home everything that you brought into the park.

• Carry a plastic bag so your pet leaves no trace as well.

• Observe wildlife while letting it remain wild and undisturbed. 4. Become a volunteer.

• Lead our canoe and kayak trips.

• Leave the park cleaner than when you arrived! 3. Refrain from picking fruit, flowers or other plants, and from harassing wildlife.

2. Control your pet on a leash at all times.

• Help out in the Visitor Center. • Lead or help with interpretive programs, such as hikes.

• Make sure everyone that visits after you can enjoy the same things you did.

• Keep your pet safe from wildlife, and wildlife safe from your pet.

• Assist at our spring festival.

• Leave the flowers to turn into seeds, which will feed birds and other animals.

• Make sure your pet stays away from steep drop-offs and restricted areas.

Let’s keep our park beautiful!

Bluebird Box News strong enough to fly or survive on their own.

You’ve probably seen the bird boxes sitting on posts near the Visitor Center and the picnic area. They are special boxes designed to provide nesting habitat for the eastern bluebird and other native birds. Volunteers from the Virginia Bluebird Society monitor the boxes weekly during the summer. They keep a weekly record of when eggs were laid in each nest, when they hatch, and when the babies fledge. The week before an expected fledging, the box is not opened for monitoring since that might scare the young birds into leaving the nest before they’re

This year’s results are finally in, and once again the Virginia Bluebird Society was successful in helping our native bluebirds to increase their population, at least here on Mason Neck State Park. We now are home to 61 brand new birds from just the twelve boxes in the park--31 bluebirds and 30 tree swallows. That may be our best year yet, according to Anna Goddard, our trail coordinator. Hooray! Specifically, the boxes saw 35 bluebird eggs laid and 31 babies hatched and fledged. Six different bluebird pairs used the boxes-three had a second clutch after their first babies fledged. As for tree swallows, six pairs laid a total of 30 eggs, all of which successfully hatched and fledged. Only one of the tree swallow pairs had a second brood. There were hardly any predators or other problems with the boxes this year. One pair of chickadees nested and laid four

eggs in one of our boxes, but the eggs later disappeared. Perhaps a snake managed to get in; at any rate, the parents did not lay a replacement clutch. If you are interested in helping monitor our trail, or even starting your own, the Virginia Bluebird Society is a good place to start— www.virginiabluebirds.org. If you live outside of Virginia, the North American Bluebird Society (www.nabluebirdsociety.org) lists several other chapters across the United States and Canada. And don’t forget that bluebirds are here year round, so you can come look for the newest members of our wildlife family even during the winter. In fact, the photo above was taken near the Visitor Center during November one year.

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Canoe & Kayak Rentals and Expeditions Guided Canoe & Kayak Expeditions Registration All participants must pre-register at the Park Environmental Center, either in person or by phone (703339-2380). Payment is required at the time the reservation is made. Cancellations must be made 7 days prior to the trip, otherwise refunds will not be granted. Morning Trips 9-11:30 a.m. This 2.5 hour kayak or canoe trip is offered on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October. Max of 10 persons per trip. Evening Trips 6-8:30 p.m. This 2.5 hour kayak or canoe trip is offered on Saturdays from May through October. Max of 10 persons per trip. Twilight Trips Dusk (see below) This twilight kayak or canoe trip is offered one Friday evening each month. You must be 18 years or older to participate in this trip. Max of 10 persons per trip.

will be canceled and you may choose to receive a refund or reschedule your trip. Expedition Guides All trips are led by a certified canoe and kayak guide. The guides will provide safety information and some paddling demonstrations before the tour. Remember, you are responsible for paddling your canoe or kayak. All trips are provided as staffing permits. Expedition Prices Morning Trips

$15 per person

Afternoon Trips

$15 per person

Twilight Trips Group rate

October 2

$20 per person**

Rent a canoe or kayak and explore Kanes Creek on your own. Canoes, solo kayaks, and tandem kayaks are available first-come, first-served. Rentals begin as early as 10 am, as late as 4 pm, and must be returned by 5 pm. Rentals are available from April through October, weather permitting. Rental Rates Canoes

Kayaks

$9 per person*

*Group rates are for parties of 5 or more on morning or afternoon trips. **No group rate on twilight trips.

Tandem Kayaks

$12/hr

$10/hr

$15/hr

$35/4hrs

$35/4hrs

$45/4hr

$50/4+hr

$50/4+hr

$60/4+hr

Expedition Age Requirements

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♦

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Must be at least 18 years old

but an adult must accompany

with a drivers license or other

the trip.

picture ID to rent a canoe or

Children 13 and under must

kayak.

paddle with an adult in each

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Rental Age Requirements

Children 14 to 17 years old may paddle solo in a canoe or kayak,

♦

Children 14—17 years old must

canoe or tandem kayak.

be accompanied by a legal adult

Children under the age of 6 are

18 years or older.

not allowed in canoes or kay-

♦ Twilight Trip Dates: September 4

Canoe & Kayak Rentals

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Children 13 and under are not

aks.

allowed in a solo kayak, and

Twilight tours are for ages 18

must be accompanied by a legal

and up only.

adult in a canoe or tandem kayak.

6—8:30 p.m.

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5:30—8 p.m.

Children under age 6 are not allowed in canoes or kayaks.

Weather Information Trips will be held rain or shine. You may reschedule due to weather conditions; however, refunds will not be made at short notice unless the guide cancels the trip. Guides will assess the weather at the time of the tour. If it is unsafe, the trip

Explore Kanes Creek like never before!

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September Programs SATURDAYS 10:30-11:30 am Frog of the Wild Come join us on this hike as we listen and look for frogs and toads. How many species can you identify? Meet at the Picnic Area. 12:00-12:30 pm Feathers and Furs Check out real furs, skulls and bones of animals that live in the park. Do you know what a fox skull looks like? Meet in the Picnic Area. 1:00-2:00 pm Barkin’ Up a Tree Do you know how to identify the most common trees at Mason Neck? Come make crayon rubbings of bark and leaves with us to help you remember. Meet in the Picnic Area. 3:00-4:30 pm GPS Adventures Come join us on this one mile hike with park GPS

units. We'll explore nature while searching for hidden caches! Most appropriate for ages six and up; maximum of 10 participants. First come, first served. Meet at the Visitor Center. 5:00-6:00 pm Majestic Eagles Look for bald eagles, osprey and red-tailed hawks with us, and discover their fascinating lives. Meet at the Visitor Center.

SUNDAYS 12:00-12:30 pm Got Butter? Come make and eat delicious fresh butter with us. You’ll love the pure creamy taste, just like George Mason’s family

might have enjoyed. Meet at the Picnic Area. 1:30-2:15 pm Pond Probe Join our scientific investigation. We’ll have dip nets and buckets available for you to catch minnows, crayfish and more as we check for life in our pond. Meet at the large pond by the car-top boat launch. 3:00-4:30 pm GPS Adventures Come join us on this one mile hike with park GPS units. We'll explore nature while searching for hidden caches! Most appropriate for ages six and up; maximum of 10 participants. First come, first served. Meet at the Visitor Center. 5:00-6:00 pm Majestic Eagles Look for bald eagles, osprey and red-tailed hawks with us, and discover their fascinating lives. Meet at the Visitor Center.

October Programs This program is most appropriate for ages six and up; maximum of 10 participants. First come, first served. Meet at the Visitor Center.

SATURDAYS 10:30-11:30 am Birding By The Bay Join this walk to look for songbirds, waterfowl and of course bald eagles. Meet at the Bay View Trailhead.

5:00-6:00 Majestic Eagles Look for bald eagles, osprey and red-tailed hawks with us, and discover their fascinating lives. Meet at the Visitor Center.

might have enjoyed. Meet in the Picnic Area. 3:00-4:30 pm GPS Adventures Come join us on this one mile hike with park GPS units. We’ll explore nature while searching for hidden caches! This program is most appropriate for ages six and up; maximum of 10 participants. First come, first served. Meet at the Visitor Center. 5:00-6:00 pm Majestic Eagles Look for bald eagles, osprey and red-tailed hawks with us, and discover their fascinating lives. Meet at the Visitor Center.

12:30-1:15 pm Feathers and Furs Check out real furs, skulls and bones of animals that live in the park. Do you know what a fox skull looks like? Meet in the Picnic area.

SUNDAYS

3:00-4:30 pm GPS Adventures Come join us on this one mile hike with park GPS units. We’ll explore nature while searching for hidden caches!

1:00-1:45 pm Got Butter? Come make and eat delicious fresh butter with us. You’ll love the pure creamy taste, just like George Mason’s family

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Wildlife to Watch Here are a few wildlife highlights for the fall. This is nowhere close to a complete list, just a few key events you can use to plan your trips to Mason Neck. Each day offers a different chance for wildlife sightings, so come visit us often!

In September, one of the most noticeable events is the blooming of our late-summer flowers. Joe-pye Weed, Ironweed, Goldenrod and Black-eyed Susans brighten sunny areas around the Visitor Center and in the marsh along the Bay View Trail. Hummingbirds and butterflies are grateful for the nectar they provide. As the flowers mature into seeds, songbirds also take advantage of the ready food. Keep your eyes out for bright goldfinches bobbing around the tall ironweed near the Visitor Center. There are also noticeably more monarch butterflies in the park as they pass through our area on their way to Mexico. They too are likely to be seen on the flowers mentioned above. Early songbird migration has started, and some of the transients you may find include magno-

lia warblers, black-throated blue warblers, yellow-rumped warblers and palm warblers, just to name a few. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are fattening up and should leave our area soon.

With October’s arrival, seed and nut production is in full swing. Squirrels, deer, and turkeys feast on the acorns, walnuts and beech nuts. The deer have started shedding their reddish summer fur in favor of a duller gray for winter. Fawns should have completely lost their spots as well. Groundhogs have retreated to their cozy burrows to hibernate. More warblers pass through the park, and we’re starting to see some early waterfowl arriving this month. Blue-winged and greenwinged teal dabble in our marshy areas, and lesser scaup and ruddy ducks start to join the canada geese on Belmont Bay. A few early common loons may arrive as well. Osprey will leave for their winter homes by the end of this month, while our winter songbirds such as dark-eyed juncos and whitethroated sparrows arrive. Temperatures permitting, the year’s last butterflies are still around—fall species

like the checkered white and the buckeye, a few stalwart tiger swallowtails, and the last wave of migrating monarchs. Commas and mourning cloaks, which overwinter as adults, may also be seen on warm days.

Come November, our winter waterfowl migration has started to really kick in. Tundra swans should be arriving toward the end of the month. Ring-necked ducks, bufflehead, gadwall and all three kinds of mergansers are among the species thronging Belmont Bay this month and throughout the winter. Groundhogs are sound asleep in their dens, while most other mammals are focused on finding plenty of food as well as shelter during the cold weather. Snakes, turtles and frogs are snug in their hibernation spots. Most snakes congregate in vacant burrows for the winter, turtles and many frogs are tucked away in the mud, and a few frog species that can survive a hard freeze are simply buried under fallen leaves while they snooze away the winter. Why don’t you come explore our park this fall and discover the wildlife for yourself?

Late-season Butterflies in the Park Mourning Cloak

Monarch

Question Mark