News

Visitors to Dyke Marsh will find a photography station called Chronolog on the Haul Road trail at the native plant site, DMW-101. Unfortunately, our second station  on the boardwalk across from Tulane Drive, DMW-102, was destroyed twice. Neither FODM or the U. S. Park Police know why it was apparently vandalized. At this time, FODM will not replace it at that site

This station helps document and better visualize landscape changes over time in the preserve. Changes in a landscape can be slow to see, whether they are seasonal changes, results of the restoration project or longer-term changes.

Virginia U.S. Senator Mark Warner came to Belle Haven Park/Dyke Marsh on June 22, 2020 and championed the Senate’s June 19 approval of the Great American Outdoors Act.  The bill would fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at $900 million a year and allocate $9.5 billion to address the maintenance backlog on public lands, including national parks, refuges, U.S forests and other lands.   The National Park Service has a $12 billion maintenance backlog; Virginia parks, $1.1 billion; the George Washington Memorial Parkway, $717 million.

In late May, several people observed a wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) on and near the Haul Road trail.  Our FODM breeding bird survey leader Larry Cartwright reported on May 29, 2022, “A hen wild turkey strolled down the path near the Haul Road entrance. The turkey was icing on the cake.”

The next day, FODMer Ed Eder snapped a photo and speculated, “The well-fed turkey is probably consuming a lot of insects in the native planting area.”  On May 30, 2022, Leila Saldanha took several photos of “our” turkey.

Several talented photographers documented breeding birds in Dyke Marsh this spring, 2020.

Many people have enjoyed warblers migrating through Dyke Marsh this spring, 2020. Many species have bright colors. Some migrate from South America to northern Canada.

Keen observers have watched the parents and two young barred owls (Strix varia) in Dyke Marsh this spring, 2020. Ed Eder captured the two owlets doing mutual preening on April 17 and Ed reported that they usually stick close together.

Barred owls are known for their haunting, baritone night call, “who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all.”  They get their name from their “bars” or striped plumage. Generally, they roost during the day and hunt at night. Adults are around 21 inches in length and a little over a pound in weight. They tend to be in older forests, but are highly adaptable to varied habitats, including mixed forests and disturbed areas. “Barred owls are the opportunists of the owl world,” wrote Leigh Clavez in The Hidden Lives of Owls.