Heather,

I moved from Washington, DC to Portland a little over a year ago.
Unfortunately, a lot of the "natural world" isn't easily Metro
accessible. Rock Creek Park is an easy walk from the Woodley Park/Zoo,
Dupont Circle or Cleveland Park stations. It is a large, mostly
forested park with trails and bike paths that can be good for migrants.
The wooded areas of the Zoo can be birdy sometimes. Any of the small
gardens around the Smithsonian (though not natural) occasionally hold
migrants (one had a Virginia rail and ovenbird for a number of weeks in
late summer a few years back). Other parks in DC worth checking out if
you have a car or are willing to figure out the bus routes include the
National Arboretum (it has several mostly natural wooded areas and areas
with native meadow communities), Kenilworth Aquatic Garden (there have
been yellow-crowned night herons there much of the summer), and East
Potomac Park. If you have a car and don't mind DC/northern Virginia
taffic, Dyke Marsh and Huntley Meadows in northern Virginia are
wonderful birding places.

One option for more specific details would be to find a Borders book
store (there is one at 20th and K, or somewhere near there), and look
for Claudia Wilds' "Finding Birds in the National Capital Area". It's a
little old, but it was some great information.

If you have other questions, let me know. Enjoy your trip!

Craig Tumer
Portland, OR



> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [Tweeters] RFI: Washington DC
> From: Heather <heathwin at yahoo.com>
> Date: Wed, August 20, 2008 7:44 am
> To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Hi Tweeters:
> I am in Washington DC, downtown area (11th & H).? If anyone has particular tips on where might be interesting to check out birds, I'd appreciate hearing about it.
> The architecture of the old buildings, as well as all the great Smithsonian galleries and museums are fabulous - but I'd like to see a bit of the natural world to offset all the rest? :)
> Thanks in advance for any info...
> Heather
> Okanogan WA (visiting Washington DC)
> heathwin at yahoo.com<hr>_______________________________________________
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> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
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