Bird Sit and Seed Swap at Rock Creek Park

Join us for the last weekend weekend in October for a bird sit and seed swap! FBC DMV and DC Bird Alliance are teaming up again as a follow-up to the virtual webinar, Seed Saving Secrets with Sam Krause.

We're taking what we learned from the webinar, gathering some seeds, and then sharing with each other. Missed the webinar? Check out the recording and the slides.

That being said, no seeds are required to attend! Everyone is welcoe to attend, especially members of the LGTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC, and women. No prior birding or gardening required--just a curiosity!

We'll gather outside of the Rock Creek Nature Center at 10 AM and be there until 12 PM. Stay for as long or as little as you would like!

We will be meeting at the benches in front of the Rock Creek Park Nature Cente.

The address is 5200 Glover Rd NW, Washington, DC 20015. There is ample parking (including two van accessible spaces). There are wheel-chair accessible, multi-stall men’s/women’s bathrooms available at the Nature Center (there is no gender neutral or family restroom).

To learn more about the park check out the Birder's Guide to Maryland & DC: Rock Creek Park.

If you are taking public transportation, the Friendship Heights (Red Line) or Fort Totten (Green Line and Red Line) Metro Stations are the closest to the Nature center. From either station, take the E-4 bus to the Nature Center.

• Taking the bus from Friendship Heights Metro Station: Get off at Military & Glover stop. Then go left and follow the trail up a small hill to the Nature Center.

• Taking the bus from Fort Totten Metro Station: Get off at the Military & Oregon stop. Then go left and follow the trail up the small hill to the Nature Center.

If you are driving, use the address 5200 Glover Rd NW, Washington, DC 20015 to find the parking lot by the Nature Center. Here are instructions for when you approach the park as well:

• From Military Road NW, turn right on to Glover Road NW.
• Follow Glover Road to the left when it splits at Picnic Grove #13.
• Continue up the hill and turn left at the sign for the Rock Creek Nature Center and Rock Creek Horse Center.
• Follow the signs and arrows to the left to access the parking area for the Rock Creek Park Nature Center.

If you are biking, and have your own bike, you can’t go wrong if you find Military Road (the road bisecting the lower part of the park) and turn onto Glover Road. Ride for about 0.1 miles before turning into the parking lot. There is a bike rack right in front of the Nature Center to park your bike.

For those riding CapBikes, the nearest CapBike racks are located at 5000 Connecticut Avenue NW (in front of Truist Bank) and 5501 Colorado Ave NW (right in front of Gold Coast Cafe and Mart. The Truist Bank station is a roughly 1.5 mile walk from the Nature Center. The Gold Coast Cafe station is a roughly 1.8 mile walk from the Nature Center.

We may be able to coordinate carpooling depending on where folks need to be picked up. Please let us know when you register and reach out to us via email at: [email protected].

At 10 AM we will be gathering at the benches in front of the Nature Center, and folks are welcome to stay there or wander around to where the birds are. The benches and Nature Center are wheelchair accessible (with a curb cut). There are some picnic tables across from the benches with a small curb, no curb cut, to access those.

We encourage you to bring your own chair and/or picnic blanket. The benches provide limited seating. We’ll be looking and listening for any birds that may be around us, have some bird books for anyone who would like to peruse, and have seeds for exchanging. Please bring native plant seeds if you'd like -- can be gathered or bought (optional).

Rachael Mady (she/her) and Sam Krause (she/they) will be the outing leaders. Rachael is on the chapter leadership team for the Feminist Bird Club. Sam is the Minister of Birding for the DC Bird Alliance, bird enthusiast, and certified landscape designer.

They will be the anchor points for the event, and be there to foster a safe space for sharing bird joy and native plant seeds. No one is an expert, and we will all get to experience bird joy together.

If you need to get in contact with us day-of, please reach out to Rachael via her cellphone: 443-878-0512.

Please read the FBC DMV Code of Conduct prior to the event if you haven't already. This Code of Conduct is meant to explicitly place our principles into practice, lay out what behavior is and is not acceptable from our members, participants, and our leaders, and detail how we will work to enforce those principles.

• Bring and drink water during the outing to stay hydrated, consider wearing sunscreen, and check the weather to make sure you are comfy (it may be chilly!).
• Bring your own binoculars and bird books if you'd like although not necessary. We'll have a handful of donated binoculars from Nocs to lend out and a couple bird ID books/apps to share for figuring out what birds we see and/or hear.
• Masks are not required, but we ask everyone to physically distance and to wear a mask if they need or want to. There is currently a covid surge right now, and we want everyone to be safe.
• If you are under 18 years old, you must be accompanied by an adult to partake in the event.
• For anyone who is hard of hearing or deaf our outing leaders will have their phones and can type out the name of any bird that we see.

If you have any questions, have any accessibility needs, or have any other thoughts, please reach out to us via email ([email protected]). We truly want to hear from you and want everyone to be able to feel bird joy to the fullest 🙂

Host or Publisher Feminist Bird Club DMV Chapter