Posts

Jerry Nissley

Mason Neck Canoe-mobile

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Dateline 14 October 2026:

Canoe group paddling into the bay

Canoe group paddling into Pohick Bay – photo FMN Jerry Nissley

FMN enjoyed a most unique day of volunteering for Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) on the Mason Neck peninsula. The event was hosted at Pohick Bay Regional Park on an absolutely beautiful, smooth water fall day. The primary attraction was the Wilderness Inquiry canoe mobile, a traveling troop of young adventurers and paddle guides whose goal it is to bring outdoor paddle adventures to urban youth organizations across the eastern US states. Their home base is Minnesota but so far this year they have traveled from New York to Louisiana and many locations in between floating their mission. They frequently partner with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for access to public lands. The guests this day included a 60 person public school group from Arlington in the morning and a 30 person homeschool group local to the Lorton area in the afternoon session.

Event volunteer displaying hognosed snakes

FMN Olivia Rivas displaying hognose snakes – photo FMN Jerry Nissley

The sideshows included an FMN table featuring  Turtle Talk, FMN Olivia Rivas (with Meadowood) presenting her hognose snakes, Fairfax County Department of Public Works Environmental Services (DPWES), and a birding group with owls. The format was a hour of small groups rotating between the 4 sideshows and then an hour or so in canoes out in the bay.

FMN table set up at Mason Neck event

FMN table at Meadowood event – photo FMN Jerry Nissley

Several volunteer opportunities are available to FMN with both Mason Neck State Park and the Meadowood SRMA located on the Mason Neck peninsula in Lorton. Please contact the FMN Activity Chairs, Jerry Nissley or John Goodin, for details on how to get involved. (FmnContinuingEd.gmail.com)

Volunteers Needed for the Great American Campout

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Mason Neck State Park will be hosting 15 to 20 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington the weekend of 22-23 June. The campout gives children a wonderful  opportunity to spend time outdoors fishing, canoeing, hiking and learning about nature.

The Park needs people to help set up tents on Friday evening, June 22 and to help cook meals on Saturday, June 23.  Can you help?  If you can, please contact the Park at 703-339-2385.  You’ll be glad you did!

Explore the Discovery Trail through Fairfax County Parks this summer

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The Fairfax County Park Authority’s Discovery Trail Map features 12 sites across the park system that give children and adults the chance to discover each park’s special features. There’s a game built into the activities, so prizes are a possible outcome (e.g., bicycles, mini-golf, a carousel, train, tour boat, pedal boat, camping, wagon ride, RECenters and a boat rental).

This year’s free summer activities highlight the rich diversity of wildlife you’ll see in Fairfax County parks.

  • Now in its fifth year, the map encourages children and adults to explore and learn interesting facts about the wildlife that lives in the parks. Discover which bird’s wings beat up to 53 times per second, which park serves as the perfect habitat for the great blue heron and which creature could be called a party animal!
  • Discovery Trail Maps ware available now at staffed FCPA locations, Fairfax County Public Libraries, and Board of Supervisors offices (while supply lasts).  Maps also will be available online at Download Discovery Trail Map during the promotional period, May 26 – Sept. 3, 2018.
  • Each featured site has a sticker with a unique image that reinforces the educational messages on the map.
  • Pick up a sticker for each park at the sticker location listed in the table above, and place it in the corresponding box (participant must be present to receive a sticker).
  • Participants who visit at least eight of the featured sites will receive tickets to more park fun valued at $93 and be entered in a drawing for one of four bicycles donated by Spokes, Etc. through the Fairfax County Park Foundation.
  • Qualifying maps can be redeemed at Burke Lake Park, Frying Pan Farm Park and Green Spring Gardens.

Learn more

Mason Neck State Park Eagle Fest–Live Animal Presentations

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Saturday, May 12th
10.00 am to 6.00 pm (8.00 am for a pre-opening bird walk)
Mason Neck State Park, 7301 High Point Rd, Lorton, VA 22079

See shows and talks in two tents, including live animal presentations by Reptiles Alive, Secret Garden Birds and Bees, and Wildlife Center of Virginia; and, with luck, there will be a visit from Buddy the Bald Eagle.  In addition, there will be hay rides, pony rides, food for purchase, two live bands, walks to view nesting bald eagles and (hopefully) their young, a live Bald Eagle Cam, and mini-clinics by REI, Inc. Check out the booths set up by environmentally-oriented groups such as the Fairfax Master Naturalists, Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, Dogue Hollow Wildlife Sanctuary, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Potomac Riverkeepers, and the Virginia Sierra Club.

Weather permitting, we’ll also have a Boating Bonanza, where you can try out canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddle boards.  Presented by Friends of Mason Neck State Park. Learn more or volunteer to help at the event.

Attend Winter Waterfowl Workshop at Mason Neck

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Saturday, January 27, 2018

9:00 AM 12:00 PM

Join the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia in preparation for their annual Winter Waterfowl Count. This field workshop will help hone your identification skills. Meet up at the Woodmarsh Trail parking lot, Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck Wildlife Refuge. After a short hike to the observation deck, we’ll head back to our cars and drive to Mason Neck State Park Visitor’s Center.

This workshop is free, but there is a fee to enter the park. Larry Cartwright leads.

Swanfall Celebration at Mason Neck, 3 December

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The Friends of Mason Neck State Park will hold their annual Swanfall celebration this Sunday, December 3, from 2 to 4.

There will be a light buffet, followed by a talk by Paul Bacich on the intriguing Winter Waterfowl of Mason Neck.  Paul is the co-author of the just-published The Crossley ID Guide: Waterfowl and has been a volunteer in Huntley Meadows Park’s Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser nest box program for nearly 25 years.

Registration is required; the cost is $10 per person.  More information and a registration page are at http://www.masonneckstateparkfriends.org/event-2692645.