Trolley Pub Rolling into Arlington | ARLnow.com

ARLnow.com reports that the famous Trolley Pub might be coming to Arlington this Spring (Trolley Pub Rolling into Arlington | ARLnow.com).

"The open-air, pedal-powered trolley lets riders mix drinking and exercising while taking in the Arlington sights. Up to 14 people can ride along on a tour, along with one certified Trolley Pub conductor in the captain’s seat."

Could we see it hitting the trails soon? ARLnow gives a tentative start-up date of April 13th.

The Trolley Pub Arlington has set up a FaceBook page and has posted these pics of their vehicle:

Traffic Hampers Morning Bus Commute

According to WMATA, accidents at two Arlandria intersections affected Metrobus performance this morning. The accidents were said to have occurred both on West Glebe Road, one where it meets with Mt Vernon Avenue and the other at Valley Road.

Here's how WMATA reported these incidents on its Twitter feed:

10A, 10B: Due to an accident at Mt Vernon Ave & West Glebe Rd, buses to Hunting Point may experience delays.
— @wmata (@wmata) February 13, 2013

10B: Due to an accident at Valley Dr & West Glebe Rd, buses to Hunting Point may experience delays.
— @wmata (@wmata) February 13, 2013

These incidents follow another report earlier this month about traffic congestion hampering the morning commute. Again, here's WMATA Twitter report:

10B: Due to traffic congestion at Mt Vernon & S Glebe and Mt Vernon & Commonwealth, buses are experiencing up to 15 minute delays.
— @wmata (@wmata) February 7, 2013

The intersections involved have been the topic of discussion for over a decade but promised improvements have yet to occur. The Mt Vernon & West Glebe intersection was slated for improvements since the 1991 Transportation Master Plan Update. The South Glebe and Mt Vernon intersection improvements were called for by the 2003 Arlandria Plan. And the West Glebe & Valley Road intersection was cited for improvements by the 2005 Four Mile Run Restoration Plan. The South Glebe and Valley Road projects were absent however from the most recently approved Capital Improvement Budget and Transportation Long Range Plan (LRP). The West Glebe intersection is mentioned in the LRP but remains unfunded.


Previous related stories from The Arlandrian:

• Is this a good place for a bus shelter?
• Are new bus shelters coming to Arlandria?
• Bus shelters go solar
• UPDATE: Bus Shelter now a Bus "Stop"
• Obsessed with bus shelters.
• Arlandria's Capital Improvement Plan: A Fractured Fairy Tale
• Alexandria Kills Pedestrian Crossing at Glebe Road
• Traffic Hampers Morning Bus Commute

New Bus Shelter Vandalized. 2nd Time.

:(

We didn't even get a chance to report about the recent upgrades to the bus shelter at Mt Vernon and West Reed Avenues yet.

And it was vandalized today...for the second time since it was installed.

The new shelter, part of the first of quite a few long-anticipated pedestrian improvements to Arlandria, is also one of the first of a new program of bus shelter replacements City-wide that will also incorporate new technologies such as solar lighting and potentially schedule information or even real-time transit data. We reported on the efforts, progress and set-backs that have been happening along the way (see prior stories listed below).

But not if stuff like this keeps happening.

We reported the incident and will track the progress of the repairs.

Previous related stories from The Arlandrian:

• Is this a good place for a bus shelter?
• Are new bus shelters coming to Arlandria?
• Bus shelters go solar
• UPDATE: Bus Shelter now a Bus "Stop"
• Obsessed with bus shelters.
• Arlandria's Capital Improvement Plan: A Fractured Fairy Tale
• Alexandria Kills Pedestrian Crossing at Glebe Road

Potomac Yard Fire Station Inspires Montgomery County Effort

The news website BethesdaNOW.com reports that our local fire station has inspired changes to how Montgomery County, Maryland plans to pursue affordable housing in their area (Council Approves Affordable Housing Assessment Bill).

Montgomery County is often hailed for its visionary planning with regard to affordable housing and is credited with pioneering inclusionary zoning, requirements to include affordable housing along with new market rate construction that have created over 10 thousand units since 1974. While in Virginia, such zoning practices have not been allowed by the legislature, Arlandria exhibits some prominent mixed-income examples where affordable units were included in new development, not by fiat, but by negotiation (the Preston and Lenox Place).

The Station at Potomac Yard, however, is a different example of how government facilities can be created in a way to allow additional affordable housing. The four-story residential component consists of 12 one-bedroom, 49 two-bedroom, and 3 three-bedroom units, ranging in size from 700 to 1300 square feet. And Montgomery County, the 6th wealthiest jurisdiction in the country, is looking to its own facilities to further increase its affordable housing stock.

From the BethesdaNOW.com article:

The Montgomery County Council today unanimously passed a bill that will make officials assess whether affordable housing can be added to new capital projects such as libraries or fire stations.

According to the article, County Councilman Roger Berliner, the sponsor of the bill, cited the Potomac Yard Fire Station and his inspiration for proposing the bill.

Previous Post from the Arlandrian:

• The Station at Potomac Yard (aka Arlandria's new fire house)

Will Virginia get in a TIF over Potomac Yard Metro?

Today, the Alexandria Times discusses a proposal by Delegate Rob Krupicka that would have participate in the financing of the Potomac Yard Metro Station via Tax-Increment Financing (Krupicka turns to Richmond to Help Pay for Potomac Yard Metro Station).

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a method to use future gains in tax revenues to help fund current infrastructure improvements that are projected to produce those gains.

From the Times:

"The freshman state legislator has introduced a bill that would redirect state tax revenue from the neighborhood’s development — as well as future sales and use taxes — back to the Port City. The dollars would then go toward paying off the estimated $250 million Metro stop.... dipping into state tax revenue streams — capped at $1.25 million per year — could potentially cover interest on the municipal bonds.

"According to the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, which has also thrown its weight behind Krupicka’s proposal, the state would pay for as much as 10 percent of the station’s construction cost over 30 years."

Community Lodgings Celebrates Renovation

On Wednesday, February 20th, Community Lodgings will dedicate the re-opening of an affordable apartment building that was recently renovated by Pulte Homes and their trade partners in conjunction with HomeAid Northern Virginia.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HOMEAID'S VIDEO ABOUT THE PROJECT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fUFJmmikR8 Community Lodgings will dedicate the re-opening of an affordable apartment building that was recently renovated by Pulte Homes in partnership with HomeAid Northern Virginia, Freddie Mac Foundation and City of Alexandria.  The building serves as temporary housing to 10 homeless families. With $87,000 in upgrades per unit, this $870,000+ project was accomplished with 40% in savings coming from "Builder Captain" Pulte Homes and their Trade Partners. Purchased in 1991, the building at  612 Notabene Drive is a 10-unit affordable apartment building, one of 5 buildings that Community Lodgings maintains in Arlandria with over 40 some units.

School Budget Plans For New Cora Kelly School

In today's Alexandria Gazette Packet, an article about the ACPS Superintendent's proposed budget discuss some of the capital improvement projects over the coming years (Wrecking Ball Budget Includes Four New Schools in the Coming Decade), including a new building for Cora Kelly:

"Four years from now, the superintendent plans to start budgeting for demolition and construction of a $50 million new Cora Kelly Elementary School, which would be converted to offer Kindergarten through eighth grade."

WAMU Door to Door: Lynhaven, Va.

How did we miss this?

Click on the link to listen to neighborhood hero (and Alexandria Living Legend) Rosa Byrd talk about Lynhaven on WAMU as part of Meto Connection's "Door to Door" series:
Door to Door: Dupont Circle, D.C. & Lynhaven, Va. | WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio:

We're fans of fanboats

Spotted today on Four Mile Run:
The Airboat Patrol
 

The Arlandrian Brief: Variable Weather Edition

THE ARLANDRIAN brief

A brief summary of recent postings from The Arlandrian:

Feb 1, 2013 (2 days ago)

Door To Door on WAMU: Arlandria, Va.

by Kevin Beekman

Here's a little bitty ditty about Arlandria that played today on WAMU...

 Listen to the story here or check out the version on the station's website: Door To Door: NOMA, D.C. and Arlandria, Va.

Feb 1, 2013 (2 days ago)

Tales of an Arlandria Twitcher

by Kevin Beekman

Juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron  in Four Mile Run stream

Season 1, Episode 1
By Jake Cuomo

In this column I'll focus on the birds that inhabit our local Arlandria parks, where they are and how to find them.

Quick confession and full disclosure:  Kevin asked me to write him a story on this topic last year but I had recently begun this hobby of birding and I didn't feel all that comfortable giving others advice on the topic. Frankly, I'm still not completely comfortable with it but I spend enough time up to my ankles in glunge in Four Mile Run Park to let you know what I've seen in there lately so I'll take a stab at it.


From the beginning...my bird "hobby" manifested itself less like a hobby and more like a drug addiction (from what I can gather from those shows that you see on TV). The first time I cracked open a field guide and laid eyes on a Pileated Woodpecker and then checked their range map and discovered that they live in our region I knew that I had to try to go and find one. Find one I did on a cold January day on Teddy Roosevelt Island, in fact. I found another few minutes after I found the first after I nearly tripped over it feeding on insects in a downed tree alongside the trail.  After that time I spent nearly every waking moment reading through field guides, old copies of Audubon magazine and anything bird-related that I could get my hands on. I was definitely hooked.

Belted Kingfisher

My point here in all of this is to say that since that time I've been going full throttle--much to the dismay of my gorgeous wife. Only a birder can understand why on a perfectly good Saturday morning I get up at five o'clock and get dressed to face a 24 degree day to maybe, just maybe, get a chance to lay my eyes on that once in a lifetime bird down at Dyke Marsh or Huntley Meadows--99% of the time that doesn't happen--but it's that 1% that keeps you going. (I'm a golfer too so I can relate to those that say it's the good shots that keep you going...but I digress).

So now back to Arlandria, that is why Kevin asked me to write this column after all.

Some may think that winter would be a dull time to go and look for birds, particularly in the mid-Atlantic or northerly region of the country where we can receive snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain. But, you may be surprised to discover just how many of our avian friends tough it out over the winter around here and how easy it is to locate them if you know where to look.

First, winter is the ideal time for a novice birder to get out there and start searching. The trees are bare and the grass is low so the birds have less places in which to hide.

Second, there aren't any bugs to discourage you from getting out there--there are few things worse than locating your first summertime Green Heron only to be interrupted by the sting of a blood-laden mosquito. (You won't have that issue this time of the year. So get out there!)

Finally, many waterfowl relocate from their more northern ranges and come down to our area to spend the winter so this time of year is a great time to see a wide variety of ducks--especially along the Potomac River.

Great Blue Heron

So finally, Jake, what have you been seeing out there?
Ok, ok, here I go.

Since the beginning of the year I've seen several interesting species right here in Arlandria.  There's a pair of Black-Crowned Night-Herons calling Four Mile Run Park home for the winter but you'll have to go to the back side small stream along where the Alexandria Aces play to see them.

Go up on the small bridge that crosses the stream and look towards the Four Mile Run, you'll normally see the two of them down in there, one is an adult, the other is a juvenile. Also, we have a few residents that you're sure to see if you spend any amount of time in the park.  Several Great Blue Herons are almost always present as well as a male Belted Kingfisher that likes to fly up and down the stream between Mount Vernon Avenue and Route 1. He'll be easy to find by the loud rattling noise that he constantly makes.

Cooper's Hawk in my backyard near 4MR Park.

There are also plenty of birds of prey to find in the park including Cooper's Hawks, Red-Tailed and Red-Shouldered Hawks,  as well as the occasional Sharp-Shinned Hawk or Bald Eagle. Several species of sparrow are also always present alongside the stream including: Song, White-Throated and Swamp.

Since I've been birding here I've constantly been surprised by what I find in the park on any given day, heck, one day I was out birding and I ran across a fox den with three fox cubs just dancing about in the woods oblivious to the fact that I was even there, I decided to make a hasty exit lest I prompt an inspection from the den mother.

My point here is that you never know what you'll find in the park so dust off your binoculars and get out there!

Happy Birding! Jake

_

_______________________________

In addition to his side-line as a naturalist, Jake Cuomo is an all around neighborhood good guy organizing stream clean-ups of the Four Mile Run, initiating community tree plantings on Earth Day, helping build the new Commonwealth Park on Reed Avenue and the Four Mile Run Park Expansion. Jake is the winner of the 2012 Alexandria Beautification Award, along with his wife, Erin. 

Jake also serves currently as President of the Hume Spring Citizens Association. 

Look for more of his posts about wildlife in the future on The Arlandrian.

Feb 1, 2013 (2 days ago)

The Station Location Recommendation Debation

by Kevin Beekman

The three Potomac Yard Metro Station altenatives being considered.

WTOP reported on the update this week regarding the Environmental Impact Study for the potential Metro Station in Potomac Yard (Metro ideas rolling for Potomac Yard).

While their article doesn't go into great detail about all of the nuances and exhaustive analysis being rumenated by the City, the article embeds the presentation made to City Council which provides a lot more insight into the multi-year process.

What's presented is not yet the full cost-benefit analysis yet. It doesn't,for instance, yet compare the the construction costs of the alternatives...or rather the the financing analysis of the 3 alternatives,, since the eventual location may dictate exactly how the station is financed, who all exactly bear the costs and how much is their share. Instead, this update examines the potential benefits of each locations and evaluates some of the indirect other costs of each alternative so a final decision can be made next year weighing all the alternatives against each other in a (hopefully) rational way.

Gauging visual impact from trial baloons

Even so, what is shaping up is that any of the options are clearly going to be better than "no build" (not doing anything at all). And the two alternative (B and D) more accessible to Arlandria are shown to also generate more eventual revenue. However, they also will each have a bigger impact on the GW Parkway: they'll have the temporary impact during construction, and they'll a visual impact on it (you'll be able to see them). Trial balloons were set off (literally) to gauge this impact and artistic renderings have been devised to show it. The analysis suggests that the view will be minimal, perhaps inconsequential, but the final decision will have to be eventually made about that.

From our reading of the report, most of the negative impacts of any station are equal or smaller than doing nothing at all. Traffic will increase regardless, maybe more if we don't provide the transit option. Still, even without transit, the analysis predicts something important to realize: 34% of car trips generated by Potomac Yard in general will be on East/West Glebe. Arlandrians haven't yet had a chance to hear how this traffic might be mitigate...how we can continue to work toward making our community walkable but we expect that in the coming months. And one thing is sorely missing: They didn't look at the impact on Reed Avenue.

The bottom line is that it's shaping up to a matter of whether the better locations generate enough additional revenue or not...and whether their impact on the parkway is worth anything.

(Nope, we didn't make it up: DEBATION. But that doesn't make it right. We apologize. Tee-hee.)

Related post from The Arlandrian:

• Potomac Yard Community Workshop, TONIGHT, 6 pm
• Potomac Yard Metro: "We Can See the Finish Line"
• Another Potomac Yard Metro Update
• At What Cost?
• Potomac Yard Metro opponents cite GW Parkway purity

Potomac Yard Metrorail Station (PDF)

Kennedy Center meets Potomac Yard

by Kevin Beekman

An alert reader of the Arlandrian sent the following:

"Even the Kennedy Center is redeveloping its waterfront. When are we getting deck dining on Four Mile Run?"

Kennedy Center Plans $100 Million Expansion, New Design

georgetown.patch.com

The Kennedy Center expansion includes a floating outdoor stage and an outdoor video wall among other proposed 

Sounds funny, but we think that the Kennedy Center folks may have been looking over our collective shoulders at the Four Mile Restoration Plan, because this is exactly what might happen when north Potomac Yard redevelops. 

A conceptual view of how the old railroad bridge might be used.

Building on the Four Mile Run Plan, the North Potomac Yard Plan calls for a good deal of park investment along the Alexandria edge of Four Mile Run there. A fairly big park and a re-use of one of the two remaining un-used railroad bridges. One bridge will be brought down to daylight the Run (in the next year or so), but the other will be....something. 

And, by the way, the electrical substation may be decommissioned and integrated with the other near the waste-water treatment plant. Some powerlines will be under-grounded and some of the "headwires" towers will come down. More news to come.

From North Potomac Yard Plan (pdf) : 

"This Plan assists in the implementation of the Four Mile Run Master Plan by requiring Crescent Park and improvements next to Four Mile Run, which are intended to provide wide range of opportunities, both active and passive, and include opportunities for a gathering and event space. Amenities should be provided on both sides of Four Mile Run and on the existing approximately 1-acre pedestrian bridge, which will connect to Crescent Park and Landbay K beyond, providing a series of spaces for a variety of interests which celebrate the connection to the water and natural environment.
The park should be designed as a regional amenity for users of all ages and abilities, and will provide active and passive recreational amenities for future residents and visitors. The park will be designed to incorporate interpretive elements of the multi-century transportation history of this corridor."

So, congratulations Kennedy Center on having the vision to follow our lead.

Related articles from The Arlandrian:

• Federal Funding Approved for Four Mile Run Restoration
• A Public Space, Elevated
• Design Guidelines Open House for Four Mile Run Restoration, April 2nd.
• The 411 on 4MR
• The new park in Potomac Yard

Jan 31, 2013 (3 days ago)

The Slow Drip from the Sewage Flood

by Kevin Beekman

The recovery effort during the sewage backup (ARLnow.com)

ARLnow.com has just teased out a little more information about the hold-up in re-opening of the Potomac Yard Harris Teeter (Board Discusses Harris Teeter ‘Claims’ in Closed Session).

The store shuttered last Spring because of a malfunction in Arlington sewer system has stated that are looking for "re-assurances" before reopening. As of last month no suits had been filed according to Arlington County staff, but at last night's County Board meeting, the governing body adjourned to executive session to review “two matters requiring consultation with the County Attorney and staff concerning pending claims made by Harris Teeter and others, arising from an incident on May 11, 2012.”

There's still no news on when (or if) the Harris Teeter will reopen, but it's also clear that something is happening between the company and the County.

Jan 30, 2013 (4 days ago)

Four Mile Run Park is for the birds!

by Kevin Beekman

There's a lot of great wildlife just around the corner. Got a birding shot? Send it and we'll share it.

Here's a Juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron spotted along Four Mile Run:

Photo by Jacob Cuomo

The new park in Potomac Yard

by Kevin Beekman

Photo of Potomac Yard linear park from the Del Ray Patch (by Drew Hansen)

Drew Hansen of the Del Ray Patch has an update about the park developing along the eastern edge of Potomac Yard "Potomac Yard Park Playground Taking Shape - Del Ray, VA Patch.

"Connected by a lighted, 1.5-mile multi-use trailfrom Target to Braddock Road Metro station, the park will house its amenities in several “belvederes” or urban plazas located where the development’s streets dead-end into the rail tracks to the east. Each belvedere will contain a different amenity...

Land Planning and Design Associates, the firm behind the park, has detailed renderings of the park on its website."

Check at Drew's fantastic pictures on the Patch.

Jan 29, 2013 (5 days ago)

Wintertime and the fishing is easy.

by Kevin Beekman

Dozens of fishermen along the banks of Four Mile Run this afternoon. And the trails are packed for this mid-winter weather break.

Parking Changes Proposed for Schools, Recreational Facilities

by Kevin Beekman

ARLnow.com reports on an effort to re-evaluate parking requirement at public facilities in Arlington County (Parking Changes Proposed for Schools, Recreational Facilities):

"County staff members are recommending adding amendments to the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance that would affect parking at public pools and at elementary and middle schools."


At issue is how much asphalt should take up park and public space. Arlington County Schools balked at parking-heavy requirements when they sought to renovate and expand over-crowded and out-moded buildings. Now the County Parks department always is wondering how much park space should be devoted to cars.

The answer might be: it depends. The County is looking at whether parking demands and requirements might vary from site to site. And they will be considering whether less lesser parking spaces will be sufficient in some instances where cars won't overwhelm nearby neighborhoods.

That's the question the County will be evaluating over the coming months.

Jan 24, 2013 2:01 PM

Where does that trail go?

by Kevin Beekman

The updated Alexandria bike map is here! The map includes on and off-street bikeways, Capital Bikeshare stations, safety tips, useful phone numbers and resources, and more.

To obtain a printed copy, stop by your local bike shop, the Old Town Transit Shop, City Hall, or any  recreation centers. The map is free!

(Download Map Side, Download Cover Side)


Neighboring Jurisdiction Maps & Resources
Ride the City DC Metro edition (on-line bicycle-route finding website)
District of Columbia Department of Transportation
Fairfax County
Arlington County
Commuter Connections
WashCycle Area Bike Map
Bicycle Trails in Virginia

Yesterday's Sunset

by Kevin Beekman

We've been having more than our share of dark gloomy days and this past weekends beautiful weather sure turned to something a lot chillier. But when it did, it granted us a wonderful light show as the holiday came to a close.

Jan 22, 2013 1:56 PM

Crystal City Plan Wins National Planning Award

by Kevin Beekman

A conceptual design of the intersection of S. Hayes St. and S. 12th St. in Pentagon City,

When BRAC hit Arlington County, they began a process to evaluate the changes coming to the Crystal City area. A city task force initiated the Crystal City Sector Plan, a long-range vision that will guide development descisions over the next 30 years.

Last week the American Planning Association awarded that plan the 2013 National Planning Achievement Award for Innovation in Economic Planning and Development:

"The Crystal City Sector Plan provides a planning roadmap for transforming Crystal City into a more complete, vibrant, walkable and transit-oriented neighborhood. Among the improvements planned for Crystal City are a streetcar line along the Route 1 corridor that will run from the Pentagon City Metrorail station through Crystal City to Potomac Yard; buildings up to 300 feet tall in strategic areas; 7,500 new homes; the transformation of Jefferson Davis Highway into an urban boulevard linking Crystal City’s east and west neighborhoods; ground floor retail stores and improved design and quality for public open spaces.

The 40-year long-range plan is a pioneer in the use of economic analysis for planning purposes. It also is among the first of its kind to closely study the economics of demolishing and replacing major commercial buildings. Its economic findings led to an infrastructure finance plan addressing costs and estimating increasingly substantial tax yields anticipated in the coming decades."

For more about the Crystal City (and Pentagon City) Plans, check out: http://sites.arlingtonva.us/ccpc/

Or check out this interview with Arlington County Board Member Chris Zimmerman:

Popout

Arlington's Crystal City Plan Wins 2013 National Planning Achievement Award - Arlington Economic Development

Door To Door on WAMU: Arlandria, Va.

Here's a little bitty ditty about Arlandria that played today on WAMU...

 Listen to the story here or check out the version on the station's website: Door To Door: NOMA, D.C. and Arlandria, Va.

Tales of an Arlandria Twitcher

Juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Heron 

in Four Mile Run stream

Season 1, Episode 1
By Jake Cuomo

In this column I'll focus on the birds that inhabit our local Arlandria parks, where they are and how to find them.

Quick confession and full disclosure:  Kevin asked me to write him a story on this topic last year but I had recently begun this hobby of birding and I didn't feel all that comfortable giving others advice on the topic. Frankly, I'm still not completely comfortable with it but I spend enough time up to my ankles in glunge in Four Mile Run Park to let you know what I've seen in there lately so I'll take a stab at it.


From the beginning...my bird "hobby" manifested itself less like a hobby and more like a drug addiction (from what I can gather from those shows that you see on TV). The first time I cracked open a field guide and laid eyes on a Pileated Woodpecker and then checked their range map and discovered that they live in our region I knew that I had to try to go and find one. Find one I did on a cold January day on Teddy Roosevelt Island, in fact. I found another few minutes after I found the first after I nearly tripped over it feeding on insects in a downed tree alongside the trail.  After that time I spent nearly every waking moment reading through field guides, old copies of Audubon magazine and anything bird-related that I could get my hands on. I was definitely hooked.

Belted Kingfisher

My point here in all of this is to say that since that time I've been going full throttle--much to the dismay of my gorgeous wife. Only a birder can understand why on a perfectly good Saturday morning I get up at five o'clock and get dressed to face a 24 degree day to maybe, just maybe, get a chance to lay my eyes on that once in a lifetime bird down at Dyke Marsh or Huntley Meadows--99% of the time that doesn't happen--but it's that 1% that keeps you going. (I'm a golfer too so I can relate to those that say it's the good shots that keep you going...but I digress).

So now back to Arlandria, that is why Kevin asked me to write this column after all. 

Some may think that winter would be a dull time to go and look for birds, particularly in the mid-Atlantic or northerly region of the country where we can receive snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain. But, you may be surprised to discover just how many of our avian friends tough it out over the winter around here and how easy it is to locate them if you know where to look.

First, winter is the ideal time for a novice birder to get out there and start searching. The trees are bare and the grass is low so the birds have less places in which to hide.

Second, there aren't any bugs to discourage you from getting out there--there are few things worse than locating your first summertime Green Heron only to be interrupted by the sting of a blood-laden mosquito. (You won't have that issue this time of the year. So get out there!)

Finally, many waterfowl relocate from their more northern ranges and come down to our area to spend the winter so this time of year is a great time to see a wide variety of ducks--especially along the Potomac River.

Great Blue Heron

So finally, Jake, what have you been seeing out there? 
Ok, ok, here I go. 

Since the beginning of the year I've seen several interesting species right here in Arlandria.  There's a pair of Black-Crowned Night-Herons calling Four Mile Run Park home for the winter but you'll have to go to the back side small stream along where the Alexandria Aces play to see them. 

Go up on the small bridge that crosses the stream and look towards the Four Mile Run, you'll normally see the two of them down in there, one is an adult, the other is a juvenile. Also, we have a few residents that you're sure to see if you spend any amount of time in the park.  Several Great Blue Herons are almost always present as well as a male Belted Kingfisher that likes to fly up and down the stream between Mount Vernon Avenue and Route 1. He'll be easy to find by the loud rattling noise that he constantly makes. 

Cooper's Hawk in my backyard near 4MR Park.

There are also plenty of birds of prey to find in the park including Cooper's Hawks, Red-Tailed and Red-Shouldered Hawks,  as well as the occasional Sharp-Shinned Hawk or Bald Eagle. Several species of sparrow are also always present alongside the stream including: Song, White-Throated and Swamp.

Since I've been birding here I've constantly been surprised by what I find in the park on any given day, heck, one day I was out birding and I ran across a fox den with three fox cubs just dancing about in the woods oblivious to the fact that I was even there, I decided to make a hasty exit lest I prompt an inspection from the den mother. 

My point here is that you never know what you'll find in the park so dust off your binoculars and get out there!

Happy Birding! Jake

________________________________

In addition to his side-line as a naturalist, Jake Cuomo is an all around neighborhood good guy organizing stream clean-ups of the Four Mile Run, initiating community tree plantings on Earth Day, helping build the new Commonwealth Park on Reed Avenue and the Four Mile Run Park Expansion. Jake is the winner of the 2012 Alexandria Beautification Award, along with his wife, Erin. 

Jake also serves currently as President of the Hume Spring Citizens Association. Look for more of his posts about wildlife in the future on The Arlandrian.