On Sat, 11 Aug 2012 09:40:01 -0700 (PDT) Katie Hodge <katiehodge...> wrote:
> Hello Dave or anyone else that birds in the Oxon Cove area! > My commute goes past Oxon Cove. I come north on 295 and have noticed > that if you look at the mud flats(?)/wetland area right before the > cove there are often a number of birds visible as I zip by. I > visited the park and went down the road the path that bypasses the > farm and then on the road along the cove and to the run your > describing. I didn't notice any trails or access to the area I can > see from my car. Do you know if there is one?
Katie,
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding where you were but from your description, you were there. The mudflats are where Oxon Run enters Oxon Cove and are just to the left of the path I think you were on. There is one spot with a good view of the mud and a couple of other spots where you can see enough through the trees to make stopping again worthwhile. Perhaps you arrived at high tide. If so, there would be no mud, few birds and it would be difficult to recognize the area as what you see from I295.
There is, however, an easier way to get there. Your walk, from the parking lot at the farm, is about 45 minutes to an hour. It's more like 15 minutes if you enter from the DC side.
These roads are shown incorrectly on all versions of the ADC maps I've checked. When I checked Google maps this afternoon, it was the first time I've seen Google reflect reality.
You can enter from the neighborhood by turning onto Blue Plains Drive from Martin Luther King Jr Ave. Take Blue Plains Drive to where it ends at a T and turn LEFT. There are no street signs but Google shows Blue Plains Drive continuing to the right.
I prefer to take the first exit off I295 North towards the Naval Research Lab. Turn left BEFORE you get the the traffic light at the end of the ramp. Do not take this to the end (that's Dan's route); instead, turn left on the only real road. Continue on this road past the next intersection, where you join up with the directions in the previous paragraph.
The fenced facility on your left is DC Village. Just past DC Village is a new building, some sort of DC crime lab/evidence storage facility. Park along the side of the road but leave the shady spot under the tree open in case I arrive while your still there (-;
Between DC Village and this new building is a paved path, the Oxon Hill Farm Trail. Follow it to the bridge and then to the mudflats.
The mudflats are in PG but most of the shoreline between the flats and I295 are in DC.
After you're finished with the mudflats, you may consider walking off path directly away from the cove. There are five small ponds up there on what is an old landfill. Perhaps of interest are nesting willow flycatchers, summer tanager and warbling vireos along with occasional shorebirds and herons at the ponds. I haven't checked this area in a few year; if you go, be careful. The last time I checked, this area seemed to have the majority of the county's ticks.
Dave
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