Discover upper Rock Creek's watershed with a variety of habitats. We will start along open fields and marshy areas next to Bowie Mill Park with the opportunity to see a variety of sparrows, hawks and fall migrants and turkeys if we’re lucky. Previous lists included 8 species of sparrows including fox, white crowned, swamp and savannah sparrows. We had great views of meadowlarks and a raven flyover in 2022. Depending on the weather, we'll opt to explore a section of the stream valley for woodpeckers and other resident woodland species. Start at 8:00 AM at Bowie Mill Park https://www.montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/bowie-mill-local-park/ next to Sequoyah Elementary School. Limit: 16. Reservations required. For reservations and more information contact the leader Kathy Reitz [email protected] Deborah Hanley will co-lead.

8 to 10 a.m. A premier county location for migrating waterfowl. We will meet at the Visitor’s Center. The walk will cover approximately 2 miles on paved and grassy/natural trail areas. MENTORS: Lauren Carey and Dave Powell.  You can RSVP for them here: https://tinyurl.com/YMBCFall23. If you are interested in being a mentor on a walk, please reach out to us at [email protected].

THIS TRIP IS FULL - WAITLIST ONLY.  Morning walk through the woods. We’ll be looking for overwintering songbirds, waterfowl, and raptors. Meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lot at 8711 Snouffer School Road, Gaithersburg, Md. Limit: 12. LEADER: Mark England at [email protected] or 240-308-4114.

If you are just starting to sort out the sparrows, join us for our annual Veterans Day walk. We’ll work on ID-ing familiar species such as Song and White-throated Sparrow, while looking for less common ones like White-crowned and Swamp. This trip is geared to beginners, but all are welcome. Limit: 8. LEADER: Jo Cox at [email protected].

Anne will share her birding adventures in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, from the coast to the eastern mountains and every place in between. During this trip, Anne saw her 500th life bird—a Golden-crowned Sparrow. Other highlights included Long-billed Curlew, Heermann's Gull, White-tailed Kite, and Pacific-slope Flycatcher.

Anne grew up in Vermont and has lived in Maryland since 1989. She started birding in 2015 after finding a Red-shouldered Hawk in her neighborhood. She currently works as an executive assistant for a company in Georgetown.

THIS TRIP IS FULL. Full day (to dusk). Early waterfowl and lingering migrants plus late afternoon marsh watch. Brown-headed Nuthatch possible. Bring lunch and drinks. Limit: 12. LEADER: Mark England at [email protected] or 240-308-4114.