The Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park is This Saturday!

Elizabeth Hartwell would be proud.

Mason Neck State Park will celebrate its 11th annual Eagle Festival from 10am-4pm, and that means vendors, games, live animal shows and more. The free event draws thousands to the park, which is home to the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The area is home to 50-60 bald eagles.  The first eagle festival was held in honor of Hartwell, a longtime Mason Neck resident, author and environmentalist after her death in 2000.  "It started out as a celebration of my mother's work to preserve the bald eagles at Mason Neck," said Rob Hartwell, who spoke to Patch from a business trip in Germany. "The first festival was a service in her honor with family and friends, with 100-200 people. Now, depending on the weather we can get as…

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Spring Break Events at Mason Neck State Park

Spring break is almost here!

Got any plans on your Spring Break? If the answer is no, and that sleep, video games and eating poorly will take up most of your staycation, then check this out - Mason Neck State Park is hosting family-friendly events this Spring Break.  The park will offers the following from March 22 - April 7, 2013: Happy Spring Break! Are you following us on Facebook and Twitter? It takes less than a minute...

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Bald Eagles in Winter at Mason Neck State Park

Now is a great time to see them.

By Margarita Yatsevich A woodpecker hammering, a crow’s hoarse call and a few song bird chirps: these were the sounds of winter solitude on a recent day at Mason Neck State Park in Lorton. A small group of adults crossed the lawn by the park’s playground. They were dressed in coats and hats for the 40-degree weather. A solitary great blue heron rose from the ice near the shore and gracefully flew away toward the distant northern shore of Belmont Bay. “We came for bald eagles.,” said bird watcher Scot Mcintosh. “There were none this time, but we saw a red-bellied wood pecker and a beaver den.” Mason Neck State Park is home to the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, and is home to dozens of bald eagles. “Sightings depend…

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Saturday is a National Day of Service at Mason Neck State Park

Help the Girl Scouts clean up one of Lorton's best parks!

Mason Neck State Park is commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with a National Day of Service on Saturday, Jan. 19. From 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., the state park will host the Cadette Girl Scout Troop 340 of Lorton and helpers will clear trails and beaches of brush, pick up trash and clean up the visitors center.  Bring a pair of work gloves if you're interested in helping out, since the crew will be covering 1,825 acres of parkland. There will be two work shifts, from 9:30 a.m. - noon and from 12:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. Sign up for the Lorton Patch newsletter here! The Park will be holding three other events that day - an eagle watch at 10:30 a.m.; a Mammals of Mason Neck presentation at 2 p.m. and a trip to the Marsh on Bay View Trail at 4…

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2012: Northern Virginia's Year in Photos From a Patch Photojournalist

It was a busy year!

The year 2012 is nearly over, and as we look back, it truly was a remarkable period for the Commonwealth of Virginia. The presidential election, a hurricane, and so many other events kept us busy, and there was always reason to celebrate and find happiness. So, with thousands to choose from, here are my favorite photos of the year. It really was tough eliminating some from the group! Enjoy the pictures, and Happy New Year!   - James Cullum, Local Editor, Patch

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Dyke Marsh and Beyond

Turkeys Wandering Around the Suburbs?

Wild turkeys are a common sight.

Chances are most northern Virginians did not slink around the woods to snag a wild turkey for the Thanksgiving table. Most people probably lugged a frozen 20-pounder or so from the grocery store to the car to the oven. Wild turkeys are closer than you might think. “Fairfax County has many flocks of wild turkeys,” says Jerry Sims, Terrestrial Program Manager, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF), but no one knows the number. There may be 180,000 statewide. Where can you spot a turkey in the wild? "The flock has increased and there have been several excellent brooding springs which resulted in very high survival rates for poults. That of course has a significant impact on the future population,” he explained.  But …

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Sally Spangler

12:59 pm on Sunday, November 25, 2012

Not unusual, City types and developers have one thing in mind - $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and more of it! The next door couple who wanted a lawn, so they bought the lot between us and cut out all of the tree stand and re-graded the land. After 40 plus years of having those trees and the wild growth under them, I was almost ready to cry!   more ›

Mason Neck, Meadowood Opportunities for National Public Lands Day

Last year, more than 150 volunteers helped in the Lorton area.

Planting native wildflowers and removing litter from the Sycamore Point shoreline and other projects are on the list of volunteer opportunities at Mason Neck for National Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 29. Volunteers are also needed to paint fences and help with other projects at the Meadowood Special Recreation Area. More than 170,000 volunteers are expected at more than 2,100 sites across the country on Sept. 29 to take part in the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the United States. Last year, more than 150 people helped rebuild damaged trails at Meadowood Special Recreation Area. In addition to the Lorton-area needs, Huntley Meadows in Alexandria is offering a project removing invasive vegetation. And, there …

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Photos: An Eagle Watching Cruise Along Mason Neck

Pretty nice way to spend an early evening

Early evening is a great time for bald eagle watching, and 25 people spent last Friday's just past Sandy Point on a Rivershore Charter Boat on the Occoquan River. The cruise was hired by Hartwell Capitol Consulting for its client appreciation cruise. Hartwell, who goes eagle scouting once a month, is a lifelong Lorton resident and hosts the annual Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park. The park is home to the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge (named after his mother), which is a sanctuary for bald eagles. The area is home to 50-60 eagles.  "Because the weather was perfect, and most of the business leaders and military veterans (and Prince William Delegate Rich Anderson) on the cruise had personal and business …

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Lorton Photos of the Day

Photos: Bald Eagle, Canada Geese, Eastern Box Turtle at Mason Neck State Park

Interesting day, wouldn't you say?

Patch was at Mason Neck State Park on Monday morning to take photos of bald eagles.  On the drive up to the park office I found a male Eastern Box Turtle crossing the road. I stopped, got out and took a picture, picked up the little guy and set him down on the other side of the road.  The park is home to an eagle sanctuary, and it is home to about 50 to 80 of America's national birds. There are five nests in the park and at the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. The birds are skiddish, and will abandon their nests if humans or predators get too close.  How can you tell a male from a female? "Sometimes you can't," said Jennifer Davis, a naturalist with Mason Neck State Park, who accompanied me to the choicest spots to …

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Bald Eagle Released at Mason Neck State Park

The park is home to an eagle sanctuary

The Wildlife Center of Virginia released a six-month-old bald eagle at Mason Neck State Park on Wednesday. The unnamed female eagle has spent the past two months gaining strength in a large flight cage, and learned to fight for its own food against other eagles, which prepared it for a more natural environment. The eagle, which has a seven-foot wingspan, was found weak and dehydrated in a field at Bolling Air Force Base on May 25.   "She may have just left her nest too early, or she could have been blown out by a large storm," said Ed Clark, co-founder of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. "There are so many other eagles here with her to associate, which is why we bring them to Mason Neck State Park." The park is home to the Elizabeth …

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