Gall Week DC Outing on Saturday Sept 10 2022
Creating this to coordinate and track for a DC area Gall Week outing on Saturday Sept 10 2022.
Location: Kutner Park/Katherine Johnson Middle School, Fairfax City, VA
Date: Sept 10, 2022
Time: 10am ET
Directions
Since there may be kids soccer games on the soccer fields it is probably best if we plan to meet in the adjacent middle school parking lot. So to that end we will meet here:
Katherine Johnson Middle School Fairfax VA main parking lot
https://goo.gl/maps/MToGXHXRnZ2DQHtS9
38°51'32.6"N 77°19'39.7"W
The original thread was started here https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/69533-gall-week-is-almost-here-local-events-and-a-webinar
Possible Locations That I Know Of (depends on how many folks we get and how accessible the location needs to be)
- Kutner Park - Fairfax City - this is my local gall haunt and has the densest Oak Gall diversity of anywhere I have ever been and (thanks to selection bias :) ) is a world-wide gall hot spot. It is a small ~15 acre park that is easy to access and walk around in
- Sully Woodlands (Western Fairfax County) - this is another excellent spot but it it is harder to access (further out and not as accessible, need to be able and comfortable with navigating long grass and non-paved slopes). A potential bonus with this one is that if some or all of the attendees are interested in a much larger and more diverse habitat there is a lot more here.
I am open to anywhere that has appropriate habitat and do love to explore new places. I tend to spend a lot of time in the same core areas so do not have much experience outside of central and western Fairfax County.
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Is Saturday the only day available - that is, not Sunday?
Sunday has a 50% probability of rain, Saturday looks totally dry. I'm open to Sunday if you're willing to risk the chance of rain!
I'm also up for either location! I'm curious to see this magical oak gall hotspot, but also up for more woodsy non-paved adventures. Jeff, do either of these locations have good populations of hickories? Caryomyia are particular favorites of mine. Hackberries would present lots of gall opportunities too.
On either day, morning/early afternoon is the best time for me
There are limited hickories at both locations. Kutner has scattered C glabra and C tomentosa, Sully has scattered C glabra, C tomentosa, and C cordiformis (in the wetter areas). No Celtis at Kutner. Sully has some Celtis but not a ton. Sully has overall way more diversity but it is a much larger investment of time, tick prep, and exercise. Sully has a ton of Solidago and Euthamia as well as other forbs.
I can do either day as well. I am also, rarely, stopped by rain.
Okay, looks like I can't do Saturday...
Unfortunately the weather forecast is looking more and more rainy on Sunday.
I'm up for anything anywhere on Saturday; Sunday I'm out of town. Either way, if we nail down time and location soon I can get a note out to the DC area Google group to attract a few more folks.
I think based on weather Saturday is our best bet (sorry @zdanko :( ). As for time I think I heard AM to early afternoon. So we can meet at 10am.
If the group is small and able Sully is more diverse overall but is not trivial to physically negotiate and a "full tour" of the main highlights can take 4 hours or more (I was there 6 hours this past Monday). We can split it into 2 parts if people are interested in less or more, but it requires comfort with long grass (think ticks) and a lot of walking and some negotiation of areas with little to no trail. Parking is roadside only. https://goo.gl/maps/ibhDuocToiRdPmpP8
Kutner Park is a manageable suburban park, it is flat, there is parking, and there is low chance of ticks. It is small so can be covered in a couple of hours. I did a comprehensive survey last Saturday in 2.5 hour blocks but was being quite thorough. https://goo.gl/maps/WTuvPQ3YbJAGdRra6
It's okay, this just means we'll have to do another walk sometime soon ;)
Let’s do Kutner Park this time, that might be easier for coordinating a group! And 10AM works for me
OK I'll get the word out! See you at Kutner Park at 10am!
Since there may be kids soccer games on the soccer fields it is probably best if we plan to meet in the adjacent middle school parking lot. So to that end we will meet here:
Katherine Johnson Middle School Fairfax VA main parking lot
https://goo.gl/maps/MToGXHXRnZ2DQHtS9
38°51'32.6"N 77°19'39.7"W
I updated the main entry above with all of the details.
Perfect, see you all tomorrow!
OK, sent email to Google group with all details. Tagging top gall observers who might be in the DC area this weekend: @ana_kaahanui @matthewbeziat @potomacriverannie @treichard @jimbrighton @mileszhang @ronwertz @imasongster
Have fun galling, everyone! Sorry I can't make it.
Running a bit late, will be there around 10:20! Feel free to start without me and I’ll find you guys in the park
Ha ha, I’m running late too – – ETA about 10 past
Ok
It is quite crowded. Drive up all the way to the back of the parking lot.
I now have 743 photos from today to clean up and post 😂
See I told you it was a gall hot spot!
Thank you Jeff for getting us out to that amazing little spot, and in excellent company. I don't think I've EVER walked quite so slowly :-)
Wow, that's really saying something, @dbarber! :-D
On the bad news front, I got confirmation yesterday that the City of Fairfax is going to spend millions of "pandemic relief" funds to at least partially ruin that spot. They are going to tear up the grass fields and install a huge swath of artificial turf and install huge light towers. So sad and frustrating. The reasoning given is that kids might get hurt playing on the grass field. Amazing that we have not yet gone extinct if kids are indeed this fragile!
It is depressing news when you see it happening elsewhere, it is tragedy when it happens to your local refuge.
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