05/31/2026
Want to become a member of the Friends of Huntley Meadows Park, or already a member?
Please join the Friends of Huntley Meadows Park (FOHMP) at our Annual Meeting on Sunday, June 7, 2026, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Norma Hoffman Visitor Center auditorium, located at 3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria, VA 22306.
We look forward to sharing how your support has helped the Park over the past year, voting on next year’s Board members, and hearing from our guest speaker, Dr. D. Kurt Gaskill.
If you are unable to attend the 4:00 p.m. meeting on June 7, 2026, you may designate another FOHMP member by PROXY (details below) to cast your vote for the Board of Directors at this meeting. It is vital for you to send us your Proxy Form if you cannot attend, so we can establish a quorum for this important vote.
The Board of FOHMP is grateful for the support of our members and Friends as we all work to protect, preserve, and enjoy Huntley Meadows Park, a regionally and globally significant resource-based nature sanctuary.
FOHMP ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA
Annual Meeting
Recap of FOHMP’s prior year accomplishments
Election of FOHMP Board of Directors (see below for the list of FY 2027 FOHMP Board Member Candidates and Proxy Form)
Recommendation: The FOHMP Board of Directors recommends a vote in favor of electing the candidates listed below to the FOHMP Board for the fiscal year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
Other Business
Remarks by Dr. D. Kurt Gaskill on Marsh birds - Analysis of Historical Huntley Meadows Park Avian Observations
Adjourn
Following the meeting, an optional informal walk through the park with board members will be available.
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Marsh birds - Analysis of Historical Huntley Meadows Park Avian Observations
Kurt Gaskill
The federal government transferred land to Fairfax Co in April 1975 which subsequently became Huntley Meadows Park. In ca. 1980 development of the park began and a few years later a number of uncommon avian species were found to be breeding, i.e., King Rail, Common Gallinule, Least Bittern, American Bittern, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and Pied-billed Grebe. Although a few people in this audience are aware of these breeder observations, most of us are unaware of the details. Fortunately, nearly all of the details are contained in paper records although these are not easily accessed.
Last summer, I started a project to document the uncommon breeding species into a public database by transferring the paper data to Ebird and incorporating breeding comments as appropriate. After data entry, I was able to identify some trends in the data that were not generally recognized but have significant implications on the current state for uncommon avian species in Huntley Meadows Park. In this presentation, I will describe the data entry process, the presence of uncommon species from 1984 to 2025 in HM Park, as well as some other uncommon avian species that have bred in Huntley Meadows Park.
Kurt Gaskill started birding ca. 1994 in Northern Virginia and has served on the boards of the Friends of D**e Marsh and the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory. He was coordinator for the Northern Region of the recent Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas and for 25 years was the compiler of the Fort Belvoir CBC.
