Birds

An Eastern Blue Bird sitting on a branch.

Michael Garcia

Oxon Hill Farm provides the new and experienced birder many opportunities to view birds in a variety of habitats.
Have your binoculars at the ready when you step out of the car, there is a shaded wooded area adjoining the parking lot. Scarlette Tanagers have been spotted there in the spring.
Oxon Hill Farm has two access points to The Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail/Oxon Hill Hiker/Biker Trail. One access leads you through the farm where the animals and visitor center are located. There you will see Eastern Blue Birds, Northern Flickers and a new visitor, the Common Raven, in the cow pasture and the pig and horse paddocks. With Mount Welby, the 18^th Century historic home on your left side and the horses' paddock on the right, continue forward into the woods to the Woodlot Trail; it is on the right, beyond the horse paddock. Brown Thrashers, Eastern Phoebes, and the springtime Indigo Bunting can all be viewed along this forested trail.

 

A Bald Eagle with a chick in a nest above Oxon Cove.

Michael Garcia

The second access point for the Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail/Oxon Hill Farm hiker/biker trail winds around the outside of the farm.
With the parking lot behind you follow the trail to the left of the farm's gate and you can walk to our meadows where you can see the Purple Martin, Baltimore Oriole and Eastern Meadowlark visiting in the spring.
The Potomac HST continues to Oxon Cove.
Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Belted King Fishers, and Red-Wing Black birds can be spotted near Oxon Cove, an inlet of the Potomac River, year-round. Bald Eagles have been successfully building nests and raising young consistently for several years in high trees. Bufflehead, osprey, and mallard are well known coast visitors.
The Potomac River riparian zone provides ample areas for multiple kinds of migrating warblers as well as southern Maryland's cherished spring visitor, the Ruby Throated Hummingbird.