Free field day at Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford on May 2

Field day at Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County will be Saturday, May 2, starting at 9 a.m. Participants will see various plant life while on a guided hike through wetlands and rolling landscape, according to a news release from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Crow’s Nest is a peninsula between Accokeek and Potomac creeks. The 2,872-acre preserve contains mature hardwood forest and some of the best examples of diverse, intact wetlands in the Potomac River region. It supports habitat for a variety of species, including bald eagles, migratory birds, the federally endangered short-nosed sturgeon and 22 plant species important to Virginia’s Coastal Plain.

The field day is free, but reservations are required. Call 804-786-7951 to reserve a spot. The event is limited to 80, and reservations are first-come, first-served. Driving directions will be provided to registrants.

Participants should wear casual clothes and comfortable shoes and expect to walk up to 4 miles. The field day will take place rain or shine.

Crow’s Nest was designated a natural area preserve in 2009 and is co-owned by Stafford County and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Virginia’s natural area preserve system was established in the 1980s to protect significant natural areas and rare-species habitat. Today, the system comprises 62 preserves totaling 55,399 acres.