A calendar for nature outings in the DMV

Good morning, DMV! It’s Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Are you always on the hunt for a good nature outing? Perhaps a bird walk. Kayaking at moonrise. Or volunteer work clearing invasive vines or litter in our parks.

There’s a calendar curated by the advocacy nonprofit Capital Nature that lists outings in forests, parks and waterways across the DMV. Capital Nature’s mission is “to bring nature into the lives of area residents and visitors.”

Stella Tarnay, co-founder and executive director of Capital Nature, tells me the calendar is “a labor of love” for herself and co-founder Ana Ka'ahanui. She shared with me how this calendar came to be and is compiled.

“We started the calendar seven years ago, soon after founding Capital Nature, because we observed that there were so many wonderful nature events that we wanted residents to know about — from tree walks, to mushroom hikes, to bird watching and frog listening, park concerts, native plant workshops, and stewardship events like weed pulls and mussel counts,” she wrote to me in an email.

“Often, for nature programs at the time, people were off in their own little corners — the birders for example — or the tree or mushroom people ... Sharing that was part of our concept of making Capital Nature a hub of nature information.”

They update it every week with events held by organizations and agencies in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and with seasonal experiences, such as boat tours in the summer and fall colors walks coming soon.

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Capital Weather says: Sunshine and warmth are back. A multi-day surge of warmer air begins arriving as sunshine pushes highs to within a few degrees of 80. Read the full forecast here.

Also: DC Bird Alliance is hosting Birding DC 2026. Many of the events are free, and for paid events, here’s a discount code for Daily Dose readers: DOSE2026.

Elias Savada, 76, of Bethesda, Maryland, captured this view of the Potomac River last Friday during his first visit to Mount Vernon.

“In advance of the Cornell Class of ’72’s 55th Reunion next summer, we invited any member of the class to join the day-long tour of Mount Vernon on Friday (a glorious day),” he wrote in an email.

About 25 people joined the outing, which was organized by a classmate, he said.

“What did I like the best — just enjoying how well they keep up Mount Vernon, breathtaking views and, of course, being with my Cornell buddies.”

Share your photos of life in the DMV here.

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