The Trump administration’s efforts to transform East Potomac Golf Links and the surrounding park have distressed D.C. bird-watchers, who stand to lose one of the DMV’s top birding locations to the proposed redevelopment.
Hains Point — at the southernmost tip of the island the golf course sits on — is the No. 1 hot spot for bird-watching near the nation’s capital, according to eBird, a global online database that tracks bird locations.
Bird-watchers have tracked 272 bird species at the point, more than at the dozens of other locations in Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland, in large part because the island is a prime spot for migrating birds to visit.
In the Interior Department’s proposal to redevelop the golf course into a “world-class, affordable championship” facility, officials said work will include “selective thinning” of the park’s landscape — and that’s after the department and the National Park Service removed hundreds of trees from the course in October.
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The plan also includes moving the park’s recreational areas — such as where visitors jog, fish, picnic, bike and watch birds — to nearby locations such as West Potomac Park and the Tidal Basin to make Hains Point a part of the new golf course.
On Thursday, the D.C. Preservation League and two golfers asked a federal court to issue a 14-day temporary restraining order against the park’s closure. As that case continues through an often tumultuous legal battle, local bird-watchers fear the damage is already done.
Peter Marra, dean of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, said Hains Point is a place birds depend on in an area surrounded by an “urban jungle.” He said the government’s tree removals may already have jeopardized the survival of bird species that nest there.
“It is absolutely criminal,” Marra said of the tree removals. “These trees that are being removed are in wonderful condition; they’re gems. That point right there along the Potomac River is really used not just by breeding birds, but also for stopovers during the winter period.”
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Marra, who often visits Hains Point to watch birds and ride his bike, said the park is a rare case of a golf course being accessible to many people. He’s seen people there who fish, jog, barbecue and even set up TVs to watch football games on Sundays.
“It’s such a collection point for so many reasons, for birds, for humans; it’s just a horrible situation right now that should not be allowed to go forward,” he said.
East Potomac Park is scheduled to close for renovations by Sunday. In an effort to show what would be lost, the DC Bird Alliance and the Maryland Ornithological Society invited the public out for morning walks around Hains Point every day during the last week of October.
Jeremy Castle, a chair of the Maryland Ornithological Society who helped lead most of the walks, said he began bird-watching in 2016 to distract himself from the political “chaos” of the presidential election, hoping to reconnect with nature as a form of meditation. Ten years later, President Donald Trump and his politics have wedged themselves between Castle and his hobby.
“It’s kind of strange, and there have been so many things going on with this administration that have made me want to stand up and do more, but this one is the first that really touched a nerve,” Castle said.
On the walks, often sold-out with roughly 20 attendees a day, conversations focused on favorite memories while the group scoped around to hear which bird was calling nearby.
For Castle, the highlight of his time at the park was last spring, when a fork-tailed flycatcher, usually found in South America, appeared at Hains Point for a few days. Its appearance drew a large crowd of bird-watchers once word spread.
“Having the camaraderie of hanging out with 20, 30 people that are all there for one thing is a great experience,” he said.
María-Elena Montero, president of the DC Bird Alliance, who helped organize the daily walks, said her favorite memory at Hains Point involved staking out in 15-degree weather with a friend to catch a glimpse of two short-eared owls.
“We went on like the coldest day ever to try and track them down, and it was just so cold,” Montero laughed. “We didn’t see them, but I did see a bald eagle perched very high on one of the trees, and it’s always a treat to see a bald eagle for me.”
Montero has been bird-watching since she was a child and has been going to Hains Point for more than 20 years. She can’t imagine what it would be like to no longer be able to visit her favorite spot.
“I can’t even put it in my head,” she said. “Like many, many others, we hope that does not happen. It’s almost like a bad dream, like it’s not really happening. It’s terrible. It’s awful.”
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