Friends of Hidden Oaks Nature Center

05/01/2026

We are back with another creature feature! This time it’s about the lovely American toads Jumpy, Skipper, and Paulie!🐸 Paulie lives in the back animal care area of our facility but we’ve got a photo of him taking a soak here. The order of photos are Jumpy, Skipper, Paulie, and Jumpy eating! Be sure to stop by Hidden Oaks to see our lovely toads. 🌱🍄

03/14/2026

Join us on March 22nd at Hidden Oaks Nature Center to participate in a “Spring Tree Rescue Extravaganza”🌲🌳
Organized by the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management). Help trim invasive vines and dig up invasive plants while getting some fresh spring air! This is how we save our natural areas, one tree at a time, multiplied by hundreds of people.

Registration is required. Other events will be listed on the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM website where you can also learn about other ways to help or to get help with this work!💚

Check the linktree in our bio to register and find more info!🪵🌱

02/22/2026

Tis’ the season… the Spring Migratory Bird Count season! 🐦‍⬛
Get your volunteer hours by leading bird surveys or joining the groups surveying. 🐦
When? Every Saturday morning from February 14th to May 9th, 2026. (You do not have to attend every survey.)
Time? 8:00-9:15 AM until March 8th. After that, due to daylight savings, 9:00-10:15 AM.
Who? Anyone ages 12 and up with birding experience.
SIGN-UP THROUGH THE LINK IN OUR BIO! 🤗

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08/15/2025

🐍🍂Our next critter on our creature feature is Shelly! The last slide is a photo of a regular corn snake morph! She’s an absolute sweetheart and is a big fan of her log hide spot. The schedule will fluctuate a bit as the school year starts and our social media volunteer, Alaia, is starting school again. Stay tuned to see who is being featured next!! 💚

08/12/2025

Hidden Oaks Nature Center is part of ArtsFairfax: Public Art Locator Challenge 🎨🎭🗿 Friends is excited to show off some of the art installations that can be found at and around the nature center.
Comment below to let us know if you’ve seen any of these artworks in-person! 🤗 We’re excited to explore around Fairfax to see other public art.

Here is a great description from the ArtsFairfax website: “ArtsFairfax invites local art enthusiasts to get on social media and take a selfie with found art for a chance to win arts experiences from cultural partners throughout Fairfax... By gamifying the Public Art Locator, a free web application with over 200 works of street art, murals, and sculptures already mapped, ArtsFairfax wants to celebrate the art that makes the Northern Virginia unique AND identify new opportunities for public art installation in in our region. Public Art is all around us – you just have to find it!”

08/08/2025

Monarch season is here! Each year, Naturalist Suzanne guides HONC as they raise monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) to release into the wild. Come see the adorable caterpillars as they grow and form into chrysalis. 🌿🐛
Although these beautiful insects aren’t listed as endangered, organizations like U.S. Fish & Wildlife continue to propose listing them as threatened and advocate for their protection.

You can learn about monarchs and how to protect them by joining these upcoming events:
🖤 Monarch & More
When - 09/21 1:00-2:00pm
Who - Ages 4 to Adult (children must be accompanied by a registered adult)
What - Discover the fascinating life cycle of butterflies! Learn how to identify butterflies, assist in tagging monarch butterflies (when available), visit a native butterfly garden, and all about the yearly monarch migration.
🧡 Monarch Tag & Tea
When - 09/28 21 2:00-3:30pm
Who - Ages 4 to Adult (children must be accompanied by a registered adult)
What - Join in sipping tea or cocoa, and enjoy treats from Michoacán area of Mexico, while learning all about the fascinating migration phenomenon of monarchs from Virginia to Mexico. Finishing with a ceremonial tagging and release of monarch butterflies (if available) raised at HONC.

Register through the link in our bio! 🦋

08/05/2025

Hera the painted turtle is up first for our creature feature series! Every single Thursday and Friday we will be posting one of our animals at the nature center! We will post what the animal does for our ecosystem, fun facts, cute pictures, and even videos of our them. Today also marks Turtle Tuesdays, where every Tuesday will be showing off one of the turtles at the nature center. follow along to learn more about all of our critters at the nature center!

08/03/2025

06/01/2025

This pale, eerie plant isn’t a fungus — it’s Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)! Unlike most plants, Ghost Pipe doesn’t photosynthesize. Instead, it gets its nutrients through a special relationship with fungi that connect to tree roots underground (the mycorrhizal network). Its ghostly appearance has inspired many for generations. The Cherokee regard this plant as sacred and it is said to grow where friends and relatives have had conflicts. Additionally, it has inspired poets such as Emily Dickinson, who said it is the “preferred flower of life.” 🌞

If you want to see this plant in-person, visit Hidden Oaks and ask the front desk! It will only stick around for a short time before it dies and returns next year. Please follow Leave No Trace guidelines and refrain from picking or trampling the plant. 🌿

05/25/2025

It’s the time of year where some of the visitors on the trails around Hidden Oaks Nature Center are of the slithering variety 🐍 but fear not! These reptiles help Virginia’s ecosystems to function properly, and mean you no harm. It’s true that they are more scared of you than you are of them.☺️
If you come across a snake on the park’s trails, simply create distance and walk around them or go another way. Snakes will not chase you, and want to believe they’ve stayed hidden. The biggest thing to remember is that they’re in their home, and to not try touching them (even if they’re not venomous).

Snakes shown in images: black rat snake (adult), northern water snake (baby), common garter snake (adult)