Resource Materials
To help people learn more about Dyke Marsh, FODM offers some materials to enhance your visits. You may wish to print them at home before you go.
1. Seasonal Brochures - FODM has produced four seasonal brochures to show you what is possible to see in Dyke Marsh at each time of the year. Click the links below to display and/or print each one.
2. Dyke Marsh Birds Checklist - Birds are by far the most numerous and easily observed marsh dwellers. Their variety and numbers are astounding, especially since the return of sub-aquatic vegetation that has paralleled recent improvements in Potomac River quality. Presented here are 225 of the more common ones with their seasonal abundance and breeding data. Please go to our Facebook page where you can read reports of birds recently seen at Dyke Marsh.
3. Mammals Seen in the Marsh - Dyke Marsh supports a diversity of animals, including gray squirrels, cottontail rabbits, shrews, field mice, river otters, red fox, little brown bats and whitetail deer. Evidence of beaver activity is often visible along the Haul Road and boardwalk. Beavers and muskrats can be seen swimming in the marsh in the early evening. The table below lists all the mammals observed in Dyke Marsh over more than 30 years as documented in the FODM sponsored study The Dyke Marsh Preserve Ecosystem by David W. Johnston.
4. Checklist of the Butterflies of the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve - Butterflies delight us with their grace and beauty, while playing an essential role in pollinating a broad range of plants. Of the 90-some butterfly species found in Northern Virginia, nearly half have been reported at Dyke Marsh. With this checklist, a field guide and possibly binoculars, a few walks along the trails and boardwalks of Dyke Marsh can start to familiarize you with the most common butterflies. The listed host plants reflect the food and larval preferences of the butterfly species.
5. Dyke Marsh Scavenger Hunt (for youngsters) - With this guide your youngsters can search for a variety of items found in Dyke Marsh.
Friends of Dyke Marsh, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.