Welcome to the December 2025 CHAS newsletter.
PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY. Each club receives funds from the National society based on renewal funds.
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| Groove-billed Ani photographed at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival attended by CHAS members Tom St. Andre and Saundra Winstead. Found at a hotspot (Orphanage Road Ponds site) on 9 November 2025. Photo courtsey of Maria Loukeris. |
RECURRING MONTHLY EVENTS
WEYANOKE
The December monthly Weyanoke is cancelled.
HOFFLER CREEK
There is a monthly walk on the second Saturday of the month, led by Dave Brown, a local birding leader. Each month, the walk is at 4510 Twins Pines Rd, Portsmouth, Virginia. The gates open at 7:45am and sometimes close at 8am (closing time varies, best to be there at 7:45am).
NEWPORT NEWS PARK
Join the Hampton Roads Bird Club on the First and Third Sunday of each month at 7:00 AM at Newport News Park. Meet us in the parking lot behind the Ranger Station.Thanks to Jane Frigo for providing these reports. For more information, contact Jane (757-873-0721).
PREVIOUS FIELD TRIP: Grandview Nature Preserve, Hampton 16 November 2025
Fourteen people enjoyed perfect fall weather for our field trip to Grandview Nature Preserve. We saw and heard 47 species. Special thanks to David Clark for leading this trip. Trip report with a complete list of species seen for our field trip to Grandview can be found here: CHAS/VBAS Grandview Nature Preserve Field Trip November 16, 2025 - eBird Trip Report
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| 14 brave souls on Grandview Nature Preserve bird walk. Photo courtesy of Cindy Hamilton |
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| This Sanderling is probing a Red Beard Sponge (Clathria prolifera; formerly, Microciona prolifera) for food at Grandview Nature Preserve. The thick, intertwining branches provide an important habitat for shrimp, crabs, worms, and other small marine creatures. The sponge is an animal, not a plant, and is the most abundant sponge in the mid- and lower Chesapeake Bay. Photo courtesy of Cindy Hamilton |
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS:
We will be doing numerous Christmas bird counts instead of one December field trip. Information on these events including contact information to join these counts is listed below:
Dismal Swamp CBC (Chesapeake and Suffolk, VA); contact Laura Mae (email: lauralovesbirds@gmail.com); Count Date: Sunday, December 14, 2025
Comments: This count is a combination of driving and walking refuge roads, with the exception of one driving-only route on roads adjacent to the refuge and one along a greenway/canal path.
Williamsburg CBC (Williamsburg, VA and surrounding areas); Compiler: Shirley Devan (Email: shirley_devan@icloud.com); Count Date: Sunday, December 14, 2025
Comments: Welcome to the Williamsburg, Virginia CBC circle. We have twelve teams that cover our circle and sometimes multiple parties within a team. We also have feeder watchers contributing to our count. Please contact the count compiler if you want to join us for this year's count so we can connect you with a team. If possible, contact at least 5 days before the count date.
Newport News CBC (Newport News, Yorktown, and Hampton); Compiler: William Boeh (Email: phrogdolph@gmail.com); Count Date: Saturday, December 20th, 2025
Comments: Thanks for your interest in our CBC! We have 13 sectors and welcome new participants at all birding skill levels. Learn about the birds available in Hampton Roads. Our count is hosted by the Hampton Roads Bird Club (www.hamptonroadsbirdclub.org), but you don't have to be a member to participate. Join us on count day for fun, good companionship, and a great birding experience. Please contact me no later than December 2 to join the count. Please email the count compiler, Bill Boeh at phrogdolph@gmail.com no later than December 2 for more information or to join the count.
Back Bay NWR CBC (mainly located in Virginia Beach); Compiler: Cindy Hamilton (Email: hamiltonhouseva@gmail.com); Count Date: Monday, December 29th, 2025
Comments: Please contact: Cindy Hamilton (hamiltonhouseva@gmail.com) to be added to the group emails for this count, and/or to indicate that you plan to help with the count and need to be assigned to an area.
Cape Charles CBC (lower Eastern Shore area near Cape Charles, VA); Compiler: Ellison Orcutt (Email: Mr.Ellyo@gmail.com); Count Date: Tuesday, December 30th, 2025
Comments: Interested folks please contact Dan Cristol (dacris@wm.edu) or Ellison Orcutt (Mr.ellyo@gmail.com).
Little Creek CBC; Compiler: Nick Flanders (Email: nflan005@odu.edu) and Elisa Flanders (Email elisaenders@hotmail.com); Count Date: Wednesday, December 31st, 2025
Comments: Contact : Nick Flanders (nflan005@odu.edu) ahead of time. You can call or text us at our phone numbers. Participants may request to count birds for part or all of the day.
Nansemond River CBC; Compiler: Dave Youker (Email: youkerd@aol.com);Count Date: tentative date will be Friday, 2 Jan 2026.
Comments: If you'd like to participate, get in touch with me at youkerd@aol.com. I'll make an assignment by email. Sector leaders will establish the meet time and place. Results will be sent via email. There will not be a compilation get-together following the birding day.
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| Brandt swimming in Chesapeake Bay in Ocean View. Photo courtesy of Laura Mae. |
JANUARY FIELD TRIP
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) and Eastern Shore of Virginia field trip scheduled for January 10th 2026.
Our annual trip to the CBBT is scheduled for Saturday, January 10th. We will be meeting in the administration building parking lot at the south entrance of the CBBT at 7:30 AM, and leave at 8:00 AM. Only the northern island is open, and we must be escorted by Va. State Police, and they limit the group size to 20 people. We have to pay the police for the escort, so we will be charging $5 per person to cover that cost. Any extra money will be donated to CHAS. Payment must be in cash, exact change appreciated, no checks, Venmo, Apple Pay, credit cards, store credit, barter or other payment methods accepted. We have reserved 1 1/2 hours for the trip. Participants are also responsible for tolls on the bridge.
For people who are interested, we will continue on to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, with tentative stops planned for Cape Charles, Edward S. Brinkley Nature Preserve, Box Tree Marsh, and birding along Seaside Road on the way home. We will also stop for lunch at the Machipongo Trading Company. Recommend people order lunches ahead of time to save time. Please contact tstandre@verizon.net if you are interested, first 20 people will be accepted. You must fill out a form from the CBBT to participate, I will give you the answers to the questions once you contact me.
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| Brown Creeper in David Clark's back yard. Photo courtesy of David Clark. |
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS YOU CAN USE
Nature Time at Mariner's Lake at the Boathouse at Mariner's Park 1000 Museum Drive, Newport News: This article is excerpted from the Virginian- Pilot November 25th "Nature nurtures":
Nature Time at Mariners' Lake, launched this month at the Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News. "The hourlong sessions outline two relaxation practices- attention restoration and stress reduction - as participants soak in the park's evening sights, sounds and smells. ...
Groups also hear about the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, which respectively keep the body in "fight or flight" and "rest and digest" mode via the release of different hormones. The bustle of modern society tends to trap people in that first state, which causes fatigue and health problems over time. ..."
Sessions are 5-6 PM on December 4th, 10th and 16. Register at https://www.marinersmuseum.org/events-exhibits/