April 2026 Newsletter
WELCOME
Welcome to the April 2026 CHAS newsletter. As always, send your favorite wildlife pictures to me to be added to the newsletter. If you have newsworthy information about birds, the environment, conservation, or government action items related to our club's mission, please forward the information to capehenryaudubonsociety@gmail.com for consideration in future newsletters.
PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY. Each club receives funds from the National society based on renewal funds.
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Great egret (African subspecies) Chincoteague Va.
Photo courtesy of Saundra Winstead |
CAPE HENRY AUDUBON SOCIETY SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION - “An Educator's Week at Hog Island”
Attending “An Educator's Week at Hog Island” will give you an unparalleled opportunity to learn about using nature with your students. Over the course of five days, you will have the opportunity to observe and learn about Project Puffin, the program that restored this beautiful seabird to the islands off the coast of Maine. You may select from classes on nature photography and drawing, art projects using materials found in nature, music in the classroom, journaling with your students, explorations of tidal flats and tide pools, the geology of New England, and the red spruce forest ecosystem. Nighttime experiences will include astronomy, bioluminescence, nocturnal insect collecting, and bats. Additional opportunities will focus on grant writing and instructional materials on bird study.
To apply for a $1000 scholarship from the Cape Henry Audubon Society, please write a short essay describing how you would use the knowledge you hope to gain from attending the National Audubon Society's camp at Hog Island. Be sure to include ways you could incorporate the topics listed above into your classroom, nature center, or work with other educators. (Additional information about this camp is available at https://www.audubon.org/hog-island/camps/sharing-nature-educators-week .)
Please note that this scholarship does not cover all expenses. The cost of camp varies with the level of accommodations you select. One scholarship is awarded each year. You may receive this scholarship only one time.
The scholarship recipient will be expected to do a presentation about his/her experience at “An Educator's Week at Hog Island” and how this experience will be useful to the teacher and benefit his/her students. This presentation will be made at one of the general monthly meetings of the Cape Henry Audubon Society. These meetings take place on the third Wednesday of the month beginning at 7:30 PM at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Norfolk. Past presentations have included videos and/or slide presentations using pictures taken by the scholarship recipient at camp.
Since camp registration is now open for the educator’s camp, scheduled for August 9-14, 2026, you should email your essay to Rick Strauss at rtstrauss@gmail.com by April 10, 2026. (This camp usually fills so I cannot guarantee that a spot will be available.) Please include a copy of your resume with the essay. The decision of the CHAS board will be final. Any applicant not selected for this year’s camp is invited to re-apply for the 2027 nature camp.
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Common Mergansers Great Falls Park, McLean Va.
Photo courtesy of Saundra Winstead.
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RECURRING MONTHLY EVENTS
WEYANOKE
We will not be having our April Weyanoke bird walk. It is being replaced for the month of April only, with a park tour and bird walk at Lambert's Point Open Space on Saturday April 18th at 8:00 AM. Lambert's Point Open Space opened in April 2024, designated as a passive park. The open space, with its miles of walking and running and biking paths crisscrossing acres of rewilding meadows and a coastal highline on The Atlantic Flyway with sweeping views of The Elizabeth River, is a wonderful recreation destination. We will meet at the park entrance - the address is 4301 Powhatan Avenue. Pull into the Lot #43 parking lot on Powhatan Avenue and drive to the back of the parking lot. The park entrance is on your right behind the brick building. Our regular Weyanoke bird walks will re-start in May.
HOFFLER CREEK
There is a monthly walk on the second Saturday of the month, led 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.
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Barred Owl - Jamestown Island 03/14/26.
Photo courtesy of David Clark |
MONTHLY MEETING - Topic: Lambert's Point Open Space
PLEASE NOTE: Our April 15 meeting will be a joint meeting with the Virginia Beach Audubon Society. We will meet at Virginia Wesleyan University, Greer Environmental Science Building, Room 255, 5817 Wesleyan Drive, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23455 at 7 pm.
Our speaker for April is Brian Friedman. Brian helped to form an advocacy group in June 2023, the Lambert's Point City Park Steering Committee, to encourage the City of Norfolk to conserve the remaining acreage from the former Lambert's Point Golf Course as public green space. Brian leads the stewardship group's volunteer Board of Trustees.
Brian will be talking about the vision for Lambert's Point Open Space, a bird migration stop on The Atlantic Flyway, as a year-round destination for recreation, education, conservation, ecotourism and the visual and performing arts.
Brian is a 1978 graduate of the University of Virginia,and is a founding principal in the American Campus Group, a college marketing firm that manages digital enrollment marketing for universities across the nation. Supported by interest and encouragement from Norfolk residents across the city, Brian also serves on the Boards of The Virginia Stage Company and Friends of the Norfolk Public Library.
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White Pelicans Hog Island WMA 03/29/26.
Photo courtesy of Cindy Hamilton |
PREVIOUS FIELD TRIP
March Hog Island WMA: Led by David Clark, 9 birders enjoyed a beautiful, seasonably cool morning at Hog Island. As usual, Bald Eagles were ever-present, with as many as 7 in view together at once. One posed nicely on a sign post along the river as it chowed down on a tasty fish. Adults and juveniles chased each other from time to time, putting on a show for us all. A huge eagle nest was spotted in one of the pine trees near the river, but it did not seem to be occupied at the time.
In addition to the eagles, raptor sightings included Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, and American Kestrel.
For the most part, we encountered the expected resident birds and lingering winter migrants. These included such ducks as Bufflehead, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, American Black Duck, and a flock of 30 or so Green-winged Teal, and while sparrows included White-throated, Song, Chipping, and Field, plus of course, a few Eastern Towhees. Skulking Winter and Marsh Wrens were heard but not seen. A small group of Wild Turkeys were spotted on the trail ahead of us before they scooted off out of sight.
A highlight for most was a group of 8 American White Pelicans which rose up from the water and then soared high above us for the next 15 or 20 minutes.
Only a few new arrivals for the spring were noted, including Yellow-throated Warblers singing in the pines, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Common Yellowthroats in the shrubs, Royal Tern along the James River, and a single Rough-winged Swallow flying near the bridge as we exited. The swallow was our last species for the day, giving us a very nice total of 72 for the morning.
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Prothonotary Warbler.
Photo courtesy of Laura Mae |
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS:
APRIL FIELD TRIP - Great Dismal Swamp - Washington Ditch - Saturday, April 4, 7:00 AM
3076 White Marsh Rd, Suffolk, VA
Please note the entrance road is in rough shape with large potholes. There are signs but please be careful.
The Great Dismal Swamp (GDS) National Wildlife Refuge is a local treasure, yet many locals have never visited it! Here’s your chance! The refuge gates are on timers set to lift around sunrise, which is around 6:45 AM in early April. Washington Ditch’s address is 3076 White Marsh Road, Suffolk, VA. From this White Marsh Road entrance, take the dirt road for one mile to the parking lot where we will meet at 7AM. (There are two vault toilets there, too.) From the parking lot, we plan to take the 3/4 mile boardwalk through the forested wetland and then walk less than a half mile to the area damaged by an August 2020 tornado from Hurricane Isaia. In recent years, this particular area hosted a wonderful variety of birds. For those who like to study beforehand, here are some links: Refuge map and brochure, Seasonal Observations Submitted to eBird and eBird hotspot data. April is a favorite month to visit because of the many birds that breed here - particularly warblers and both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos. Barred Owls can frequently be heard and sometimes seen at Washington Ditch.
The GDS provides critical habitat to about 200 species of birds, nearly 100 species of butterflies and skippers, many turtles, other reptiles and amphibians, white-tailed deer, otters and bobcats. It also hosts one of the largest black bear populations on the East Coast. Unlike Shenandoah's black bears, who have become habituated to humans, the GDS bears run away from us - often before we ever see them. The mission of the GDS is to protect and preserve the swamp's unique ecosystem and biodiversity. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
DISMAL SWAMP BIRD WALKS!
In the absence of the Dismal Swamp’s April Birding Festival, seven bird walks are being offered to the public on three Saturdays: April 11, 18th and 25th. They are all at Washington Ditch. Due to limited parking, registration is required at: https://signup.com/go/quqzZNT
Enter your email address and choose how many spots you need. No need to create an account. You will receive an email confirmation and reminders. For questions, contact capehenryaudubonsociety@gmail.com.
DISMAL SWAMP BIRD WALKS!
In the absence of the Dismal Swamp’s April Birding Festival, seven bird walks are being offered to the public on three Saturdays: April 11, 18th and 25th. They are all at Washington Ditch. Due to limited parking, registration is required at: https://signup.com/go/quqzZNT
Enter your email address and choose how many spots you need. No need to create an account. You will receive an email confirmation and reminders. For questions, contact capehenryaudubonsociety@gmail.com.
DISMAL SWAMP BIRD WALKS!
In the absence of the Dismal Swamp’s April Birding Festival, seven bird walks are being offered to the public on three Saturdays: April 11, 18th and 25th. They are all at Washington Ditch. Due to limited parking, registration is required at: https://signup.com/go/quqzZNT
Enter your email address and choose how many spots you need. No need to create an account. You will receive an email confirmation and reminders. For questions, contact capehenryaudubonsociety@gmail.com.
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Dwarf Trillium. Weyanoke Park.
Photo courtesy of Judy Hinch |
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS YOU CAN USE.
LIGHTS OUT CAMPAIGN
It's the spring bird migration and time for the annual Lights Out Hampton Roads campaign. As part of this voluntary program, the Cape Henry Audubon Soceity and its partners urge property managers, businesses, tenants, government agencies, and residents help to prevent night-time bird collisions with building by turning off and/or blocking as many external and internal building lights at workplaces as possible at night to help prevent injury and death of migrating birds, especially from 11 pm to sunrise.
During migration, birds rest during the day and fly at night. During their long-distance flights, birds become disoriented by the bright, artificial lights of cities and are drawn into hazardous urban areas, where building collisions are a leading human cause of bird deaths, killing around 1 billion birds each year. Learn how you can help at Bird Safe Hampton Roads.
https://www.birdsafehr.org/
THE VIRGINIA BIRDING CLASSIC IS BACK!
From April 15 to May 15, teams of two to six birders have one 24-hour window to find as many species as possible on Virginia’s public lands. You may use Explore the Wild app to strategize your route and uncover prime birding hotspots across the Commonwealth. Registration is FREE and open from March 13 to May 14. Build your team, pick your day, and chase the ultimate prize—the Cardinal Cup. Think you can out-bird the competition? Register now and prove it. Learn more and register at
https://dwr.virginia.gov/virginia-birding-classic/
SPRING PLANT SALE
Virginia Native Plant Society - South Hampton Roads Chapter will host an awesome plant sale featuring plants native to Virginia. SATURDAY, APRIL 11 9am to 2pm LYNNHAVEN HOUSE, 4409 WISHART ROAD (just off Independence Blvd) VIRGINIA BEACH 23455 THOUSANDS OF PLANTS...most priced between $4 and $8 ($6 will be the most common price!) They will have perennials, ferns, grasses, shrubs, trees, plants for sunny spots, plants for shady spots, plant for wet spots. They will have several people who really know their stuff so you can ask questions! They accept cash, checks and credit cards for payment.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
On Saturday, March 14, 2026 Henry Traylor installed two bluebird houses and a bench by Sherwood Forest Elementary School as part of his work toward earning his Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. One bluebird box is mounted in the school’s rain garden and the other is near the raised garden area that includes a no-mow zone. Both bird boxes are highly visible from classroom windows as well to people walking on the school campus. Henry’s project complements the work of Betty Baucom, the math specialist at Sherwood Forest, to improve the environment surrounding the school. Henry received the two bluebird houses for his project through the generous support of CHAS.
