Williamsburg Bird Club

Field Trip Along York River
2025-02-15 08:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Target, Marquis Shopping Center, 200 Marquis Parkway, Williamsburg, 23185, United States
Rexanne Bruno will lead us at various sites along the York River. In the past, this trip has provided an opportunity to see several winter resident species, including Tundra Swan, Bonaparte’s Gull, an occasional Clapper Rail, and several deep-water ducks. The fields around the Yorktown Battlefield also are good habitat for Eastern Meadowlark and American Kestrel.
We’ll meet in the parking lot of the Target at Marquis Parkway at 8 a.m., where we can consolidate cars for the morning. The entrance to the parkway at the end of Rt 199 is closed, so we’ll start by driving to Yorktown, entering the parkway there, and driving to Felgates Creek for our first stop. We’ll then bird the sites on the way back to Yorktown Battlefield and the beach as we have in previous years. And those getting hungry can meet for lunch at the Yorktown Diner after birding.
Happy birding!

Great Backyard Bird Count
2025-02-14 - 2025-02-17 | VA
From Cornell:
Each February, for four days, the world comes together for the love of birds. Over these four days we invite people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting them to us. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.
See how you can help!

Bird Walk at New Quarter Park
2025-01-25 08:00 - 10:00 | New Quarter Park, 1000 Lakeshead Dr, Williamsburg, VA, 23185, United States
Park in the lot near the park office. Bring binoculars if you have them, or borrow some from the office. Free, open to the public. Kids welcome.

Field Trip to Dutch Gap
2025-01-18 08:00 - 12:00 | Dutch Gap, 341 Henricus Park Road, Chester, 23836, United States
The Williamsburg Bird Club field trip to Dutch Gap Conservation Area is scheduled for next Saturday, January 18. We’ll meet in the parking area for the Henricus Historical Park at 9 a.m. Rose Ryan will then lead our group around the impoundment area, where there are usually large numbers of wintering ducks. There’s been only one checklist posted to eBird since my note last weekend, so I [George Martin] don’t have an update on the species present. I plan to check out the park this week to make sure there’s still open water. Based on our experience last year, I expect there will be plenty of ducks even though some cold weather is forecast tor this week.
The current weather forecast calls for seasonal conditions – a little chilly at the start, but warming. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about ice cover on the impoundment.

The address for the park is 251 Henricus Park Road, Chester, VA 23836. I won’t be arranging car pools for this field trip, but please join up with other interested people to share rides.

Meeting: John Swaddle on Sparrows as Sentinels
2025-01-15 18:00 - 20:30 | Quarterpath Rec Center, 202 Quarterpath Road, Williamsburg, 23185, United States
This will be our joint meeting with the Historic Rivers Chapter of the
Virginia Master Naturalists. Presenter will be Dr. John Swaddle, Professor of Biology and Faculty Director of the W&M Institute for Integrative Conservation, on “Sparrows as Sentinels: Health study illustrates the
interconnectedness of humans and wildlife.”
Socializing at 6:00; Presentation at 6:30

New Year’s Day Bird and Birder Show
2025-01-01 13:00 - 15:00 | Chickahominy Riverfront Park, 1350 John Tyler Highway, Williamsburg, VA, 23185, United States
Please join birding enthusiasts Wednesday, January
1, 2025, at Chickahominy Riverfront Park for the “New
Year’s Day Bird and Birder Show.” The 2025
gathering will be our club’s 19th “almost-annual” event.
We’ll convene at the shelter next to the swimming pool
between 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Relax and visit with new and
familiar friends at the picnic tables or venture out
around the park to find our wintering birds. The Park
provides wonderful access to check the river (from the
new fishing pier!) and Gordon Creek (from the boat
launch) for our wintering waterfowl, plus the woodland
edges will yield our winter passerine residents.
The address for Chickahominy Riverfront Park is 1350
John Tyler Hwy, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Note John
Tyler Highway is Route 5 West. The park is on the
right just before crossing the bridge over the
Chickahominy River. You can find directions to the
park on its website at: https://www.jamescitycountyva.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Chickahominy-Riverfront-Park-2
Bring visiting family, friends, and children. Come
early, stay late, or just drop by. Remember, every bird
is a year bird on New Year’s Day! I look forward to
welcoming you to celebrate the start of 2025.

Bird Walk at New Quarter Park
2024-12-28 08:00 - 10:00 | New Quarter Park, 1000 Lakeshead Dr, Williamsburg, VA, 23185, United States
Join us for a two-hour bird walk at New Quarter Park! Bring binoculars if you have them, or borrow them from the park office. Free and open to the public. Kids welcome.

Christmas Bird Count 2024
2024-12-15 08:00 - 17:00 | VA
We need you for our upcoming Dec 22 Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Last year, 100 folks helped tally over 29,000 birds on our CBC day—a record-breaking day for some species counts!
What will we find this year? Rarities? High counts? Each count provides surprises.
Our CBC has 11 sectors, each with an experienced birder assisted by one or more volunteers. Plus, over half of our contributors are feeder watchers. The boundaries of our count circle are shown in the map that accompanies this article. You can help on December 22 by joining a team in the field, by counting birds at your feeders and yards, or both. If you can help out, please respond to Shirley Devan at shirley_devan@icloud.com to let her know your preference: out in the field, feeder watcher, or hybrid (some time for both).
Every year the count occurs December 14 to January 5. Since 1901, Christmas Bird Counts in the U.S. and around the world have provided scientists and
ornithologists with important data and trends on bird populations that can only be determined by LONG-term data. That’s why it’s so important to continue these studies EVERY YEAR. The CBC is an early-winter bird census.
