Christmas Bird Count:
The Audubon Society has been conducting a Christmas Bird count for 105 years. During the past 50 years the Richmond Audubon Society has conducted the count in 15-mile diameter area called the Hopewell Sector which includes Shirley, Berkeley, Westover and the Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery. In the last count, 37 bird watchers in the Hopewell sector reported sighting 103 species. The rough count included 61 Bald Eagle sightings. For the full count results every year since 1954 click here.
Charles City Farmers:
National Winners -
Some Charles City farms along the James River have been under continuous crop production for more than 400 years, but they remain highly productive land. Two local farmers have won national contests in bushel per acre grain production. David Hula has been the National Corn Grower in three of the last four years, producing 300+ bushels of corn per acre in the NO-TILL non-irrigated category. He and David Black also have won the National Wheat Growers First Place, producing 140+ bushels per acre of soft red winter wheat.
Good Stewards of the Land -
Charles City farmers have developed the leading technology for controlling runoff from grain cultivation. Fully ninety percent of crop acreage in Charles City is in a never-till cropping system. When Hurricane Floyd dropped approximately 19 inches of rain in 24 hours on some long-term never-till fields, visual observation showed virtually no erosion. A scientific study conducted in 2000 on one long term never-till field demonstrated a 99.9% reduction in sediment runoff compared to conventional tillage and a 95% reduction of runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous. This new technology could become a primary strategy to achieve a healthy Chesapeake Bay. |
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One-hundred-foot tall Loblolly Pines towered from banks above the river, giant sturgeon swam in the waters and great flocks of Passenger Pigeons blotted out the sun. In the forests the Englishmen found wild turkeys weighing 30 to 60 pounds and traveling in flocks of 40 or more. In the waters Capt. John Smith reported catching Sturgeon measuring up to 9 feet in length. In Charles City today, as in the rest of North America, the old growth forests and Passenger Pigeons are gone, but countless other bird, wildlife and plant species that inhabited this place when the English arrived still  inhabit the land, the skies and the waters. Since the first quarter of the eighteenth century the county has comprised an area of 204 square miles bounded by the James River on the south, by the Chickahominy River on the east and north, and by Turkey Island Creek on the west. The county ironically has no “city,” indeed it has no stoplight. It is a rural oasis between burgeoning metropolitan areas to the east and west. But, what the county lacks in population it makes up for in natural beauty.
Come home to Virginia and out to the country where you can take a hike, ride your bike, paddle a canoe, catch a fish, watch for birds, hunt for deer, or stroll through the garden of an historic home in this land embraced by two rivers
Outdoor Recreation
Charles City County Recreation Center
8320 Ruthville Road
The facilities at Charles City County Recreation Center include a Social Center (capable of seating 300) with kitchen, outdoor swimming and wading pools, two tennis courts, basketball courts, two softball fields and two play grounds with two picnic shelters. Route 612, Ruthville Road. For information call 804-652-1601.
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network - James River Water Trail
 The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network connects over 140 museums, parks, refuges, historic sites and water trails around the Chesapeake watershed. Eight Charles City County sites are noted on the James River Water Trail, Lower Section (Shirley, Rice Center, Berkeley, Westover, Lawrence Lewis, Jr. Park, Kittiewan Wildlife Refuge, Fort Pocahontas, and the Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area). In addition, Lawrence Lewis, Jr. Park is a Cheasapeake Bay Gateway site.
For more information visit www.baygateways.net.
Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area
12510 Eagles Nest Road
The Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area consists of 5,217 acres bordering the Chickahominy River of woodlands, tidal creeks and marshy guts. The area is managed by the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries primarily for upland wildlife. For directions and printable map of the Wildlife Management Area visit www.dgif.virginia.gov/wmas/detail.asp?pid=1.
Harrison Park
5201 Harrison Park Road
Harrison Park is a 19-acre community athletic park with a short bike/jogging trail, a picnic pavilion, three small shelters, two tennis courts, a football/soccer field, a basketball court, a playground, and a tot lot. For information call 804-652-1601.
Lawrence Lewis, Jr. Park
12400 & 12580 Willcox Wharf Road
Civil War Trails site
 Lawrence Lewis, Jr. Park is a 24-acre site located on the James River and accessible from Route 5 via Willcox Wharf Road. Its amenities include a picnic area, comfort station, fishing and birding pier and a short swamp boardwalk leading to a wooded trail. The park is home to eagles, blue heron and other waterfowl. For information call 804-652-1601.
U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery
11110 Kimages Road
 The Fish Hathery is a 400-acre site, bordering Route 5 that includes a 90-acre lake accessible to fishing. Trails wind along Herring Creek through mixed hardwoods. Visits may yield sightings of numerous woodland songbirds. For information call 804-829-2421.
Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail
Seven Charles City sites (Berkeley Plantation, Harrison Lake National Fish Hatchery, Lawrence Lewis Jr. Park, North Bend Plantation, Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation, Sherwood Forest Plantation, and Westover) are a part of the Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail. For information about the trail and the birds and wildlife to be seen, click here and look for the Coastal Area and Plantation Loop.
Natural Resource Preservation & Education
James River Association
The James River Association is a non-profit citizen’s organization dedicated to the conservation and responsible stewardship of the natural and historic resources of the James River. For more information visit www.jamesriverassociation.org. River Keeper (804) 337-9283 Hotline 1-800-366-9229
Kittiewan Wildlife Preserve (Not open to the public.)
The Kittiewan Wildlife Preserve is a marshland wildlife preserve which helps to protect and save our natural resources.
VCU Rice Center (Not open to the public.)
 The Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences is a 343-acre research facility, including a 70-acre lake, located where Kimages Creek enters the James River. Although only twenty miles from VCU’s Richmond campus, the property is rich in natural resources and wildlife. It provides VCU students and faculty with a living laboratory in which to study the environment. VCU also uses the Rice Center to provide field experience to local and regional schools and community groups. The Rice Center will be the headquarters for the Virginia Rivers Initiative. This program will focus on the James River, which is Virginia’s largest aquatic ecosystem and one of the most important rivers on the east coast. The Virginia Rivers Initiative will use the James River as a national model for the study and conservation of large rivers. For additional information visit www.vcu.edu/rice. |
