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Introduction: The Wilmington Harbor deepening project
will involve the disposal of about 5.6 million cubic yards of sandy dredged
material on the beaches of Baldhead Island, Caswell Beach, Oak Island, and
Holden Beach in Brunswick County, North Carolina. This disposal will occur over a distance
of about 14 miles, and could last for 18 continuous months. This volume and duration of disposal could
adversely impact bird usage of the beach habitat. Piping plover, other shorebirds, and
colonial waterbirds can use the beach for courtship, nesting, foraging,
roosting, and resting. Therefore,
surveys of the beaches will be required to assess the impacts of the
project on these birds.
Survey Locations: Surveys will be conducted during breeding
and non-breeding seasons. The
approximate locations are indicated on enclosed figures. The following areas will be surveyed:
1. Breeding Season: Monitoring for piping plover, other
shorebirds, and colonial waterbirds will generally be conducted weekly from
March 1 through July 15. If nests or
broods are still within the study area after July 15, those nests and/or broods
will be followed until fledged or lost.
Baldhead Island: Two (2) survey areas are located on
Baldhead Island. The first begins at
the entrance to the marina and proceeds southward around the point then
eastward for a total distance of about 1.5 miles. The second survey area begins at the
Captain Charlie’s walkover on South Beach and proceeds eastward around the
point to the gazebo on East Beach (about 1 mile).
Oak Island: One (1) survey area is located on Oak
Island. This area begins at 57th
Place West and proceeds westward
around the spit at Lockwoods Folly Inlet (about 1.5 miles).
Holden Beach: One (1) survey area is located on Holden
Beach. This area begins at Avenue E
and proceeds eastward around the spit at Lockwoods Folly Inlet (about 1
mile).
Data
collection will include:
1. dates
when monitoring began and ended, and the date, time, and location of each
observation. Locations within each
transect would be divided into three zones perpendicular to the beach (e.g.
intertidal, between intertidal and base of dune, and dune and overwash
areas), and four equally spaced zones along the longitudinal axis of the
transects. This would result in 12
location zones per transect,
2. the
number of birds (shorebirds and colonial waterbirds) seen,
species, nesting pair counts, and productivity data,
3. the
microhabitat of the occurrence, e.g., sandflat, mudflat, or beach,
4. the
activity of the birds, e.g., foraging, roosting, courtship, brooding
rearing, etc,
5. nesting
chronology (dates when birds were first seen on the site, nest
establishment dates, dates when unfledged chicks are present on the site),
6. locations
of nests (GPS + 5 meters horizontal),
7. locations
of brood foraging territories for shorebirds (piping
plovers, Wilson’s plovers,
American oystercatchers).
The locations zones would be the same as indicated above,
8. known
and suspected causes of nest and chick loss,
9. disturbance
caused by presence of humans, pets, and predators,
10. use of the site by
post-breeding or migrating birds,
11. any
bands that may be visible. Observers
will be aware of bands for the endangered Great Lakes piping plovers. The presence of birds from the Great
Lakes population will be reported to the USFWS and the NCWRC as soon as
possible.
12. Weather
including cloud conditions, wind speed and direction, and air and water
temperature (0F).
If nests are located in the survey area
or banded piping plovers observed from the Great Lake population, notify
immediately Mr. Frank Yelverton, contract Technical Representative, at
910-251-4640, or if he is not available, contact Mr. Richard Lewis,
Contract Officers Representative at 910-251-4755. Also contact Mr. David Allen, NC Wildlife
Resources Commission, at 252-448-1546, and Mr. John Hammond, Raleigh Field
Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 910-856-4520, extension 28. To verify Great Lakes piping plover band combinations contact Jennifer
Stucker at Univ. of Minnesota; email address is jkh@fw.umn.edu, phone 612-624-3785. The Corps of Engineers will take
appropriate action so that beach disposal operations will not occur within
700 ft of nests.
2. Non-Breeding Season: Monitoring for non-breeding plovers,
other shorebirds, and colonial waterbirds will extend from July 15 to May
30. Since the end of this period
overlaps with breeding use, surveys for both breeding and non-breeding use
may be combined from March 1 through May 30. Surveys will be conducted weekly during
migration (July 15 to November 30 and February 15 to May 30) and bi-weekly
during the mid-winter period (December 1 to February 15).. The following survey sites
will be added to the aforementioned
breeding season sites, so that
all sites will be surveyed during the non-breeding
season.
Baldhead Island: Same survey areas during the breeding
season plus one (1) survey transect one (1) mile long located on South
Beach midway between the breeding season survey areas. The exact location will be determined in
the field based on ease of access points.
Caswell Beach: One (1) survey area is added
on Caswell Beach. This
area begins at the guard house on SR 1100 at the entrance to the Baptist
Assembly and proceeds eastward around the inlet to Caswell Basin (about 1.5
miles).
Oak Island: Same survey areas during the breeding
season plus two (2) survey transects each one (1) mile long. The first transect will begin at the
Ocean Crest Pier (near 16th Place East) and proceed 1 mile
westward. The second transect will
begin at the Yaupon Beach Pier (near Womble Street) and proceed 1 mile
westward.
Holden Beach: Same survey area during the breeding
season plus one (1) survey transect one (1) mile long. The transect will begin at Ferry Road and
proceed 1 mile westward.
Data
collection will include:
1. dates
when monitoring began and ended, and the date, time, and location of each
observation. Location zones would be
the same as indicated for breeding season,
2. the number of birds seen
and species,
3. the
microhabitat of the occurrence, e.g., sandflat, mudflat, or beach,
4. the
activity of the birds, e.g., foraging, roosting, etc,
5. locations
of commonly used foraging areas.
Locations zones are the same as indicated above,
6. disturbance
caused by presence of humans, pets, and predators,
7. any bands that may be visible. Observers will be aware of bands for the
endangered Great Lakes piping plovers.
The presence of birds from the Great Lakes population will be reported
to the USFWS and the NCWRC as soon as possible,
8. Weather including cloud conditions, wind
speed and direction, and air and water temperature (0F).
If piping plovers are sited within
the survey area, especially banded piping plovers observed from the Great
Lake population, notify immediately Mr. Frank Yelverton, Contract Technical
Representative, at 910-251-4640, or if he is not available, contact Mr.
Richard Lewis, Contract Officers Representative at 910-251-4755. Also contact Mr. David Allen, NC Wildlife
Resources Commission, at 252-448-1546, and Mr. John Hammond, Raleigh Field
Office, US Fish and Wildlife Service at 910-856-4520, extension 28. To verify Great Lakes piping plover band combinations, contact Jennifer
Stucker at Univ. of Minnesota; email address is jkh@fw.umn.edu, phone
612-624-3785.
3. Control Areas:
The control areas will be surveyed at the same frequency, and using
the same data collection methods employed for the breeding and non-breeding
surveys. There a two (2) control
sites both located on Holden Beach.
The first is a non-breeding season transect which is one mile long
and is centered on Swordfish Drive (i.e. extends ½ mile east and west of
Swordfish Drive). The second is a
breeding season transect (thus will be surveyed year-round) and
will begin at Skimmer Court and proceed about 2.0 miles westward around the
inlet.
4. Survey Methods:
Observations will be conducted during daylight hours and will be
evenly distributed throughout this period.
Survey time periods will be established during daylight hours from
30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset and will include a
wide range of tidal conditions and habitat types. The amount of time necessary to survey
each site will depend on the amount and type of habitat to be covered. All potential habitat in transects must
be surveyed. This may be
accomplished by walking parallel to the beach in narrow habitat areas, or
several parallel paths or more of a zigzag pattern may be required in wider
habitats such as washover areas.
Transects will be surveyed slowly and thoroughly (large mixed flocks
of roosting shorebirds especially need to be thoroughly and carefully
searched in order to locate all species).
Monitoring will not be conducted during poor weather (heavy wind
> 25 mph, heavy rains, severe cold) since birds may seek protected areas
during these times. The use of ATV’s
or similar vehicles will not be allowed on the beach during surveys.
In
the event that sand placement operations result in the direct take of a
piping plover nest or chick, the contractor shall immediately notify Mr.
Frank Yelverton, contract Technical Representative, at 910-251-4640, or if
he is not available, contact Mr. Richard Lewis, Contract Officers
Representative at 910-251-4755, Mr. John Hammond, Raleigh Field Office, US
Fish and Wildlife Service at 910-856-4520, extension 28, and Mr. David
Allen, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, at 252-448-1546. Also the contractor will attempt to
determine the cause of death and ensure that all banding data are recorded.
5.
Required Products:
a.
Monthly Status Report: By the
fifth working day of each month, a written letter report is required for
the previous month’s activities.
This report will summarize sampling activities, preliminary results,
and important observations. These
status reports shall also be used to discuss potential problems and
solutions related to contract performance or conditions which may affect
performance. Monthly status reports
must accompany requests for partial payment.
b. Annual Project Report: The first year of surveys under this
delivery order will end on October 31, 2001. After completion of the first year of
monitoring, the contractor shall prepare an annual report in accordance
with paragraph C.4. of the basic Scope of Work. The report at a minimum must include:
(1) description
of survey data collection, methodology, results, and any problems,
(2) discussion
of the results including habitat value, apparent difference in survey
areas, any apparent changes caused by beach disposal of dredged material,
and any recommendation for improving the survey methods.
(3) All field
data sheets must be included as an appendix to the annual reports.
Ten (10) copies of the
draft annual report must be submitted by January 15, 2002 to the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Wilmington District, for review. Twenty-five (25) copies of the final
report must be submitted to the Corps within 30 working days after the date
the Corps provides comments on the draft to the contractor.
6. Additional Years of Surveys
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