annual osprey report 2019 survey year · osprey or their young. this report summarizes the survey...

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ANNUAL OSPREY REPORT 2019 Survey Year

submitted to

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife by

Green Diamond Resource Company

March 3, 2020

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Introduction In 2006, Green Diamond Resource Company (GDRCo) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) developed and began implementing an ownership-wide osprey consultation protocol for timber harvest plans (THPs). In accordance with this consultation protocol, between March 15th and August 15th, GDRCo biologists conduct searches and status checks for historic and active osprey nests occurring within 0.25 mile of ground-based operations and 0.5 mile of helicopter-based operations expected to be active during the critical period for osprey. The critical period is March 1st to April 15th and extends to August 15th for occupied nests. Nest status need not be determined if ground-based operations within 0.25 mile of the nest or helicopter-based operations within 0.5 mile of the nest occur outside the critical period. If timber harvest operations commence between August 15th and September 1st, then a check for late-season occupancy of the nest is required. This check ensures that unfledged chicks are not present at the nest. The ownership-wide consultation allows operations within 0.25 mile (but not within 500 feet) of occupied nests during the breeding season so long as operations occur as late in the breeding season as operationally feasible and encroach upon the 0.25 mile disturbance buffer and nest gradually. If operations are to occur within the 0.25 mile disturbance buffer during the breeding season, the nest must be monitored to determine if operations are adversely affecting the nesting osprey or their young. This report summarizes the survey results for osprey nests covered by the consultation during 2019. An occupied nest is defined as a nest or nest tree used by an osprey pair during the current nesting season. An active nest is defined as a nest or nest tree used at least once during the three most recent nesting seasons. A tree may be considered an active nest tree even if it has lost all or a portion of its stick nest, provided that suitable substrate for rebuilding the nest remains. A historic nest is defined as a nest or nest tree used at some time in the past but is not currently occupied or active.

Summary of Results Eighty-four individual historic or active nests or nest trees were surveyed a total of 232 times in 2019 (Figure 1). Of the 84 nests surveyed, 19 nests were occupied, 55 were unoccupied, and 10 did not have sufficient data to determine occupancy status (Figure 2). Reproduction was confirmed at 3 of the 19 occupied sites (Table 1). However, surveys to confirm reproduction are only required when operations are planned within 0.25 mile of an occupied nest during the critical period. Therefore, reproductive surveys were not conducted at all occupied sites, and no inferences should be made regarding osprey productivity in 2019. No helicopter-based THP operations occurred within 0.5 mile of historic or active osprey nests during the 2019 critical period. Four ground-based THPs with operations during the critical period occurred within 0.25 mile of 51 historic or active osprey nests (Table 2). Of the 51 THP-associated nest sites, 48 were determined to be unoccupied, and 3 nest sites were determined to be occupied; Tube #1, Jac #23 and Jac #32 (Figure 2). No operations occurred within 0.25 mile of osprey nests where occupancy could not be determined. Refer to Table 2 for a complete summary of the status of the 2019 osprey nests and THP associations and Map 1 for the location of the nests and THP unit boundaries.

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As stated above, the Tube #1 nest was occupied in 2019 and located within 0.25 mile of Units C, D and F of THP 66-1801 (1-18-00114DEL). Prior to commencement of operations within the 0.25 mile disturbance buffer, GDRCo developed a monitoring strategy in accordance with the property-wide consultation guidelines and obtained concurrence for the strategy from CDFW. Based on ground surveys, the osprey pair associated with the Tube #1 nest were incubating prior to commencement of operations. Operations within the disturbance buffer of Tube #1 occurred as late in the breeding season as possible and encroached upon the buffer and nest gradually. As outlined in the monitoring strategy, one monitoring survey occurred on the first day falling operations commenced within the disturbance buffer. The survey began prior to of the start of operations for that day and continued for a minimum of two hours during operations. During this survey, Green Diamond biologists confirmed (with concurrence from CDFW) that the nest was no longer occupied and operations within 0.25 mile of the nest were allowed to continue without restrictions or need for additional surveys (Table 3). As stated above, the Jac #23 and Jac #32 nests were also occupied in 2019 and located within 0.25 mile of Unit D and Unit F of 15-1801 (1-18-085HUM), respectively. Additional surveys later in the breeding season determined (with concurrence from CDFW) that young associated with Jac #23 had fledged and the Jac #32 nest had failed. Therefore, operations were allowed to commence within the 0.25 mile buffers during the remainder of the breeding season without restrictions or need for additional surveys.

Figure 1: Timing of surveys conducted during the 2019 osprey critical period.

11

20

113

78

9

10

20

40

60

80

100

120

March April May June July August

Nu

mb

er

of

Surv

eys

Month of Survey

Timing of Surveys (n=232)

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Figure 2: Occupancy status of osprey nests surveyed in 2019.

Table 1. Occupied sites with survey results confirming reproduction, 2019.

Site Name THP Occupancy Status Survey Results

Jac #23 15-1801 Occupied 5/1/2018: Adult seen incubating. 7/16/2019: Adult osprey active in area and 1 juvenile on nest

Jac #33 15-1801 Occupied 5/1/2019: Adult seen incubating. 6/25/2019: 2 Adults active in area and 2 juveniles in nest

Waukell Creek None Occupied 6/19/2019: 1 Adult and 1 Juvenile on nest.

7

16

10

48

3 00

10

20

30

40

50

60

Unoccupied Occupied Unknown

Nu

mb

er o

f N

est

s

Occupancy Status

Occupancy Status of 2019 Osprey Nests (n=84)

No Association

THP-Associated

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Table 2. Summary of occupancy status and THP association by nest site, 2019.

Site Name THP with ground based

operations within .25 mile of nest Occupancy

Ambrose #3 None Occupied

Big #10 None Unknown

Big #11 47-1707 Unoccupied

Big #13 None Unoccupied

Big #3 47-1707 Unoccupied

Big #4 None Unoccupied

Big #7 None Unknown

Big #8 None Unknown

Casino #2 None Unknown




Casino #6 None Occupied


Casino #8 None Occupied

Cran #1 None Unknown

Jac #10 15-1801 Unoccupied













Jac #23 15-1801 Occupied










Jac #32 15-1801 Occupied

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Jac #33 None Occupied




KLGN #2 None Occupied

KLGN #6 None Occupied

M200 #4 None Occupied

McGarv #1 None Occupied



McKay #12 None Unoccupied

McKay #4 None Unknown



Notchkoo #2 None Occupied

Notchkoo #3 None Occupied

OH #1 15-1601 Unoccupied




















OH #30 None Occupied

OH #31 15-1801 Occupied

OH#22 15-1801 Unoccupied

Oma Cr #2 None Unoccupied

Oma Cr #4 None Unoccupied

Tarup #5 None Occupied

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Tube #1 66-1801 Occupied

Waukell Creek #3 None Occupied

Table 3. Summary of nest monitoring, 2019. Site Name Date Duration Observations

Tube #1 5/17/19 06:15-11:15 No indication of disturbance. No osprey detected via sight or sound for duration of survey.

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Fortuna

Korbel

Orick

WillowCreek

Big #3 Big #11

1 inch = 1,000 feet

Tube #1

1 inch = 2,500 feet

OH #1OH #3

OH #2OH #31

OH #29

Jac #6

Jac #3

OH #14

OH #12OH #11

Jac #5

OH #15

OH #17OH #16 Jac #9

OH #22

OH #25

OH #26

OH #18

OH #19OH #20

OH #21OH #27

OH #24OH #28

Jac #33

Jac #29

Jac #32Jac #23Jac #31 Jac #30

Jac #20

Jac #26

Jac #28

Jac #15

Jac #13

Jac #24

Jac #10

Jac #21

Jac #19

Jac #25 Jac #27

1 inch = 3,000 feet

±

Map 1. Osprey NestsWithin 0.25 Mile of2019 Harvest Units

1 in = 7 miles

annual osprey report 2019 survey year · osprey or their young. this report summarizes the survey...

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