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Page 1 of 7
ANNUAL OSPREY REPORT 2019 Survey Year
submitted to
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife by
Green Diamond Resource Company
March 3, 2020
Page 2 of 7
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
Page 5 of 7
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 #3 None Unknown
Casino #4 None Unknown
Casino #5 None Unknown
Casino #6 None Occupied
Casino #7 None Unknown
Casino #8 None Occupied
Cran #1 None Unknown
Jac #10 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #11 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #12 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #13 15-1601 Unoccupied
Jac #14 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #15 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #16 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #17 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #18 15-1601 Unoccupied
Jac #19 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #20 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #21 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #22 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #23 15-1801 Occupied
Jac #24 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #25 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #26 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #27 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #28 15-1601 Unoccupied
Jac #29 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #3 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #30 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #31 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #32 15-1801 Occupied
Page 6 of 7
Site Name THP with ground based
operations within .25 mile of nest Occupancy
Jac #33 None Occupied
Jac #5 15-1802 Unoccupied
Jac #6 15-1801 Unoccupied
Jac #9 15-1801 Unoccupied
KLGN #2 None Occupied
KLGN #6 None Occupied
M200 #4 None Occupied
McGarv #1 None Occupied
McGarv #5 None Occupied
McGarv #7 None Occupied
McKay #12 None Unoccupied
McKay #4 None Unknown
McKay #5 None Unoccupied
McKay #6 None Unoccupied
Notchkoo #2 None Occupied
Notchkoo #3 None Occupied
OH #1 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #11 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #12 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #14 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #15 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #16 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #17 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #18 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #19 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #2 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #20 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #21 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #23 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #24 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #25 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #26 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #27 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #28 15-1801 Unoccupied
OH #29 15-1601 Unoccupied
OH #3 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
Page 7 of 7
Site Name THP with ground based
operations within .25 mile of nest Occupancy
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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Eureka
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