![]() Projects that recurred periodically over the years brought new sand, which buried encroaching vegetation that would crowd out nesting terns and shored up the islands when they eroded. Army Corps of Engineers has been responsible for maintaining navigational channels and, as a beneficial by-product, creating and maintaining dredged-material islands. Like the Royal and Sandwich Terns, they tend to prefer open areas without much vegetation, though they will also use shell banks that fringe marsh islands as well as sandy sites like dredged-material islands and barrier island beaches. In particular, Gull-billed Terns, a state threatened species, make use of these sites along with a growing number of American Oystercatchers. Other species benefit from Ferry Slip and South Pelican Islands as well. Royal Terns (with orange bills) and Sandwich Terns (with black bills) nesting on South Pelican Island last summer. Loss of low natural islands in Pamlico Sound and human disturbance on barrier island beaches make dredged-material islands the last best places for them to nest. Thus, Ferry Slip Island and South Pelican Island amount to a great deal of the habitat in North Carolina that is suitable for these terns. Statewide, they only occupy a handful of sites, from a high of nine in 2007 to a low of five in 2014. The past ten years of statewide survey data collected by Audubon North Carolina staff who manage the islands found as many as 36% of Sandwich Terns (946 pairs) and 24% of Royal Terns (2,692 pairs) nesting on the islands in the Lower Cape Fear River. The islands are made of coarse sand that drains well when it rains so eggs don’t bog down in puddles, support any mammals that would eat eggs or chicks, and with their large dome shape, are safely above storm tides. Without realizing it, when making dredged-material islands, people were making tern habitat. They look for open, sandy habitat that is free of vegetation and hopefully far removed from mammalian predators like raccoons. Royal and Sandwich Terns nest in large, dense groups called colonies. Though the story of the naming of islands is amusing, it underscores their importance to species that nest in coastal North Carolina. When later it was discovered by Brown Pelicans, it got a new name. In fact, South Pelican was originally called Old Royal Tern Island because it attracted so many of them. Though they were originally just a convenient place to put dredged-up sand during a 1970s-era project, soon after their creation Ferry Slip Island and South Pelican Island became indispensable to nesting birds, including Royal Terns and Sandwich Terns. Two of these dredged-material islands are of importance for a wholly unintended and unexpected reason. As the river was dredged deeper to create a channel that could accommodate commercial ships, the sand and mud that was removed accumulated at spoil sites became islands. What most of them have in common is that they were created by people. This stretch of river is dotted with islands, some low and marshy, some sandy and hill-like and others covered with mature trees. Below the Port of Wilmington, the Cape Fear River widens as it nears the Atlantic Ocean.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |