{"status": "Complete", "organizations": [{"category": "Industry/Consultants", "logo_name": "13_41_17_434_abr_logo.png", "name": "ABR, Inc.", "description": null}, {"category": "Industry/Consultants", "logo_name": "CPIAlogo.png", "name": "ConocoPhillips", "description": ""}], "links": [], "collections": [], "description": "Avian aerial surveys were conducted in the\r\nColville Delta in 2007 in support of the Alpine\r\nSatellite Development Project (ASDP) for\r\nConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., and Anadarko\r\nPetroleum Corporation. The surveys continued\r\nlong-term data acquisition begun in 1992 on the\r\nColville Delta. Surveys focused on the abundance,\r\ndistribution, and habitat use of 5 focal species:\r\nSpectacled Eider, King Eider, Tundra Swan,\r\nYellow-billed Loon, and Brant. These five species\r\nwere selected because of 1) threatened or sensitive\r\nstatus, 2) indications of declining populations, 3)\r\nrestricted breeding range, or 4) concern of\r\nregulatory agencies for development impacts.\r\nMonitoring a collection of focal species with\r\ndiffering habitat requirements provides both\r\nin-depth data on species trends and responses to a\r\nchanging environment and a general view of\r\necosystem health. Aerial surveys for eiders, swans,\r\nand Brant were conducted from fixed-wing\r\nairplanes. Surveys for loons were conducted from a\r\nhelicopter. In 2007, the ASDP comprised 5 satellite\r\ndrill sites (2 completed, 3 proposed) that would\r\nsend oil for processing to the existing Alpine\r\nFacility on the Colville Delta.\r\nThe Colville Delta study area (552 km\u00b2)\r\nencompassed the entire delta from the East\r\nChannel of the Colville River to the westernmost\r\ndistributary of the Nibliq Channel. The Alpine\r\nFacility began oil production on the Colville Delta\r\nin 2000. Two ASDP satellite drill sites were built\r\nin the winter of 2005: CD-3 was built as a roadless\r\ndrill site to reduce its gravel footprint in eider\r\nbreeding habitat on the outer delta, and CD-4 was\r\nconnected by a road on the south side of the Alpine\r\nFacility. The CD-3 site began producing oil in\r\nAugust 2006, and CD-4 began producing in\r\nNovember 2006. The NE NPRA study area\r\n(1,571 km\u00b2) abutted the western edge of the\r\nColville Delta and encompassed 4 proposed\r\ndevelopment sites that are part of the ASDP: drill\r\nsites CD-5, CD-6, and CD-7, and the Clover A\r\ngravel mine site. No surveys were conducted in NE\r\nNPRA because of delays in permitting the CD-5\r\ndrill site. In 2007, avian surveys for ASDP were\r\nconducted in the Colville Delta study area only.\r\nEach spring, open houses were held in\r\nNuiqsut to allow residents to visit with CPAI\r\nbiologists and other scientists to discuss\r\ninformation on and concerns for resources in the\r\nColville Delta and NPRA areas. In 2007, a meeting\r\nwas scheduled with the Kuukpik Subsistence\r\nOversight Panel and slide shows were presented on\r\ncurrent studies at an open house on 19 June 2007.\r\nThe open house was attended by approximately 40\r\npeople from the village of Nuiqsut. During the\r\nsummer field season in 2007, CPAI posted weekly\r\nupdates on bulletin boards in the post office, store,\r\nand community center in Nuiqsut. The updates\r\nreported on surveys (for example, type of aircraft\r\nused, altitude of aircraft, and species enumerated)\r\nconducted the previous week and the schedule of\r\nsurveys for the upcoming week. The open house\r\nmeetings and weekly updates served to keep local\r\nresidents informed on the progress and results of\r\nstudies conducted by CPAI in the area near\r\nNuiqsut.\r\nResults of aerial surveys for focal bird species\r\nindicated that 2007 was a relatively good year for\r\nlarge birds in the Colville Delta study area.\r\nNumbers of birds, nests, and broods were generally\r\nabove long-term averages and in several cases\r\nwere records or near records.\r\nSpectacled Eiders were more numerous (52\r\neiders) on the Colville Delta during the pre-nesting\r\naerial survey in 2007 than during similar surveys in\r\nthe previous 7 years\u2014a reversal in the decline that\r\nbegan in 2000. As in previous years, Spectacled\r\nEiders were found primarily in the CD North\r\nsubarea.\r\nKing Eiders were about half as numerous as\r\nSpectacled Eiders on the Colville Delta during the\r\npre-nesting aerial survey in 2007 and most of the\r\nKing Eiders were in the Northeast Delta subarea.\r\nThe density of King Eiders on the Colville Delta\r\nstudy area in 2007 was just above the long-term\r\naverage. One pair of Steller\u2019s Eiders was seen\r\nflying over the Colville Delta and a pair of\r\nCommon Eiders was seen just outside the study\r\narea in marine waters.\r\nYellow-billed Loons had one of their most\r\nproductive years since surveys on the Colville\r\nDelta began in 1993. We found the second highest\r\nnumber of Yellow-billed Loon nests (25) and the\r\nhighest number of Yellow-billed Loon broods (17)\r\nrecorded in 13 years of aerial surveys in the\r\nColville Delta study area. As in previous years,\r\nYellow-billed Loon nests and broods were\r\nconcentrated in the central part of the delta in 2007,\r\nand all nests were on lakes where Yellow-billed\r\nLoons have nested previously.\r\nYellow-billed loon nesting success was the\r\nhighest recorded in the 3 years that we have\r\nconducted weekly nest monitoring. Overall, 22 of\r\n31 nesting pairs of Yellow-billed Loons in the\r\nColville Delta study area in 2007 were observed\r\nwith young for an apparent nesting success of 71%.\r\nHatch began between nest visits on 10 and 17 July.\r\nFour of the 22 broods observed during weekly\r\nmonitoring surveys in 2007 were lost by the time\r\nof the brood-rearing aerial survey (20\u201321 August).\r\nThe presence of egg membranes and numerous\r\n(\u226530) eggshell fragments were good indicators of\r\nnest success and coincided with the presence of\r\nbroods.\r\nForty-three nests and 6 broods of Pacific\r\nLoons were counted opportunistically in the\r\nColville Delta study area in 2007. One brood of\r\nRed-throated Loons but no nests were seen during\r\naerial surveys. In the CD-3 area, 12 additional\r\nPacific Loon and 9 additional Red-throated Loon\r\nnests were found during ground searches\r\nconducted as part of another study. Two Pacific\r\nLoon broods and 1 Red-throated Loon brood also\r\nwere found during ground searches in July.\r\nForty-two Tundra Swan nests were found in\r\nthe Colville Delta study area in 2007, the fourth\r\nhighest count over 14 years of aerial surveys. The\r\nbrood count of 33 swan broods in the Colville\r\nDelta study area also was the fourth-highest since\r\n1992. Apparent nesting success was 79%. The\r\nmean brood size in 2007 was 2.6 young; 86 swan\r\nyoung were counted on the delta, and only 3\r\nprevious years produced more young swans.\r\nBrant and Snow Geese were numerous in the\r\nColville Delta study area in 2007. The\r\nbrood-rearing aerial survey recorded 980 Brant\r\n(446 adults and 534 young) in 6 brood-rearing\r\ngroups. The total count was slightly below average\r\nfor coastal area surveys that have been conducted\r\nintermittently over a 17-year period. On the same\r\nsurvey in 2007, 1,154 Snow Geese (596 adults and\r\n558 young) in 13 brood-rearing groups were\r\ncounted in the Colville Delta study area. The\r\nprevious high count was 997 Snow Geese in 2006.\r\nForty-one Glaucous Gull nests and at least 22\r\nbroods were counted in the Colville Delta study\r\narea during aerial surveys in 2007. Three additional Glaucous Gull broods were found\r\nduring ground searches during July. Nest counts for\r\nGlaucous Gulls in the Colville Delta study area\r\nhave ranged from 18 to 46 nests during 9 years of\r\nsurveys. No Sabine\u2019s Gull colonies were observed\r\nduring the aerial survey for nesting loons in 2007,\r\nhowever, 2 Sabine\u2019s Gull nests were found during\r\nground searches.", "end_date": "2007-07-23", "title": "Avian Studies for the Alpine Satellite Development Project, 2007", "other_contacts": [], "iso_topics": [], "tags": ["Andarko", "bird survey", "Conoco", "2007", "ABR", "alaska", "avian"], "bounds": [{"geom": "{\"type\":\"Polygon\",\"coordinates\":[[[-152.2636032795796,70.03291021370266],[-150.1884710840829,70.03291021370266],[-150.1884710840829,70.50993159770778],[-152.2636032795796,70.50993159770778],[-152.2636032795796,70.03291021370266]]]}", "type": "Attachment"}], "start_date": "2007-05-01", "regions": [], "other_agencies": "ConocoPhillips", "data_types": [], "archived_at": null, "primary_contacts": [], "type": {"color": "#3a87ad", "name": "Data", "description": "catalog record for projects with associated data/observation files"}, "slug": "avian-studies-for-the-alpine-satellite-development-project-2007", "attachments": [{"category": "Geojson", "file_name": "imported_locations", "description": "gLynx locations", "file_size": 4201}, {"category": "Primary Thumbnail", "file_name": "2007 ASDP Avian Studies_5th Annual Report.pdf", "description": "", "file_size": 14003080}]}