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Results of Mass Audubon Avian Surveys in Nantucket Sound
The proposed wind farm on Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound would be the first off shore wind farm in North America and one of the largest in the world. Few if any data are available to assess the possible risks that this offshore wind farm may pose to birds using the Sound. The Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) are supporting information gathering to assist the Army Corps of Engineers in their NEPA review of the Cape Wind project in an effort to help address this information gap.
Realizing the importance for gathering as much information as possible to assess the potential avian impacts of the wind farm’s construction and deployment, MTC provided funding to enable Mass Audubon to survey the Sound and its tern populations beginning in August of 2002. Mass Audubon has completed three years of surveys during the late summer tern pre-migratory staging period and two years of surveys during the summer nesting season. Reports summarizing findings from surveys conducted in Fall 2002 and 2003, and Spring and Summer 2003 are available to the public, and reports for the 2004 season are currently being drafted by Mass Audubon staff.
According to Simon Perkins, Mass Audubon Field Ornithologist, "Our focus has been on two tern species in particular— the Roseate and the Common. We looked at the Roseate Tern because approximately 50 percent of the North American population of this federally endangered species breeds within Buzzards Bay. The Common was studied because of the large populations in the area—in 2003, approximately 10,000 pairs of common terns nested at Monomoy Island NWR, Chatham."
"Our main objective," explains Perkins, "has been to estimate the abundance and distribution of common and roseate terns on Horseshoe Shoals within the breeding season and the premigratory staging period." By monitoring the birds’ behavior, such as feeding habits and flight patterns, the organization hopes to determine how and when these birds use the Sound and Horseshoe Shoal to more accurately assess the potential impact of the proposed wind farm on avian populations.
To date, the data from Mass Audubon’s boat and aerial surveys show that terns were less frequently sighted on Horseshoe Shoals as compared to the rest of Nantucket Sound. For example, the nesting season survey showed that the numbers of terns using Horseshoe Shoals were highest in mid-May and were lower in June and July. These results suggest that the Shoals are more important as a stopover point or "refueling" area for terns migrating through Massachusetts, than they are as a feeding area for locally nesting terns. Results from the second year of surveys completed this past year may confirm this pattern of habitat use.
Because bird behavior and availability of food resources can change from year to year, it is important to evaluate the use of the Sound by terns over at least three years. Numbers of terns observed in the Sound was substantially higher during the 2003 staging period relative to the same period in 2002. Relative distribution of terns throughout the Sound was similar as considerably fewer terns were observed over the Horseshoe Shoal project area.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has committed funding the tern surveys through the fall of 2004 in accordance with the anticipated completion of the Cape Wind Draft Environmental Impact Statement that is being coordinated by the Army Corps of Engineers New England Division.
Ultimately, Mass Audubon hopes that this survey, in conjunction with other important studies they are conducting, such as how the area is used by wintering sea ducks, will provide a clear and nonbiased evaluation of the avian activity in and around the site of the proposed wind farm. "I think the work we are doing here," says Perkins, "is very important, not only because of the data it will provide, but also because the Cape Wind project has become the test case in North America for off shore wind power and all eyes are upon it. We hope our work will serve as an example of the environmental assessment standards that should be adhered to whenever and wherever projects like this are being considered. Whatever the outcome, we want to make sure that the decision on the proposed wind farm is based on the best available scientific research and evidence."
Funding has also been provided by the Island Foundation and Foundation M.
Download Mass Audubon's Avian Survey Results
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