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Conservation of Aechmophorus Grebe Colonies at Thermalito Afterbay Oroville, California 2010 to 2020 Education & Outreach Final Report

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Conservation of Aechmophorus Grebe Colonies at Thermalito Afterbay Oroville, California 2010 to 2020 Education & Outreach Final Report Conservation of Aechmophorus Grebe Colonies at Thermalito Afterbay Oroville, California 2010 to 2020 Education & Outreach Final Report Pair of Western Grebes performing the weed presentation. Photo by John Seid Altacal Audubon Society PO Box 3671 Chico, CA 95927 635 Flume Street Chico, CA 95927 May 15, 2020 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 Table of Contents Page Overview 1 Thermalito Afterbay History and Background 2 Aerial Map of Thermalito Afterbay Boat Launch and Grebe Colony Locations 3 General Education & Outreach 4 Share the Lake Sign Design 5 2010, 2011, 2012 6 2013 & Great Grebe Race 8 2014 & Grebe Banner 9 2015 10 2016 & Fishing Line Receptacles at Cal Park 11 2017 13 2018 15 2019 & 2020 17 Acknowledgements 18 Appendix A – Organizations & Community Events Served Appendix B – Educators & Surveyors Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 Overview Altacal Audubon Society (AAS) has been studying the Grebe population at the Thermalito Afterbay (TAB), Oroville, CA under a Grebe Grant administered by Audubon California for the Luckenbach Trustee Council, the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The scope of work is divided into outreach/education and surveying/monitoring. This is the final report for the years of education and outreach conducted by AAS between 2010 and 2020. Plumas Audubon Society participated in this study on Lake Almanor, Eagle Lake, Antelope Lake, and Lake Davis. Redbud Audubon Society, conducted surveys, monitoring and education programs on Clearlake. Altacal Audubon Society’s Grebe Team initiated this ten-year study of Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and Clark’s Grebes (Aechmophorus clarkii) by acquainting ourselves with the grebe colony on Thermalito Afterbay. Many hours were spent kayaking around the Afterbay, learning about the grebes and their habits and nesting locations, also observing from the shoreline with binoculars and spotting scopes. Important relationships were immediately forged with biologists Ryan Martin with Department of Water Resources (DWR), and Dave van Baren and Byron Stone with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). AAS assisted DWR and CDFW with conducting population, and nest and brood surveys. These two agencies had been monitoring the TAB grebe population since 2003 and were an integral part of both the outreach and population study. Altacal was able to work closely with DWR to advocate for the continuation of restrictions on water level fluctuations during the breeding season. These restrictions were first put in to place prior to these surveys. This helps prevent nesting colonies from becoming stranded due to a significant water level drop or from becoming inundated with water in a water level rise. AAS also collaborated with the CDFW to order and place seven regulatory buoys (5 mph zone) near breeding colonies to reduce damage to nests from wakes caused by boats and jet skis and protect the grebes and their young from collisions. Each year Altacal introduced the specifics of Thermalito Afterbay’s grebes, natural history and behaviors, and population dynamics and pressures, to the area public in a variety of events and venues to people of all ages. These efforts included booths at boat launches where grebes were visible, presentations to elementary schools, high schools and colleges. Additionally, we had booths or gave presentations at nature centers, festivals, and conferences. The following report stands alone in introducing the intricacies of the Thermalito Afterbay grebe population, and summarizes our ten year of activities and educational efforts. Figure 1: A western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) with one young exhibiting back brooding; one of the captivating behaviors of the grebes. 1 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 Thermalito Afterbay Thermalito Afterbay is part of the Oroville Dam Complex (Figure 2) and ranks as the fifth most important breeding site for grebes in California, supporting between approximately 100 and 240 pairs of Western and Clark’s grebes during the course of this study. Aechmophorus grebes have nested at Thermalito Afterbay for at least 20 years but no efforts have been made to consistently count individuals or monitor breeding success until the Department of Water Resources began conducting surveys in 2003, and since 2010, in partnership with Altacal Audubon Society and Audubon California’s Grebe Conservation Project. Figure 2. Oroville Dam Complex Map highlighting the Thermalito Afterbay (TAB) From initial conversations with CDFW and DWR it appeared that dramatic fluctuations in water levels and human disturbance from waterskiing were the most obvious threats causing nest abandonment and reduced breeding success. Since water level change restrictions were already in place and had agency oversight, we determined that education and outreach could help reduce disturbance from waterskiing and fishing boats. For this, we took to the field. The Thermalito Afterbay is a heavily used water body for fishing boats, jet skis, and water skiers. Most of the users were local boat owners that frequented the Afterbay consistently throughout the summer. Altacal Audubon made a great effort to build an educational relationship with these return users by setting up a grebe booth at the major boat ramps, Larkin Road launch, Monument Hill launch, and Wilbur Road boat launch on the weekends during the spring and summer months (Figure 3). Our consistent presence led to a greater acceptance of the TAB grebes, individuals, and colonies. We conveyed our conservation message using a variety of tools including large, engaging posters of the grebe’s flashy behaviors: dynamic courtship displays, building floating nests, and carrying young on their backs. 2 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 Figure 3: Locations where Altacal interacted with the recreational users of Thermalito Afterbay (yellow): Monument Hill Boat Launch, Larkin Rd. Boat Launch, and Wilbur Rd. Boat Launch. Also, primary nesting locations (white) Clay Banks, Larkin Cove, Ski Cove, and Saddle Dam Cove. 3 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 General Education & Outreach We developed a popular grebe activity game and useful giveaways like floating key chains (Figure 4) imprinted with a grebe. We also distributed hundreds of “Caution! Babies on Board” stickers to children and adults at the boat ramps and at school presentations (Figure 5). During the course of the grebe project 1200 boaters per year have been exposed to our messaging at boat ramps. Figure 4: Floating Keychain Altacal also responded to some of the early recommendations of Ivey (2004) that buoys and other warning signs should be placed on the waterski course to alert boaters of the nearby Figure 5: Babies on Board (version 1) grebe colonies and that boat wake can have a major impact on nest success. Seven buoys were purchased and have been on the water since 2012 (Figure 6). We designed signs, and funded production and installation of three signs requesting people to properly dispose of their fishing line (Figure 7). These were placed in obvious locations at boat launches. Figure 7: Fishing Line Signs Figure 6: Buoys purchased by AAS and placed along the ski run in “ski cove.” 4 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 Our field education and outreach continued with the purchase of a permanent “Share the Lake” sign to display at the busy parking areas at boat ramps in 2012 (Figure 8). These large, durable signs were so beautifully crafted and easy to read, they prompted Redbud Audubon Society to purchase some to display around Clear Lake. Figure 8: “Share the Lake” signs mounted at busy boat ramp parking areas Altacal was as active in the classroom as we were in the field. The following pages describe our outreach activities on an annual basis, and Appendix A consolidates our activities. Please refer to the Survey and Monitoring Report for detailed information about field activities and grebe populations at the Thermalito Afterbay. 5 Altacal Audubon Society FINAL Grebe Report -- Education & Outreach -- April 2020 2010 & 2011 The first full year of Altacal Audubon Society’s work on the Conservation of Aechmophorus Grebes grant was full of education, discovery and interaction. We learned what the grebe’s current and historical population numbers were; and by conducting a series of Disturbance Index (DI) surveys we began to better understand the challenges facing nesting success. Our Grebe Team spent many hours developing local outreach content including PowerPoint presentations, slide shows, flyers, speeches, and other materials. Our understanding was then converted into educational presentations for outreach to: Wilbur Boat Launch • Students in nearby Thermalito elementary schools • Chico elementary schools • California State University, Chico • Regional service and professional organizations Figure 9: Kids with their prizes after playing the • User groups such as fishing and boating clubs Great Grebe Race • Large gatherings at regional nature festivals and conferences 2012 Altacal continued to build on relationships with local school systems with presentations and booths informing students about grebe behavior and natural history, the history of the Thermalito Afterbay, and avoidance measures
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