2025-01-13-minutes-public-works-study-session

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Bowers Field Wildlife Hazard Management Plan birds, including adults, are often food stressed, making them more susceptible to being trapped. Adults that breed on and around the airfield are most likely to return. When this occurs and if they present a strike risk, lethal removal is generally required to protect aviation safety. Swedish goshawk traps are excellent tools for trapping immature and migrating raptors. ELN would benefit from employing 3-4 of these across the airfield. Once set, they can be checked a few times a day and allowed to run over night. In lieu of routine trap checks, ELN could purchase trap transmitters that notify users when the trap is triggered, limiting the need for in -person trap checks. 3) Prevent successful nesting. One red-tailed hawk nest was observed to the west of the airfield, in the trees along the creek (see the red icon in the lower left corner of Figure 8). Destroying raptor nests or at least making their eggs non -viable (USDA WS has replaced eggs with infertile chicken eggs) is effective in reducing the number of immature birds learning to fly and forage on airports. Waterfowl Waterfowl are a serious risk to aviation safety at ELN. Most waterfowl were observed using or attempting to use pond V, the same pond that the >20,000 European starlings roosted at. As with blackbirds, there are practical actions that can be taken to minimize the risk from waterfowl. The most important is to eliminate/minimize water on/around airport property. 1) Prevent drainage water from entering into pond V. Without water, there will be few to no waterfowl (some geese would continue to use the general area for loafing and feeding). a. Removing the vegetation around this pond would also significantly reduce the abundance of blackbirds. 2) Divert drainage around the airfield and/or reduce the number of ditches going through airport property. No waterfowl were observed using the infield area. All observations of waterfowl using the airfield were related to water (e.g., ditches, ponds, and areas of temporary standing water) outside the AOA fence. Some individuals may contend that waterfowl were not an issue because they were attracted to the areas outside of the AOA. However, Figure 8 shows that waterfowl crossed the traffic pattern as they travelled to and from these attractants. Less water entering the airfield from the surrounding area would mean less water for waterfowl to be attracted to. Consolidating ditches into 1 or 2 drainages would also limit areas where waterfowl would be present, which would then reduce the amount of time personnel spend patrolling the area for hazardous wildlife. 2-13 31 December 2024