With the expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the nesting site for many seabirds on South Island has been eliminated. A temporary site was set up at nearby Fort Wool and on barges, but a more permanent solution is needed.  How to best accomplish seabird conservation in an urban setting like Hampton Roads?  This Sierra Club program described plans that will allow the birds to be safe in this crucial part of the life cycle of their species.

Recently, the plight of the seabirds in Hampton Roads has been forefront on many peoples’ minds in Hampton Roads.  The birds’ nesting habitat on South Island (the south entrance/exit of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel) has been taken away because of the tunnel expansion currently underway.  However, concerned groups have been actively working to provide - first a temporary - but later a permanent solution for the birds, which include Common Terns, Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns, Black Skimmers, Gull-Billed Terns, and Laughing Gulls.

On May 17, 2023, the Sierra Club York River Group held its first in-person event since the Covid Pandemic, at Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton.  It was a grand celebration, not only because of the joy of seeing each other in person again, but also because of the good news brought by the speakers!  The first photo here shows the seabird-inspired cake to to celebrate first in-person meeting in over three years at Sandy Bottom Nature Center. Pictured are Tyla Matteson, Chair of York River Group; Dave Jenkins, member and past
Newport News Council Member; and Eileen Woll, Sierra Club Chapter Staff and Off-Shore Energy Program Director.

The speakers were Rebecca (Becky) Gwynn, Deputy Director of Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and George Janek, US Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District Regulatory Branch. Shown below are George Janek (left) and Becky Gwynn (right), with Kimberly Koelsch, Norfolk District Corps of Engineers Planning Branch, in the middle.

The first talk -

- described the birds, their history on South Island, and the effort to temporarily move them next door to Fort Wool (involving decoys and audio lures).  As many as 15,000 breeding birds had to be relocated!  However, the Fort Wool site is not very large, so flat barges had to be brought in for additional nesting space.  Also, the birds are still too close to the tunnel traffic as well as to a nearby Navy airfield, so a more permanent solution is needed.

The second talk -

- focused on the Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to create a new island nesting site out of dredged material. Designed to last at least 50 years (roughly 2025 through 2075), the new site will move the birds further out of harms way (and away from nearby airfields), providing ten or more acres of nesting ground.

It is so encouraging to see a project with people coming together to help protect our feathered friends!  The website https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/birds/seabird-conservation-in-hampton-roads/ provides more information.