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The river is the critical component to eagle use of the Property, as it provides the only <br /> water available to support a Bald eagle's chief sources of food: fish and waterfowl. A <br /> significant migratory population of Bald eagles winter along the Colorado River, <br /> generally arriving in late fall and remaining along the river corridor until early spring. A <br /> winter concentration area is mapped by CPW approximately 2.9 miles east of the <br /> Property. There are a number of regular winter roost sites well-known along the river <br /> corridor from Battlement Mesa all the way to Dotsero,though any mature tree with large, <br /> clear branches near the river may be used intermittently. <br /> Great Blue Heron: Great blue herons are included because they select relatively quiet, <br /> undisturbed riparian sites to set up nesting colonies,and they require healthy aquatic <br /> ecosystems to provide adequate food resources. As such,they are an excellent indicator <br /> of the relative health and viability of many other species in the area. <br /> There is a known, active nesting colony(rookery) located approximately 0.7 miles <br /> upstream of the Property, and another nesting area mapped approximately 2 miles <br /> downstream. There are no active nest sites on the Property itself. There are some suitable <br /> floodplain habitats along the river and the flood-irrigated pasture areas as well as the <br /> Bernudy Ditch itself provide foraging habitat and food sources for herons. No herons <br /> were observed on the Property during any of the site visits,though the existing foraging `. <br /> habitat and reasonable proximity to an existing rookery would indicate that it likely <br /> receives some use by this species at present. CPW has mapped the northern half of the <br /> Property as foraging habitat. <br /> Sandhill Crane: Sandhill cranes are not known to nest in the area, and CPW has no <br /> mapped habitat designations for them in the area. They do, however, occasionally stop <br /> over along the Colorado River during spring and fall migration. This use is intermittent, <br /> at best,and seldom involves more than a handful of birds. Sandhill cranes prefer broad, <br /> open habitats that allow them to see predators at a distance and avoid ambush. They <br /> therefore frequent large rivers on sandbars, large, open lakeshores or islands and also <br /> large,unobstructed agricultural grain fields. Since most agricultural production in the <br /> lower Colorado River valley involves grass and alfalfa production and relatively little <br /> grain production,the agricultural fields are not heavily targeted by migrating birds. <br /> Rather,the cranes generally search for open islands and sandbars in braided sections of <br /> the Colorado River where they can feed on amphibians and crustaceans and rest in <br /> relative safety. Some of the floodplain areas with grassy wetlands on the Property could <br /> provide stopover habitat for migrating cranes,though the proximity of willow stands and <br /> the encroachment of the Russian olive trees has significantly reduced visibility and make <br /> cranes vulnerable to ground-based predators such as coyotes. There are no documented <br /> reports of cranes using the Property. <br /> 6.0 Potential Effects of the Proposed Project <br /> The proposed project will result in removal of a significant amount of rock and gravel <br /> resources below the existing grade, which will result in the creation of one large lake on <br /> the Property. As part of the mitigation measures,pond depth, shoreline slopes and layout <br /> 7 <br />