Duck Island is located on Lake Elizabeth in Fremont, California and managed by the City of Fremont.  The island is an important nesting habitat for heron and egret colonies, which has been eroding  since the early 1990’s flood events.  The island is one of the largest and most productive heron and egret colonies in the San Francisco Bay area. However the nesting population has decreased dramatically this year due to island erosion and loss of nesting trees. Following the progress of this project starting in 2005 and see the changes! 

Trees have been falling along the shore as soil is being eroded by wave and wind action	The island is home to over 200 nests every spring

Duck Island provides crucial nesting habitat to the Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Black Crowned Night Heron and the Green Heron.  The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO) considers the Duck Island colony to be an extremely significant and an important nesting site to the overall health of these top predators in the San Francisco Bay Estuary.  Sue Nogare, from the city of Fremont has been collecting data on the island for over a decade.   She has found a significant decrease in fledging from 2004 (410) and 2005 (320).  This had alarmed Ranger Sandy Ferreira of the City of Fremont to discuss the problem with Dr. Joyce Blueford (geologist) from the Math Science Nucleus.  After consultation with Sheri Lubin, a Wildlife Biologist specializing in Egrets and Herons, it was concluded that the erosion on the side of the island and lost of large willow trees due to erosion caused lost of nesting habitat and foraging habitat.

Islands provide excellent habitat for birds, reptiles, and amphibians in an urban settings.  Duck Island, in the middle of Lake Elizabeth, Fremont, California  provides a protected environment for the areas bird population. The Snowy Egret,  Great White Egret,  Great Blue Heron, Green Heron,  Canada Geese, and Tree Swallows have been found nesting on this island. In the photo on the left (above) you can see that .

 Learn how the Math Science Nucleus (a non-profit), two Eagle Scouts projects,  a group of college students from California State University, East Bay,  and the City of Fremont have created a novel way to on Duck Island.  Since this is a long term project, please click on the years below to see our progress.

Great White Egret (orange bill) and Snowy egret (black bill) sitting on their nest during the spring.	Canadian Geese use this area for nesting away from predators.

Tree swallow nests in boxes on the island to increase population.	Western pond turtle eggs along the perimeter of the island.

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