Wambo Coal AEMR 2010-2011 - Peabody Energy

Bird survey locations are not marked in the field and were located with the use ofhandheld Global Positioning Systems (GPSs). At each location a one hectare area (100metres by 100 metres) was surveyed for bird species for a period of 20 minutes. At eachsurvey location the number of each bird species present was recorded. Species recordedoutside the one hectare area were also recorded (although numbers could rarely bedetermined from calls alone).3.1.3 Owl Call PlaybackOwl call playback surveys were conducted on four nights at four different locations(Figure 3-1) enabling calls to be broadcast over those portions of the three RWEP areasconsidered most likely to represent potential habitat for forest owl species. Forest owlsurveys were also conducted opportunistically during spotlighting surveys. The nocturnalcalls of the following species were played using a megaphone (10W rated output):• Barking Owl;• Masked Owl; and• Powerful Owl.The nocturnal calls of the Sooty Owl were also played at two call playback sites withinRWEP Area B where there was potential habitat for the species.After listening for five minutes, the calls of the above species were broadcast forapproximately four minutes each and were separated by a listening period of two minutes.At the end of each two minute listening period a brief spotlighting scan was made ofsurrounding trees for owls that approached silently. The calls were broadcast in the ordershown above. At the completion of the final species call, a listening period of five minuteswas undertaken and followed by a final spotlight scan of the surrounding trees.3.1.4 SpotlightingSpotlighting was undertaken across four nights by two people for a period of three hourseach night (six person hours per night). One and a half hours was undertaken on foot(predominately along vehicle tracks) and the remaining 1.5 hours was undertaken from aslow moving 4WD. See Figure 3-1 for the location of spotlighting transects.Where water bodies were encountered during spotlighting or where frog species could beheard calling in close proximity, frog searches were undertaken around the margins ofsuitable water bodies.3.1.5 Herpetofauna SurveysReptile species were recorded opportunistically during all ecological surveys throughoutthe day and frog surveys were undertaken when water bodies were encountered duringspotlighting.2010 Annual Ecological Monitoring Report, Draft Report, January 2011 Page 15