The Dockton Bulkhead Removal Project was a habitat restoration project that removed 225 feet of concrete bulkhead at Dockton Park on Maury Island to restore natural shoreline conditions and forage fish spawning habitat. Approximately one week before construction was scheduled to begin, a Belted Kingfisher nest burrow was discovered approximately 5.5 feet from the end of the bulkhead that was to be demolished. An Osprey nest was also spotted in a tree rooted approximately 30 feet from the bulkhead. Project construction would be postponed if the nests were active, per federal regulations and County policy. This memo describes nest and bird activity observations made over three site visits in late July/early August 2020, provides a discussion of unusual kingfisher behavior, and concludes with some “lessons learned.”

In addition to the adult pair of Belted Kingfishers, fledged juveniles were also present on site while unfledged nestlings were in the nest burrow. This assemblage of fledged and unfledged young with adults seemingly tending to both simultaneously has not been described in the literature.