A restoration project has breathed new life into a pond and tidal creek system at the heart of Audubon’s Pine Island Sanctuary on Currituck Sound, thanks to a $309,000 grant from the NC Land and Water Fund. 

The project, completed over the spring and summer, included ripping out the old bulkhead of a pond, sculpting a new, natural shape for the pond, planting the shoreline with native vegetation, and converting culverts into free-flowing waterways. 

“The end goal was to rebuild the hydrology in the middle part of the sanctuary in a way that mimics natural processes,” Sanctuary Director Robbie Fearn said. “Now water will be able to flow freely from the marsh to the pond and back again.” 

The results were immediate. Already, shorebirds, egrets, and, yes, ducks have returned to the newly muddy banks. 

“It wasn’t even finished yet and we saw Wood Ducks at the back of the pond,” said Sara Marschhauser, Senior Coordinator of Habitats and Facilities at Pine Island. “As soon as we took the bulkhead out, they came back. That’s exactly the kind of thing we wanted to see when we launched this project.” 

Another component involved replacing an aging bridge that leads to the sanctuary’s historic boat house and removing a narrow culvert that had been restricting water flow through the marsh. 

“Before the upgrade, the back bay of the sound would run out of oxygen by mid-summer because water just couldn’t get there,” Fearn said. “Now that we're allowing for the exchange of water, that portion of the sound will become excellent nursery habitat for fish and other wildlife.” 

The sanctuary preserves 2,600 acres of unique marsh and upland maritime forest habitat on the sound and is one of the most important places for birds in the hemisphere, providing habitat for nearly 200 species. 

The work is part of a larger suite of restoration and resilience projects taking place at the sanctuary and across Currituck Sound, based on a Marsh Conservation Plan developed by Audubon and the Currituck Sound Coalition. 

A new bridge provides access to Pine Island's historic boat house while also allowing water to flow a back bay of the marsh. Photo: Mike Ruck

A Pine Island photo from the 1970s shows the natural layout of the pond before the impoundment was built. Photo: Robbie Fearn/Audubon

Another view of the new bridge. Photo: Mike Ruck

A migratory Semipalmated Plover used the muddy edges of a Pine Island pond to forage. Photo: Ben Graham/Audubon

With the bulkhead removed, Wood Ducks have returned to the pond. Photo: Russ Smith/Audubon Photography Awards

The marshy edges of the pond are already attracting wading birds like Great Egrets. Photo: Patrick Wardle/Audubon Photography Awards

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