The Battery Island Committee of the Cape Fear Garden Club has over a 26-year relationship working closely with the AUDUBON NC Coast Office and its biologists 
to maintain safe habitats for the migratory birds and the islands where they nest in the Lower Cape Fear River. Battery Island is considered a “Globally Important Bird Area” as thousands of White Ibis nest on Battery Island each Spring. Brown Pelicans, a variety of Egrets, a variety of Herons, and Royal and Sandwich Terns are some of the water birds that nest on the river islands.
BATTERY ISLAND FALL & SPRING CLEAN-UPS
The Battery Island Committee of the Cape Fear Garden Club supports AUDUBON NC with scheduled clean ups on Battery Island in the Spring before nesting season begins and the Fall after the nesting season is complete. Our main concern is to remove the debris that floats onto the island from the Cape Fear River. The most critical debris to remove from the island is fishing line (monofilament) because of the danger of entanglement of Brown Pelicans and other birds.
Battery Island is a federally-protected habitat. No one is allowed to be on the island unless they are with the appropriate Audubon or government official. The Battery Island Committee travels to the Southport Marina to meet the Audubon staff and travel to the island by boat.
The Battery Island Committee conducts one clean-up on a weekday and the other clean-up on a weekend. During the 2021-22 CFGC year, the Battery Island Committee conducted the Fall clean-up on November 1, 2021 with 12 members and collected 160 lbs. of debris. The Spring clean-up took place on March 13, 2022 with 6 members and collected 380 lbs. of debris. Committee members enjoyed a great morning on the island followed by lunch together with our Audubon friends in Southport at Oliver’s Restaurant on the waterfront
THE BIRD CRUISE
The Battery Island Committee assists AUDUBON NC’s Coast Office by sponsoring a fundraiser entitled a “Cruise to the Bird Islands of the Lower Cape Fear River.” The educational cruise and fundraiser is sponsored by the Cape Fear Garden Club and has taken place annually since 1996. The cruise is planned for a Sunday in May during nesting season. We charter the Cape Fear Riverboat HENRIETTA leaving from downtown Wilmington. Following a two year break during the COVID pandemic, the cruise took place on Sunday, May 15, 2022 and was sold out in just four weeks. The Battery Island Committee members plan and coordinate the cruise, which includes selling tickets, greeting guests and speakers, coordinating the boarding of the riverboat, selling 50/50 raffle tickets, creating & selling note-cards, taking photographs, and distributing box lunches. We have a great time!
The cruise is an educational program and ornithology experts share their knowledge and experience by narrating the cruise and viewings. Lindsay Addison, the Coastal Biologist for AUDUBON NC who is responsible for the river islands, narrated the cruise this year. The profit from the cruise enabled the Battery Island Committee to donate $1,905.60 to AUDUBON NC’s Coast Office for its important work on the nesting river islands.
All expenses for the bird cruise are funded by ticket sales and donations. Any profit from the cruise is donated to AUDUBON NC’s Coast Office to support the work of the Audubon biologist on the Cape Fear River islands nesting colonies.