Eden Landing/Pond E10 (formerly Baumberg Ponds/Pond B10) is a former salt pond in southern San Francisco Bay, near the east end of the San Mateo Bridge. Eden Landing/Pond E10 was created for industrial salt production by building a levee around low-lying inter-tidal marsh, but is now owned and managed by the California Department of Fish and Game. In 1998, Caspian terns began nesting on a very small island in Pond E10 near the west levee and continued to nest there until 2004, when all of the active tern nests with eggs were depredated or abandoned early in the breeding season. Subsequently, a tide gate malfunction led to the draining of the salt pond, providing a land bridge to the surrounding levee where foxes, raccoons, and long-tailed weasels were seen. No terns attempted to nest at this site in 2005-2007. The small island was re-colonized by nesting Caspian terns in 2008-2009, when about 75 breeding pairs attempted to nest there in 2009. The primary factors limiting the size and productivity of the Caspian tern colony at Eden Landing (Pond E10) are (1) mammalian nest predators, (2) availability of suitable nesting habitat, (3) the quality of nesting substrate, and (4) encroachment by roosting American white pelicans and double-crested cormorants. The island is very small and much of it consists of fine-grained sediment that turns mucky after a rain, which negatively affects egg hatchability.
