G'day all,
The following may be of interest
Regards from
Bob Forsyth
Mount Isa, NW Qld.
The English journal Birding World, June 2006, Vol 19 Number 6, Issue 234, page
264 reports in part
" A key population of White-tailed Eagles has been devastated by a wind farm,
only one W-t E is expected to fledge from the wind farm site on the bird's
former stronghold of SmØla, a small archipela of the northwest coast of Norway.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5108666.stm 2006/06/23
says >
Wind farm 'hits eagle numbers'
Wind farm turbine blades are killing a key population of Europe's largest bird
of prey, UK wildlife campaigners warn.
The RSPB says nine white-tailed eagles have been killed on the Smola islands
off the Norwegian coast in 10 months, including all of last year's chicks.
Chick numbers at the species' former stronghold have plummeted since the wind
farm was built, with breeding pairs at the site down from 19 to one.
Scientists fear wind farms planned elsewhere could also harm birds.
And there are fears Britain's small population of the birds could be adversely
affected.
Fewer chicks
The number of chicks born each year at the site has fallen from at least 10 to
three last year, with births outside the borders of the site falling too.
Only one chick is expected to fledge from the site this year.
Smola, a set of islands 10km (six miles) off the north-west coast of Norway,
was designated an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International in 1989 because
it had one of the highest densities of white-tailed eagles in the world.
Scientists now fear wind farms planned for the rest of Norway could have a
similar impact on the birds.
RSPB conservation director Mark Avery told BBC News more care needed to be
taken when choosing a site for wind farms. He said: "The problem is if wind
farms are put in stupid places where there are lots of vulnerable birds and
lots of vulnerable rare birds."
He said most wind farms would not cause any harm to birds but that the Smola
wind farm had been badly sited in a place where it put white-tailed eagles at
risk.
He added: "It seems these birds are flying around a lot of the time and they're
colliding with the wind turbines and being killed in big numbers.
"So this colony that is very important - was very important - has been
practically wiped out because this wind farm was built in exactly the wrong
place."
Careful planning urged
The RSPB says it supports renewable energy, including wind farms, as a way of
tackling climate change, which it sees as the biggest threat to wildlife.
But it is urging developers and governments to take the potential impact on
wildlife such as eagles properly into consideration when planning new wind
farms in future.
Researchers are now running weekly checks for dead birds at the 68-turbine
Smola site, with both conservationists and the wind farm operator calling on
the Norwegian government to improve its environmental impact assessments of
such sites.
And the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research has launched a four-year study
at the site to assess the impact of the turbines on various species of birds
and the ability of white tailed eagles to adapt to them.
Meanwhile, Statkraft, which operates the Smola site, says it is doing
everything it can to find a solution to the problem.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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