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Bird Migration Monitoring in the Saint Nikola Wind Farm, Kaliakra Region, in Autumn 2017, and an Analysis of Potential Impact After Eight Years of Operation

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Bird Migration Monitoring in the Saint Nikola Wind Farm, Kaliakra Region, in Autumn 2017, and an Analysis of Potential Impact After Eight Years of Operation Bird migration monitoring in the Saint Nikola Wind Farm, Kaliakra region, in autumn 2017, and an analysis of potential impact after eight years of operation Dr. Pavel Zehtindjiev Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113, Sofia, 2 Gagarin St., Bulgaria e-mail: [email protected] Dr. D. Philip Whitfield Natural Research Ltd, Banchory, UK November 2017 Report to AES Geo Energy OOD, 32A Cherni Vrah blvd, Sofia, Bulgaria 1 TERMS OF USE You understand and agree that the information in, or derived from, this document may not be copied, republished, redistributed, transmitted, altered, edited, used or exploited in any manner for any purpose, without the express written permission of AES Geo Energy OOD ("AES"). You also agree that AES and its data providers shall not be liable for any errors in the content, or for any actions taken by you, or any third-party, in reliance thereon. Facts and other information discussed in this document have been obtained from sources considered reliable, but are not guaranteed, and AES makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this document or any other document or website referred to it or accessed through a hyperlink on AES' website. When you access a non-AES website, you understand that it is independent from AES, and that AES has no control over the content on that website. In addition, a link to a non-AES website does not mean that AES endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such website. In no event will AES be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, special or other consequential damages for any use of this document, including, without limitation, any breach of law, any lost profits, business interruption, loss of programs or other data on your information handling system or otherwise, even if we are expressly advised of the possibility of such damages. All information is provided by AES on an "as is" basis only. AES provides no representations and warranties, express or implied, including the implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability and non-infringement. Except as explicitly stated otherwise, any notices of any dispute with respect to these Terms of Use or document shall be given by mail to AES Geo Energy OOD, 32A Cherni Vrah blvd, Sofia, Bulgaria. Any disputes arising out of your use of this document shall be governed in all respects by the laws of Bulgaria. Both parties submit to the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in compliance with its rules for litigation based on arbitration agreements. Copyright © AES Geo Energy 2017. All rights reserved. 2 Contents INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 4 METHODS ................................................................................................................................ 5 THE STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................. 5 STUDY DURATION AND EQUIPMENT ............................................................................. 5 BASIC VISUAL OBSERVATION PROTOCOL .................................................................. 6 METHOD OF COLLISION VICTIM MONITORING ....................................................... 8 STATISTICAL METHODS .................................................................................................... 8 TURBINE SHUTDOWN SYSTEM (TSS) ............................................................................. 8 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................... 9 COMPOSITION OF SPECIES AND NUMBER OF BIRDS PASSING THROUGH SNWF ......................................................................................................................................... 9 ALTITUDE OF AUTUMN MIGRATION ........................................................................... 16 DIRECTION OF AUTUMN BIRD MIGRATION ............................................................. 19 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF OBSERVED ‘MAJOR’ INFLUXES OF SOARING MIGRANTS AND TURBINE SHUTDOWN SYSTEM ........................... 25 COLLISION VICTIM MONITORING ............................................................................... 30 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................... 34 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 35 3 SUMMARY 1. This report presents the results of 78 consecutive days of monitoring and mitigation at Saint Nikola Wind Farm (SNWF) in 2017, its 8th operational year. The continued purpose is to investigate the possible impacts of SNWF on migrating birds. 2. Spatial and temporal dynamics in the numbers of different species passing through the wind farm territory during autumn migration 2017 (15 August to 31 October) are presented. The data from the autumn monitoring in the years 2008 to 2017 are used to investigate the potential change in species composition, numbers, altitude or the flight direction of birds observed in these nine years at SNWF. 3. The variations in numbers of species, absolute number of birds, overall altitudes of flight and migratory direction of birds most sensitive to wind turbines do not indicate an adverse effect of the wind farm on diurnal migrating birds. 4. The Turbine Shutdown System (TSS) probably contributed to a reduced risk of collision during all years of operation within infrequent periods of intensive soaring bird migration and provided a safety mechanism to reduce collision risk for single birds and flocks of endangered bird species. 5. Regular searches under operational turbines for collision victims were continued, as in several previous years. In autumn 2017 these searches recorded only casualties, for several species of no conservation concern: four Common Swifts, three Yellow-legged gulls, one Chiffchaff, one Willow warbler, one Common moorhen, one Grey partridge, one Red-backed shrike, one Red-breasted flycatcher and one Scops owl. 6. The predicted mortality rates by species based on preconstruction data on numbers of migrating birds are not supported by the mortality observed during any of the eight years of operation of SNWF. The levels of mortality predicted pre-construction have not been recorded during any year of operation. This is largely because ‘worst case’ predictions were based on BSPB (Bulgarian BirdLife partner) data that substantially exaggerated the numbers of migrants passing through SNWF. 7. The results to date continue to indicate that SNWF does not constitute a significant displacement/disturbing obstacle or mortality threat, either physically or demographically, to any of the populations of diurnal autumn migrants observed in this study. INTRODUCTION AES Geo Energy OOD constructed a 156 MW wind farm consisting of 52 turbines: the St Nikola Wind Farm (SNWF). In autumn 2008, SNWF did not exist; in autumn 2009 the facility was built but not operational (i.e. turbine blades were stationary), and in the autumns of 2010 - 2017 SNWF was operational. In previous SNWF autumn reports the major focus was assessment of potential barrier effect on birds migrating through the territory and the level of collision mortality of migrants. The analysis of the data until now showed no evidence for cumulative long term changes in the migratory bird fauna. The main results of the autumn monitoring of bird migration in the vicinity of SNWF in previous years are published at: 4 http://www.aesgeoenergy.com/site/Studies.html. In these studies negligible collision mortality of migrating birds was found; indicating a high micro avoidance rate of the turbines by migrating bird species. The present report updates the information on spatial distribution and temporal presence of birds in SNWF during autumn 2017 with, as in previous reports, special focus on soaring species deemed most sensitive to wind turbines. The observed increase of birds in SNWF in previous autumn seasons under westerly winds was tested statistically in a detailed correlative analysis of wind direction and bird numbers in autumn 2017. Figure 1. Schematic representation of the main autumnal migratory flyway (blue arrows) and the location of SNWF (in red) based on visual observations and satellite tracks for this region (upper left corner: https://maps.birdlife.org/MSBtool/ ) METHODS The study area SNWF is located in NE Bulgaria, approximately three to seven kilometers inland of the Black Sea coast and the cape of Kaliakra (Fig. 1). The wind farm lies between the road from the village of Bulgarevo to St. Nikola (municipality of Kavarna), and the 1st class road E 87 Kavarna – Shabla. The location of observation points is presented in Fig.2. Study duration and equipment The study was carried out between 15 August and 31 October 2017 using standard methods that are comparable for all ten autumn seasons since studies began in 2008, using up to six field ornithologists making visual observations. The surveys were made as in previous seasons 5 during the day, in a standard interval of time between 8 AM and 6 PM astronomic time (for details see http://www.aesgeoenergy.com/site/Studies.html) Basic Visual Observation Protocol The autumn 2017 study involved
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