Backpacks for birds to check if wind farms disrupt them

EMILY BEAMENT

movements. sounds.

“But the solutions suggested are ingenious. One, for example, is a small backpack which contains a solar charger to keep the battery going, and another attaches discreetly to the tail feathers.

“With battery life a concern, one suggestion was to use ‘geo-fencing’ to ensure full details of the bird’s movements are only transmitted when it’s in the proximity of a pre-determined area, giving us more detail than ever.”

The criteria for the tags are set so they do not interfere with birds’ lifestyle or safety.

Catarina Rei, technical lead on the project for EDP Renewables, which is developing Moray East, said: “Environmental monitoring is already a big part of any wind farm planning and post-construction monitoring, onshore and offshore, and so we are always looking for new ways to improve monitoring, and take advantage of new innovations in, for example, batteries and solar power.

“Developing new techniques and methods is an essential step in improving what we do.

“We’ll be able to gain a greater insight into bird and coastal species behaviour, which will better inform the planning, consenting and operational stage of an offshore wind farm development.”

Nigel Butcher, senior technical officer at the RSPB, said: “This is a really exciting project which will hopefully pave the way for further technological advances in tracking seabirds.

“RSPB has previously worked with several of the shortlisted companies and, given our experience with them, are confident that the criteria for the new tags will be met to an incredibly high standard.”

He said that as well as providing information about seabirds at this one wind farm site, the devices could be used to monitor bird populations elsewhere.

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