Sea eagles being killed by wind turbines
By Brian Unwin
Published: 12:00PM BST 27 Jun 2007
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Sea eagle; The RSPB is anxious that the Smøla
The RSPB is anxious that the Smøla 'mistake' should not be repeated in Scotland
The planned release of 15 young sea eagles in Scotland as part of a reintroduction programme has been overshadowed by a spate of deaths in their native Norway caused by wind turbines.
Following the successful re-establishment of the majestic birds on Hebridean islands over the past 30 years, more are due to be released in eastern Scotland.
A total of 100 birds are due to be introduced back in Britain over a five-year period.
The bird of prey, with a wing span of up to 8ft, is thought to have been widely distributed throughout the British Isles 5,000 years ago, occurring around coasts, along large rivers and on islands lakes and marshes with open water.
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But their lack of manoeuvrability in the air leaves them vulnerable to that increasing feature of the 21st century UK rural scene - the wind turbine. Northern Europe's largest raptor blundering into a windfarm in bad weather hasn't the ducking and weaving skills to easily avoid swooshing rotor arms.
There is a certain irony about efforts to restore the species to a landscape that, if most of the plans bear fruit, will be progressively covered with neat rows of turbines as the drive for clean and renewable energy continues.
The warning signs for birds that don't adapt readily to living with this type of renewable energy have been vividly illustrated in Norway where the sea eagle still thrives.
As the Norwegian Air Force was preparing to fly them across the North Sea after they were removed from eyries around the country, reports emerged of continuing eagle deaths at a 68-turbine windfarm at Smøla, a group of islands about 300 miles up the coast from Bergen.
Eddie Chapman, a UK-born ornithologist resident in Norway, said he had been reliably informed that a further sea eagle was killed last September and three more so far this year. That brings the total to 13 since the windfarm - spread over an area of 20 square kilometres - became fully operational in the country's main eagle population centre two years ago.
Statkraft, the Norwegian state-owned enterprise aiming to be "a European leader in environment-friendly energy", has not yet made a public statement about these latest deaths but last October it admitted there was a problem
It said: "Since start-up of Phase 2 of Smøla Wind Farm in August 2005, a total of 10 sea eagles have collided with rotor blades on the turbines and died. This is a serious problem and Statkraft is doing everything in its power to find a solution to this situation.
"Statkraft co-operates closely with the best experts in Norway from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) in reviewing possible means of reducing the danger of collisions and thus helping to reduce sea eagle mortality, both within and outside the confines of the wind farm."
The statement went on to say that overhead power lines to the mainland were one known cause of bird deaths and these had since been laid as a ground cable.
"One serious danger to sea eagles has thus been removed, and it is hoped that this measure will go some way towards compensating for eagle deaths caused by collisions with windmills."
However, the deaths did not come as a surprise to Statkraft as, well before the first turbine was constructed, environmentalists warned that the concentration of eagles at Smøla was such that it was a totally inappropriate place for a windfarm.
The protests from various bodies, including Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, were ignored.
Dr Rowena Langston, senior research biologist with the RSPB, said: "Four birds were found dead in just over a week last spring and if reports of these new deaths are true, a similar pattern is emerging suggesting these birds are facing specific risks during their breeding season.
"Even more worrying is that DNA analyses last year indicated that birds from elsewhere are being killed as well as local breeding birds. With numbers of sea eagles on the wind farm site so significantly down others may be moving in - at their peril."
She added that the birds killed so far had been both adults and juveniles.
"Smøla has the world's highest concentrations of breeding sea eagles and their fortunes have been hit hard in the two years since the turbines started turning.
"Just as significant is the disappearance of other sea eagles, seemingly unwilling to return to their traditional breeding site.
"Before the wind farm was built, there were at least 16 nesting pairs where the wind farm stands.
"We think as many as nine of those territories could have been abandoned with no evidence that the displaced birds are nesting elsewhere on Smøla.
"Eagles do not breed every year but these deaths will seriously dent sea eagle numbers on Smøla.
"In short, the Smøla wind farm has caused birds to die and driven many others away with no evidence that they are breeding elsewhere."
Now the RSPB, which has a major role in the Scottish eagle re-introduction project, is anxious that the Smøla "mistake" should not be repeated. Particularly in mind is the proposal to place a total of 181 turbines, each towering 462ft over a very large area of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.
That, it fears, will not only affect both golden and sea eagles but will also place a devastating hazard in the path of whooper swans migrating to Britain from Iceland and white-fronted and barnacle geese from Greenland, as well as having an adverse effect on a wide range of other species that nest in the area earmarked for the project and the peatland habitat in general.
Dr Mark Avery, RSPB conservation director, said: "The fate of white-tailed eagles on Smøla shows just how much harm poorly sited wind farms can do. It is a timely reminder for those now deciding whether to allow a much bigger wind farm on the Isle of Lewis.
"Wind energy can make a hugely significant contribution to tackling climate change and many in the renewables industry have been working with us and others to ensure that turbines are built where damage to wildlife is minimised."
Meanwhile the RSPB is assisting with a new case against the Smøla windfarm its Norwegian equivalent, NOFG-Birdlife is due to place before the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on European Wildlife and Natural Habitats in November.
It calls on the committee to consider the problems posed by the turbines with a view to making a recommendation to the Norwegian government questioning the legality of the windfarm's continuation and suggesting its removal. |
