Camilty Wind Farm - Partnerships for Renewables

Camilty Wind Farm
Heritage’s (SNH) Sitelink website 6 . Searches were also carried out for any recent (i.e. within
the last 10 years) historical records of legally protected and notable species within 2 km of
the site using the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Gateway database 7 .
Desk Study
12.2.16 Ornithological data from the proposed development site and surrounding areas were sought
from a range of sources including RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Ornithologist’s Club
Lothian Bird Recorder.
12.2.17 Further to the information collected during the initial, high level desk study for the Ecological
Sensitivity Appraisal, a more extensive desk study was carried out to supplement and
enhance the information already collected. This more detailed desk study searched for
information on all International/European designated sites designated for their ornithological
interests (i.e. SPAs and Ramsar Sites) within 20 km of the proposed development (20 km
being the recognised typical maximum foraging range of geese and based on SNH’s SPA
connectivity guidance (2012a)). The search also sought to identify national ornithological
designated sites (e.g. SSSIs) and any other statutory and non-statutory designated sites (e.g.
National Nature Reserves (NNRs), Local Nature Reserves (LNRs), Local Council Nature
Sites (LCNS) and Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs)) with ornithological
interests within 5 km of the proposed site boundary.
Field Surveys
12.2.18 A range of baseline field surveys were undertaken between September 2011 and August
2012 to identify the bird populations using the proposed application site and its surrounds, in
terms of breeding and wintering populations and overall flight activity (see Table 12.2). The
areas over which the different surveys were undertaken are shown in Figures 12.2a and b
and 12.3. The following sections provide a summary of the methods used for each survey,
whilst full details of methods, and timings of visits for each survey are provided in Appendix
12.1.
Table 12.2 Schedule of Bird Surveys Undertaken for Camilty Wind Farm
Survey-type
Month
Sept
2011
Oct
2011
Nov
2011
Dec
2011
Jan
2012
Feb
2012
Mar
2012
Apr
2012
May
2012
Jun
2012
Jul
2012
Aug
2012
Flight activity
Breeding
raptors
Moorland
breeding
birds
Forest point
counts
Winter
walkover
6
SNH Sitelink website
(http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=53,910284,53_920284&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL).
7
National Biodiversity Network Gateway website (http://www.nbn.org.uk).
March 2013 12-7 ES Chapter 12
Ornithology
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