Operational Monitoring of Orchard End Wind Farm in Cumbria

This twin turbine development became operational in early 2013 and the team at Avian Ecology, led by Senior Ornithologist Nicole Robinson, have been monitoring the site in to satisfy planning conditions since autumn 2013, working closely with Natural England and the RSPB to ensure success.

The monitoring programme included offsite land management and supplementary food provision for pink-footed geese, a qualifying species of the nearby Morecambe Bay SPA and Ramsar Site, during the winter months. Ongoing site management has been altered based on the initial results of monitoring, further increasing bird usage of the mitigation area. The geese are now regularly using the mitigation site and the programme has been declared a success, allowing the developer to maximise the renewable energy potential with minimal costs, and no adverse effects on the internationally important goose population which spends the winters on the Fylde.

Avian Ecology are currently undertaking post construction monitoring at 5 other operational wind farm sites across the UK. For more information on our post construction monitoring and survey capability please contact Nicole or Howard.

About the Author: Stacey

BSc (Hons) MCIEEM | Senior Ecologist Stacey joined Avian Ecology in 2011, and her specialist areas include EIA and bat survey methodologies and complex data analysis. Stacey works on a diverse portfolio of projects, ranging from small and large scale onshore wind energy, solar PV sites, housing, road schemes and barn conversions. Her role includes ecological survey and co-ordination, project management and delivery, provision of advice on planning policy and wildlife legislation, the preparation of EIAs, protected species licencing and mitigation design and implementation. Stacey also has extensive experience in pre-construction data collation and analysis of bat and bird activity at wind farm developments.