The message below, authored by Paul Kerlinger, a consultant to wind-farm
developers, has been forwarded to number of folks with concerns about
potential effects of wind-farm development on nocturnal migrants on
Appalachian ridges. This incident, on the night of May 23, 2003, was
recorded during the post-construction mortality survey at West Virginia's
first windpower site.
This brings to mind a mortality event that occurred during a heavy migration
on the night of September 22nd, 1971 at Rockfish Gap on the Blue Ridge. On
that foggy evening 200-300 birds (species included many warblers, Scarlet
Tanager, Rose-Breated Grosbeak, and Song Sparrow), "apparently confused by
the bright lights surrounding the Afton Holiday Inn," were found dead in the
area of the parking lot, having smashed into parked cars. (see "A bird kill
at Rockfish
Gap," by Ralph C. Baxter, in The Raven, Volume 42, No. 4, 1971.) The Raven
is published by the Virginia Society of Ornithology.
The same article mentions that on the previous night (9/21/71), also foggy,
there were only a few bird kills, suggesting to me that reliably
extrapolating, evaluating, or avoiding this kind of impact will be a
difficult problem, although one that should be resolved before hundreds of
lighted wind turbines are placed on Appalachian ridges.
Rick Webb
Highland County, Virginia
rwebb@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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All: A mortality event occurred on the night of May 23-24 at the
Mountaineer
wind plant. A total of about 25-27 birds were found dead at turbine number
23 and the substation, which is 40 meters from the turbine. A small number
of
these birds collided with the substation structure itself. The birds
involved
were a variety of species including Blackpoll, Magnolia, Canada, and other
warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, cuckoos, and other songbirds. This event
occurred on
the same night that the 100-car pileup occurred on Route 68 in Maryland -
in
dense fog.
The event is, without a doubt, attributable to the presence of 6 bright
lights that were on constantly at the substation. Jessica Kerns (one of
our field
biologists conducting the searches) called me on Friday evening, May 24, to
report the event. Efforts to have the lights extinguished were made
immediately
and the lights went off within 48 hours. They were on the night following
the event, but no dead birds were found on the following day. Jim Lindsay
of
FPL was notified and he, in turn, notified the plant manager that the
lights
should be turned off at the substation on all nights.
Subsequent checks revealed only 1-2 birds at more than 20 turbines checked.
It should further be noted that a proportion of the small number of birds
found prior to the May 24 event were also found at turbine number 23.
Again, the
lights at the substation probably attracted the birds.
Although this mortality event was unexpected, there is some good news.
There
were almost no fatalities at the other turbines, even those with FAA
lighting. What this strongly suggests is that the type of lighting on the
turbines at
Mountaineer do not attract migrants as do bright lights or communication
tower lights that are on constantly (see the FAA obstruction lighting
guidance
document for the difference between communication tower lighting and wind
turbine
lighting).
This is analogous to the infamous Kansas bird kill involving large numbers
of
lapland longspurs in January 1998. That kill was at first blamed on
communication towers, until several of us realized that the natural gas
pumping
station had bright, sodium vapor lamps that flooded the night sky. The
birds there
collided with fences, towers, natural gas infrastructure, and even were
impaled on wheat straw. Those lights have not been extinguished. I
suspect that
many other birds collided with brightly lit structures along the ridge at
other
locations.
To date, there have been only about 10 fatalities found at turbines other
than turbine number 23 at Mountaineer.
Those of us who consult on wind power projects routinely admonish
developers
regarding bright lighting. This event underscores the importance of
avoiding
bright lights at wind plants, as well as all other man-made structures.
I will provide more information to you in the montly report. I will wait
until about the 10th of June to send that to you, when the spring migration
is
finished. We will then have an entire season of migration to evaluate
impacts.
Paul Kerlinger, Ph.D.
Curry & Kerlinger, LLC
609-884-2842
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