prince wind farm (march, 2009)
DESCRIPTION
NRSI's presentation outlining the Prince Wind Farm near Sault St. Marie.TRANSCRIPT
Prince Wind FarmBird and Bat Monitoring
Prince Wind FarmBird and Bat Monitoring
David Stephenson Lisa Keable
March 3, 2009 Timmins, Ontario
OverviewOverview
• Who we are• Prince study area• Monitoring
program• Monitoring results• Recommendations• Questions
Natural Resource Solutions Inc.– 30 full-time terrestrial, wetland and
aquatic biologists– Head Office – Waterloo, ON– Local Office – Sault Ste. Marie, ON– Senior staff over 20 years experience– >60 wind power projects across Canada
Who We AreWho We Are
Prince Study AreaPrince Study Area
Pre-Construction Monitoring ProgramPre-Construction Monitoring Program
• Vegetation inventories & mapping• Wildlife surveys, herpetofauna, birds,
mammals• Fisheries surveys• Study area changed with the layout
Post-ConstructionMonitoring ProgramPost-ConstructionMonitoring Program
Phase I (southwestern half) operational in early September 2006Phase II (northeastern half) operational November 2006
Fall 2006:-Phase I post construction/operation year 1-Phase II during construction
Spring 2007-Phase I and II post construction/operation year 1
Fall 2007-Phase I post construction/operation year 2-Phase II post construction/operation year 1
Spring 2008-Phase I and II post construction/operation year 2
Fall 2008-Phase II post construction/operation year 2
Post-ConstructionMonitoring ProgramPost-ConstructionMonitoring Program
Birds– Spring and fall bird behaviour monitoring
• Migration and soaring• Changes in number of birds in the area (utilization rates)• Changes in composition of bird community• Changes in behaviour (flight height & direction)
– All birds versus loons, waterfowl & raptors– Breeding bird monitoring
• 100 vs 250m from edge
– Helicopter waterfowl surveys– Mortality monitoring
Monitoring ProgramMonitoring Program
Bats– Spring and fall migration and summer
swarming periods– Radar monitoring– Acoustic surveys– Mortality monitoring
Bird MonitoringBird Monitoring
During Construction Results– Some changes observed at Phase II:
• landbird avoidance• increased soaring birds & heights
Bird MonitoringBird Monitoring
Post-Construction Results– No evidence of change in:
• Utilization rates • Bird populations or behaviour• Species composition or abundance• Flight direction or height (some avoidance observed)• Extent of edge effects
Mortality MonitoringMortality Monitoring
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
February March April May July August September October November December Overall
Month
Av
era
ge
Se
arc
he
r E
ffic
ien
cy
.....
.
Birds 2007
Bats 2007
Birds 2006
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Days
Car
cass
es R
emai
ning
(%)
Birds - FebruaryBirds - MarchBirds - AprilBirds - MayBirds - SeptemberBirds - OctoberBats - JulyBats - AugustBats - SeptemberBats - October
Searcher Efficiency & Scavenger Removal Trials
Mortality MonitoringMortality Monitoring
Month Bird Mortalities Adjusted Bird Mortalities
Phase I Phase II Total Phase I Phase II Total
April 1 1 2 1.41 1.41 2.82
May 4 2 6 6.24 3.12 9.36
June 1 0 1 2 0 2
July 1-8 0 0 0 0 0 0
July 9-31 5 0 5 6.90 0 6.95
August 6 9 15 9.36 14.04 23.4
September 5 3 8 7.6 4.2 11.8
October 5 2 7 8.24 3.12 9.02
Total 27 17 44 41.8 25.89 67.69
Avg/turbine*Apr – July 8
.30 .16 0.23 0.48 0.25 0.37
Avg/turbine*Jul 9 – Oct 31
.32 .23 0.28 0.48 0.36 0.42
OverallAverage
.31 0.19 0.25 0.48 0.30 0.39
Avg/turbine** Fall 2006
1.25 2.02
Mortality MonitoringMortality Monitoring
Month Bat Mortalities Adjusted Bat Mortalities
Phase I Phase II Total Phase I Phase II Total
April 0 0 0 0 0 0
May 6 6 12 9.36 9.36 18.72
June 4 5 9 8 10 18
July 1-8 4 0 4 8 0 8
July 9-31 64 20 84 93.42 28.22 121.64
August 30 24 54 46.8 38.32 85.12
September 18 9 27 26.48 12.96 39.44
October 1 1 2 1.17 1.17 2.34
Total 127 65 192 193.23 100.03 293.26
Avg/turbine*Apr – July 8
.70 .61 0.66 1.27 1.08 1.18
Avg/turbine*Jul 9 – Oct 31
1.71 0.9 1.31 2.54 1.34 1.94
Overall Average
1.21 0.76 0.99 1.91 1.21 1.54
Avg/turbine** Fall 2006
1.55 1.91
Mortality MonitoringMortality Monitoring
Bats Birds
Phase I Phase I
2007 2008 2007 2008
April 0 1 April 3 1
May 18 3 May 12 9
June 12 23 June 3 8
July 68 71 July 5 3
August 30 45 August 6 7
Total 98 98 Total 23 21
Phase II Phase II
April 0 0 April 3 1
May 18 0 May 6 7
June 15 13 June 0 3
July 20 33 July 0 2
August 24 33 August 9 3
Total 77 79 Total 18 16
Overall Results – Post Construction MonitoringOverall Results – Post Construction Monitoring
The results of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 bird and bat mortality monitoring at the Prince Wind project, were not higher than the averages presented in many current studies. In fact the Prince results are substantially lower (less than one-tenth) than the examples provided of other wind facilities in forested ridge landscapes
No evidence to suggest that the operation of the Prince Wind Power Project is causing a significant decline in bird utilization rates
Flight height monitoring showed evidence of avoidance during construction and limited evidence that some species fly higher during operation
QuestionsQuestions
Thank you
for inviting us to speak today