Will Cuckoos, Wheatears and other migrants be put at risk by proposed new English Channel windfarm?

                                                          

Will migration route windfarm put Wheatears in peril? 

WILL migrating Cuckoos, Wheatears and Nightjars fall victim to a proposed new windfarm in the English Channel?

That is the fear of some birders after the planning go-ahead was announced on Friday for a 90-turbine development off the coast of West Sussex? 

The project, known as Rampion 2, will sit alongside the 116-turbine Rampion 1 windfarm which was commissioned in 2018 at a cost of £1.3billion.

To the tip of the blade, the turbines will each be 325-metre high - the same (if its TV antenna is included) as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The  initiative, which  is headed by German renewables company RWE, has been signed off after a two-year inquiry which prompted more than 300 objections, most from residents worried about impact on landscape, seascape, tourism, fish stocks and ecological impact.

Because birds have not evolved to adapt to turbines on their migration flightpath, there were also several expressions of concern about potential passerine collision.

However, the developer's eco-consultants, Wood Group, believes the concerns are misplaced and that any impact on migration will be "negligible".

In their report, they say: "The English Channel is approximately 560km long, and therefore only a small proportion of birds crossing it are likely to encounter Rampion 2 if at all. 

"If birds were distributed evenly, approximately seven per cent might be expected to encounter Rampion 2. 

"Birds that are most sensitive to  constraints are more likely to cross at the narrowest point (the straits of Dover), which will avoid Rampion 2 entirely. 

"However, it should also be noted that most migratory non-seabirds fly at heights well above the maximum blade height and are therefore likely to fly over the offshore wind farm rather than around it." 

A couple of objectors  also claimed that onshore works to lay cables and install infrastructure threatens habitats where Nightingales and Turtle Doves breed, but they supplied no further evidence.

The English Channel is also home to many seabird species such as Gannets, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots and Red-throated Divers and various tern and gull species.

Wood Group acknowledges that there may be some collision fatalities, especially among Gannets and Kittiwakes, but it believes the number will be relatively few.

For Razorbills and Guillemots, it believes any displacement from feeding waters will be insignificant and possibly short-term only if they "habituate" to the presence of turbines. 

 The RSPB has four reserves in  this part of Sussex.

The closest to the development site is Pagham Harbour, which is 16km away, and the other three are at - Medmerry, Pulborough Brooks and Fore Wood.

However, the RSPB is not believed to one of the objectors, and the charity is thought to be supportive of the proposed windfarm.

The project was signed off by Energy Security Secretary Ed Miliband who said: "The UK has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates. 

"It is time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good." 

The windfarm will be relatively close to the shore - about 16km - so as not to obstruct shipping in the deeper waters beyond.

                                             

The proposed new windfarm will be clearly visible from Bognor Regis,  Brighton and Worthing

The Wryneck says: The agents for RWE have almost certainly underestimated the collision threat to migratory landbirds, most of which migrate during darkness. Unfortunately, the turbines will be laid out east to west, rather than south to north, thereby creating a 'barrier' through which the birds will have to navigate - not an easy manoeuvre at dead of night, particularly in conditions of mist or drizzle. The agents' claim that migratory "non-seabirds fly at heights well above the maximum blade height" is almost certainly wrong. Research has shown that the height at which they fly depends on a range of factors - for instance, air pressure and cloud cover plus wind speed and direction. At times, their flight is only a matter of feet above the surface of the water.