[Nimby]

Anyone who lives in The Bacon Factory (alias Denmark) knows that no field is without a bird of prey or even a pair. You cannot move for birds of prey in rural Denmark. Every post, tree and bush supports a sharp-eyed example of the type. They float on every thermal and soar above every copse, wood and forest.

There are also have an awful lot of wind turbines. As a casual but interested bird watcher and long term enthusiast for wind power one might think my divided loyalties would cause me concern. We can't possibly risk these beautiful birds just to save the planet. Or can we?

The truth is I have watched birds of prey in their solitary and pairing display flights very close to wind turbines. The bird's superb acrobatics are always a pleasure to watch. All of the birds I have watched seem perfectly able to avoid the turbine blades. Flocks of all types of birds seem quite unconcerned by the blades.

Careful examination of the ground below and out in a wide radius around a number of field-sited wind turbine towers has completely failed to turn up any dead birds. I saw plenty of dead birds on the road while cycling to these local turbines. Mostly blackbirds, pheasants, sparrows, yellow hammers and wagtails. Quite a number of polecats and moles too.

The fact is one can't find anything dead under the "windmills". Even insects seem naturally able to avoid the whirling blades. Exhaustive searches of grass and bare earth have completely failed to turn up anything at all. Not even a single moth caught off-guard in the dark. I went early in the morning thinking predators might clean up any overnight kills.

So what is the real danger to eagles living in the vicinity of windfarms? Is there any real evidence for accidental bird deaths? While the blades do travel very fast at the tips I have never seen a single bird come to harm. Seagulls, starlings and crows often flock in the fields around turbines without any sign of them taking obvious risks. Nor do they seem to noticeably avoid the blades by a wide birth. Perhaps they can hear the blades or their experience is enough to read where the swept circle is at any moment? Birds flying skills are extraordinarily good in all wind and weather conditions. I've been watching them for decades and still marvel at their skills in a gale.

I can well understand local windfarm objectors clutching at every straw to avoid what they see as an unwanted intrusion. But, does this particular straw carry any real weight? I'm not keen on imposed windfarms myself and much prefer small groups of turbines dotted about in the fields. Like most are in Denmark.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/s...ds/6259516.stm

[njp]

I have no idea what research the bird death figures are based on, but the article does say that:

The figures come from the developer's own environmental statement.

I wouldn't have expected them to knowingly overstate the case!

[Nimby]

That hadn't escaped me.

I found one rabid anti-windpower website ages ago which claimed vast bird losses amongst other things. Where they obtained their data I have no idea. They also had people dying like flies from flying ice from the blades. I have never heard anything in the Danish media about windpower casualties. Probably just going to fetch the paper from the shop would entail a far greater risk.

Originally Posted by Nimby

That hadn't escaped me.

I found one rabid anti-windpower website ages ago which claimed vast bird losses amongst other things. Where they obtained their data I have no idea. They also had people dying like flies from flying ice from the blades. I have never heard anything in the Danish media about windpower casualties. Probably just going to fetch the paper from the shop would entail a far greater risk.

I have wondered about this. I have read claims about bird deaths but have never seen any figures or photos.

Are we thinking about this the right way? These blades are driven by the wind, of course. Would the airflow not go "with" the blades, not against, making it easy for birds and insects to avoid them? Perhaps the airflow actually does even more than that and makes it hard to actually fly into them?

Just an idea...

[johntheexpat]

Apparently the horrendous noise they make when they are whirling round, which sooooo upsets the local population, cannot be heard by birds so they aren't scared off and actually fly towards then with huge enthusiasm!!??!?
As for intrusive, driving up the A1 once many years ago, it was a clear day* and you could see the plume from Ferrybridge power station a clear 80 miles away. Now that's what I call intrusive.

* you know it was a long time ago, because the sun was shining.

As far as I can see, there seems to be plenty of evidence of these bird slicers doing just that.

Example:
I am a volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum hospital (in Walnut Creek, Calif.). In the last two weeks we have had to euthanize three golden eagles and many other birds of prey that have fallen victim to the (Altamont) windmills. Too often the windmills chop them up so bad it is impossible to save them.

[MikeTV]

Originally Posted by stratagem

As far as I can see, there seems to be plenty of evidence of these bird slicers doing just that.

Example:
I am a volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum hospital (in Walnut Creek, Calif.). In the last two weeks we have had to euthanize three golden eagles and many other birds of prey that have fallen victim to the (Altamont) windmills. Too often the windmills chop them up so bad it is impossible to save them.

You might want to put that example in quotes, otherwise people might think that you are a volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, and that you didn't just paste that off the anti-windfarm website http://www.windaction.org/news.

Sorry, you're right, I wouldn't volunteer for anything, I just quite like birds, apparently it's only a problem when they're flying, so perhaps if we put up some "walk don't fly" signs.

[Nimby]

Whether Altamont injures birds or not it is an obscene outdoor museum. A temple to greed. 5400 small windmills whirling over a vast area complete with overhead cables strung haphazardly from a forest of wooden poles. It is as an eyesore and an abomination against nature.

5400 small windmills supplying 180,000 homes? Where are the widely spaced 5+MegaWatt turbine turning slowly and majestically in all wind conditions? Where is the efficiency of large wing scale, tall towers and modern design? Why aren't the cables underground? Why are the turbines so close together? There is no passage for birds unless they fly over the top.

It seems the birds of prey feed on burrowing animals which seek out the disturbed ground of the windfarm for their burrows. You couldn't ask for a worse situation or a worse example to sell the idea of windpower to the masses. Anyone would think it had been planned by the nuclear industry to put people off wind power!

Originally Posted by Nimby

Whether Altamont injures birds or not it is an obscene outdoor museum. A temple to greed. 5400 small windmills whirling over a vast area complete with overhead cables strung haphazardly from a forest of wooden poles. It is as an eyesore and an abomination against nature.

5400 small windmills supplying 180,000 homes? Where are the widely spaced 5+MegaWatt turbine turning slowly and majestically in all wind conditions? Where is the efficiency of large wing scale, tall towers and modern design? Why aren't the cables underground? Why are the turbines so close together? There is no passage for birds unless they fly over the top.

It seems the birds of prey feed on burrowing animals which seek out the disturbed ground of the windfarm for their burrows. You couldn't ask for a worse situation or a worse example to sell the idea of windpower to the masses. Anyone would think it had been planned by the nuclear industry to put people off wind power!

Thanks Nimby. I'll check this out. I assumed that the wind-farm referred to was similar to those we see in the UK (and, I assume in Denmark).

Originally Posted by MikeTV

You might want to put that example in quotes, otherwise people might think that you are a volunteer at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, and that you didn't just paste that off the anti-windfarm website http://www.windaction.org/news.

Thanks MikeTV. I missed that and assumed it was first-hand! Duh!

[MikeTV]

Originally Posted by Nimby

Whether Altamont injures birds or not it is an obscene outdoor museum. A temple to greed. 5400 small windmills whirling over a vast area complete with overhead cables strung haphazardly from a forest of wooden poles. It is as an eyesore and an abomination against nature.

5400 small windmills supplying 180,000 homes? Where are the widely spaced 5+MegaWatt turbine turning slowly and majestically in all wind conditions? Where is the efficiency of large wing scale, tall towers and modern design? Why aren't the cables underground? Why are the turbines so close together? There is no passage for birds unless they fly over the top.

It seems the birds of prey feed on burrowing animals which seek out the disturbed ground of the windfarm for their burrows. You couldn't ask for a worse situation or a worse example to sell the idea of windpower to the masses. Anyone would think it had been planned by the nuclear industry to put people off wind power!

"Considered largely obsolete, these numerous small turbines are being gradually replaced with much larger and more cost-effective units. The small turbines are dangerous to various raptors that hunt California Ground Squirrels in the area. The larger units turn slower and, being elevated higher, are less hazardous to the local wildlife."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Pass_Wind_Farm

[MikeTV]

Originally Posted by nikyzf

Thanks MikeTV. I missed that and assumed it was first-hand! Duh!

You're welcome. I'm here to serve!

Originally Posted by MikeTV

You're welcome. I'm here to serve!

Here are some pics http://xahlee.org/Whirlwheel_dir/livermore.html
Looks a mess, but then it dates from the 1970s.