Posters
Come meet the poster presenters to ask them questions and discuss their work
We would like to invite you to come and see the posters at our upcoming conference. The posters will showcase a diverse range of research topics, and will give delegates an opportunity to engage with the authors and learn more about their work. Whether you are a seasoned researcher or simply curious about the latest developments in your field, we believe that the posters will offer something of interest to everyone. So please join us at the conference and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and engage with your peers in industry and the academic community.
PO337: Protecting Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus) through a bird migration study and automated detection and stop systems in wind farms.
Malu Giral, Lead Enviromental Manager, SSE Renewables
Abstract
Renewable energy installations could negatively affect the avifauna present in the surroundings, so additional studies and measures are needed to improve knowledge of threatened species and inform their protection. We present in this paper the results of two distinct but complementary approaches to protecting Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus), a species threatened at the European level: (1) a bird migration tracking study, and (2) implementation of an automated bird protection system at a wind farm. Bird migration data were collected from the radio-tracking of two Montagu’s Harriers settled in the area of two wind farms in La Rioja, Spain, from June 2023 over more than one complete phenological cycle, using solar-powered GPS-GSM transmitters. The study was carried out in collaboration with the La Rioja Government and the results identified the species movement patterns and habitat use during the reproductive, premigration, and migration periods. These data provide useful insights for the management and improvement of the conservation status of the species. Furthermore, we present the analysis of bird automatic detection and stop systems installed in October 2024 in Chaintrix Wind Farm in France, and evaluate their efficacy in avoiding collisions with Montagu’s Harrier. The installed system, 3D Observer, is a stereoscopic artificial vision system that works in real time and can detect and identify the position of birds approaching a wind farm. The system incorporates risk parameters and can automatically stop individual turbines and prevent collisions. The results showed that only a small amount of those risk trajectories were critical in triggering wind turbine shutdowns and demonstrate that the 3D Observer is effective for avoiding collisions. Bird migration tracking and the implementation of bird protection system can help protect Montagu’s Harrier for wind farms in Europe. This paper further contributes to enhancing the knowledge and conservation of the species.
