🚀 go-pugleaf

It's quite clear the CONservation hooligans have been known to stretch
the truth. Fabricate reasons to slaughter wildlife and even support
environmentally damaging projects if THE PRICE was right.

Ménage à trois with a twist?

Look what I found whilst searching Google. Old you might think? but if
you consider Ogilvie is an EX employee of RSPB and a current employee
of SNH the plot surely thickens?



http://www.iberica2000.org/Es/Articulo.asp?Id=1875

http://www.iberica2000.org/ES/Articulo.asp?Id=3744

Covering up the death of eagles at Scottish windfarms (3744)
 
A REALITY CHECK PROVES THE SCOTTISH EAGLES DO NOT AVOID WINDFARMS AS
CLAIMED 
An inconvenient truth gleaned from various sources shows that wind
farms have already, directly or indirectly, killed eagles, caused them
to "disappear", or reduced their breeding success in Scotland. It is
the best kept secret in this curious land where some eagle deaths make
the headlines, while others are either denied or swept under the
carpet - depending on who did the killing.

This paper brings proof that covering up the dark side of wind farms
is rampant in Scotland, as indeed it is everywhere : from politicians
to NGO´s, and from bird societies to those sadly ill informed sections
of the media, the wind power scam is well protected. Misrepresentation
of facts is routinely fed to a public unsure and nervous about future
events. Such a well recognised ‘state of fear’ blinds the normally
perceptive who would otherwise be less easily fooled.

 

.
.









Above picture : raptors are the essence of wilderness, and highlands
without eagles are like a garden without birds : something I hope
we´ll never see. 


For reasons as impossible to excuse as they are obvious, those charged
with protection of our protected species and habitats are apparently
convincing themselves that the carnage being wrought by windfarms
world wide, from Altamont Pass to Smola to the Navarre region of Spain
and elsewhere, will ‘magically’ somehow never affect the Scottish
environment ! Yet we are talking about identical species, from an
identical threat to be erected in parallel examples of unbelievably
bad locations.

Ornithology as a ‘profession’ is in danger of being forever tainted by
those preferring to deny the ever mounting evidence in favour of
becoming paid acolytes of the wind industry.

So take a good look at the eagles while you can - for barring
miracles, they will soon be gone forever. It will be ‘adios’
wilderness : here comes the age of destruction. 

Do not count on the European Commission to help : they are part of the
problem, not the solution - see --> Is the European Commission helping
with the environmental destruction of Europe ?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



In or about 1997, two golden eagles died at Beinn Ghlas, Argyll, where
a windfarm was to be built : it happened in the course of a
radio-tracking experiment. The windfarm was built nevertheless, in
1999. An article by Mike Gregory, a well-known raptor specialist from
the area, says the following : 

"This was one of the eagle territories targeted by the Forestry
Commission/RSPB radio-tracking project in the early Nineties. Both
adult birds were trapped at the nest and fitted with radio
transmitters and by the end of 1997 both birds had been found dead.
Since then there has been no evidence of occupation by a resident pair
of eagles, although the territory is visited occasionally by
neighbouring birds." (1)

Chances are that roaming immature eagles, and "floaters" looking for a
breeding range of their own, are also visiting the vacant territory
from time to time. It is common behaviour for these birds, and the
windfarm would not deter them any more than they do the adult eagles
from neighbouring territories as mentioned by Mr Gregory. A scientific
study has proven that eagles and other raptors are in fact attracted
by wind turbines (2). Besides, there is ample evidence from around the
world to show that these great birds do get close to wind turbines, to
the point of getting killed by the blades (3). 

When an eagle breeding range such as Beinn Ghlas becomes vacant, it
does not take very long before another pair will claim the territory
as their own. But Mike tells us that Beinn Ghlas was not occupied by a
pair since 1997, which could mean that the windfarm is acting as an
ecological trap ( i.e. killing the eagles that move in ). 

Indeed, a letter from Scottish Natural Heritage ( "SNH") dated 4
November 2003 reveals that an eagle had "recently died" at Beinn
Ghlas, that his female had left, and that another pair had moved in
(4) (page 2).

If these birds were missed by Mike Gregory, who is only checking on
that breeding territory at large intervals, it is likely that they
were killed before he could see them. For once eagles claim a
territory, they tend to keep it till the end. 

SNH say in the letter : " the female left the territory". But as no
monitoring was done, i.e. there was no search for bird carcasses under
the turbines, how can SNH be sure that the bird left, as opposed to
being killed ? If SNH followed the precautionary principle, they would
have assumed that the female also met her death. This would be
consistent with normal eagle behaviour : when a breeding eagle dies,
the surviving bird normally stays on the territory, and pairs up with
a floater. The assumption formulated by SNH is neither based on known
eagle behaviour, nor is it supported by evidence ( the female was not
seen anywhere else, was it ? ). It is in fact self serving : as a
quango, SNH must support government policy, which wrongly considers
eagle breeding territories as adequate locations for windfarms. And in
this context the news of eagles being killed or disappearing in
windfarm areas would disserve such policy. 

The other pair, the one that "moved in" after the female "left", was
never to be seen again : Mike Gregory, for one, never has ; yet he
checks on that territory year after year. As in the case of the female
above, it is likely that both these eagles were killed by the turbine
blades. And there may have been more victims in the 8 years of
operation of the windfarm : adults that would have claimed the
territory, or visiting neighbouring adults, or roaming subadults.

As searches under the turbines were not conducted, we don´t have eagle
carcasses to prove the point. But we do know that a pair claimed the
territory ( "moved in" ), and that they soon disappeared. We also know
that one eagle died ( SNH did not mention the cause ). And we know
that his female disappeared.

Under the Freedom of Information legislation, SNH was asked for
autopsies and correspondence on the subject of dead or missing eagles
at windfarms ( including 3 years before construction, and a 10km
circle around the turbines ). But according to their reply (5), there
is only the matter of a golden eagle who disappeared at the Beinn an
Tuirc windfarm, also in Argyll. We are told that they hold nothing at
all regarding Beinn Ghlas :
- nothing about the 2 eagles that died in a radio-tracking experiment 
- nothing about the eagle that died shortly before November 2003,
- nothing about the female that "left",
- nothing about the pair that "moved in " only to disappear shortly
after, 
- and nothing about the pair that disappeared from a neighbouring
territory (1) 

What is most remarkable is that we have, on one hand, a letter from
one of their officers mentioning one dead eagle and 3 that disappeared
(4), and on the other hand a letter under Freedom of Information
saying that they hold no correspondence on the matter (5).
Are they negating their own signature ? 
- Unless they have a plausible explanation, it does look as if they
are covering up. 









Above picture : ospreys too are being killed by windfarms and/or their
power lines. Evidence of it has not surfaced in Scotland so far, but
in view of what appears to be a cover up, this does not mean it hasn´t
happened.




From what we´ve seen, there is every reason to believe that the Beinn
Ghlas windfarm is acting as a "population sink" for golden eagles,
killing them as they move in, one after the other.

Yet in another letter, dated 16 August 2006, SNH misrepresented to me
that golden eagles avoid windfarms : "In general, therefore, we would
expect the effect of a windfarm to be to displace any resident eagles"
(6). This position was also made public, as evidenced by Mr Gregory´s
article (1) ( second paragraph before last ) . Yet it is not only in
contradiction with evidence from other windfarms around the world (
Altamont Pass, Navarre, Aragon, Soria etc. ), but also with what we
have seen happen at Beinn Ghlas.

The lack of credibility of SNH is nothing new. It has been exposed
before, here : The shame of Scotland











Above picture : raptors are not the only victims of wind turbines
and/or their power lines. Swans and geese are also on the list, as are
most birds and even bats. It is a sad future we are preparing for our
kids. 



SNH also base their eagles-avoid-windfarms position on the Beinn an
Tuirc windfarm, where monitoring of eagle flight patterns was
conducted after the turbines were erected. If we are to believe the
ornithology consultants, the resident eagles immediately proceeded to
avoid the windfarm, which is contrary to eagle behaviour in other
countries. 

Assuming that the field observer did his job conscienciously, it would
appear that the desired "avoidance" was obtained through manipulation:


First manipulation :

1) from page 35 of the monitoring report, right column, top of first
paragraph, we learn that the B&T eagles´ main food source is carrion;

2) then we learn on line 10 that sheep carcasses were removed from the
windfarm area as they were found;

3) from the Environmental Statement we know that it takes 5 to 7 years
for heather to grow into suitable habitat for grouse, after the
forestry is felled. Consequently, the management area held neither
prey nor sheep carrion that would have attracted the eagles;

4) this leads to a couple of questions : why would the eagles stop
flying over the windfarm ? and why would they fly so often over a
management area devoid of prey or carrion ? 
- The removal of sheep carcasses from the windfarm area is part of the
answer. The deposit of sheep carcasses or the release of prey in the
management area would be the other part.

The eagles did not spontaneously stop flying over the windfarm area
and favoured instead an unattractive, useless felled area of forestry.
As the absence or presence of prey or carrion influences their flight
paths, it is logical to think that carrion or prey was made available
to them in the management area. - There is no "avoidance" : this is
just "manipulation".

Costly as this programme may be, it is done at B&T to give support to
the false claim that Scottish eagles avoid windfarms. And this in turn
permits SNH to support windfarms in the wrong locations, such as
golden eagle breeding territories in other parts of Scotland.




Second manipulation :

It is said in the monitoring report that flight paths of intruding
eagles were not reported on the map. 
- Why ? Could it be because they flew through the windfarm ? 
Indeed they did. Here is what the report says : "In this study,
resident golden eagles appeared to avoid the windfarm within their
home range except when responding to intruders south and west of the
centre of the territory" ( which is where the windfarm stands ). 

How often would this occur ? 
- Page 30 : "one to 6 observations of intruding eagles were made per
year. These are not included in our analyses"
This means that, at least one of the years, six intrusions were
observed in 16 days of observation. Extrapolating, that would be : 6
in 16 days = 0.375 intrusion per day x 365 = 137 intrusions per annum,
and as many chases by the resident eagles. How many of these chases
would take part in the south-western part of their territory, where
the windfarm is located ? - A fair number, possibly 30 or more. 
But these flights are not shown on the map. 
- Why ?
- Could it be because it would be inconvenient to show that the
eagles, either residents or intruders, did not avoid the windfarm ?



A less than satisfactory assumption : 

The B&T monitoring report says : "the home range was occupied
throughout the study period, by apparently the same 2 adult eagles". 
The key word here is "apparently", for the birds are being observed
from distances of 1 kilometer or more. And from that distance an adult
eagle looks pretty much like any other, even with binoculars. 

Apart from that, 45 days are allowed to elapse between watches, and
that is plenty of time for a surviving eagle to pair up with a
newcomer after the original mate has been killed ( it has been
observed that pairing up with a new mate can occur within a week of
the death of a partner ). So there is no guarantee that the resident
eagles were not killed, then replaced by newcomers, and so on ( the
population sink effect ). As the windfarm is not monitored for
mortality, there is no way to know.



Eventually though, it was discovered that an eagle had "disappeared"
at B&T (1). So a search was conducted, but no carcass was found. 
- No carcass, no evidence, no problem ! So SNH may continue to
pretend, based on the B&T "evidence", that in Scotland eagles avoid
windfarms...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Finally, in the autumn of 2003, a rare white-tailed sea eagle was
found dead near a wind turbine on Pabay, a small island off Skye. Here
is what the autopsy report has to say : 


"This eagle carcase was , as you know , already a few days old when
found (maggots at least half grown I would guess)
I could see no external evidence of bruising or other injury .
The heart was enlarged and thin-walled , suggesting the bird is likely
to have been in "compensated" heart failure , and therefore somewhat
exercise intolerant for some time . The gullet and stomachs were
empty - there was little or no carcase fat .
In spite of state of the internal organs , there was some free blood
inside the sternum.
Because of its heart problem it could have died suddenly at any time -
and if it died whilst airborne , hitting the ground could have caused
internal haemorrhage.
It is not possible for me to say one way or the other whether the wind
turbines might have been involved ..."



SNH don´t hold, er, any correspondence ( or autopsy ) about that
incident either. 
- Most convenient !

Yet we had mentioned that death to ornithologist Malcom Ogilvie,
member as he is of their Scientific Advisory Committee...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




WHAT ABOUT THE RSPB ? 


A few months back, RSPB reported to the press the death of an eagle
that had been poisoned. They were keen to bring this up, and rightly
so.

I only wish they would be as keen to report eagles that die in other
circumstances : near wind turbines for instance. They may claim they 
did not know about the facts I reported here (?) ; but they know about
many others in other countries, which they try to ignore --> see :
RSPB executives are causing severe harm to bird life 

Releasing information about eagles killed by windfarms might harm
Scottish and Southern Energy´s business ... and SSE are selling a
product called "RSPB Energy"... whose sales pitch is linked to
renewable energy.
Most codes of ethics would call this a conflict of interest, and
denounce it.

In the article just mentioned ( see link ) I showed how the RSPB were
forced to disclose the first 9 eagle deaths at the Smola windfarm, and
how they chose to ignore the subsequent four. I suspect the next
report from Smola, where they are involved, will announce that the
eagles have now learned to avoid the blades... against all evidence
from around the world. 

The public will believe it of course. The RSPB wouldn´t cover up
evidence , would they ?



Mark Duchamp
.......................................................March 30th 2008
save.the.eagles@gmail.com


MORE INFORMATION : 

The negative effects of windfarms: links to papers published by Mark
Duchamp

PICTURE GALLERY
Pictures of birds cut to pieces, of turbines on fire, of accidents, of
ruined (or to-be-ruined) landscapes... 
TO ENLARGE : click "Photos" above picture on homepage.


FOOTNOTES 

(1) - Windfarms and Golden Eagles, the Argyll Experience - 07th July
2007 
Mike Gregory and Sandy Gordon are two founder members of the Argyll
Raptor Study Group who have studied Golden Eagles in south Argyll and
Kintyre for 35 years. That amount of experience needs to be listened
to. Mike´s article in Scottish Bird News No.84 provides a different
perspective from other published data on the impact on Golden Eagles
of windfarm development at Beinn an Tuirc and Beinn Ghlas. Based on
findings from these sites, Mike suggests that wind farms and Golden
Eagles do not go well to-gether...

Mike Gregory ---> scroll down to : Windfarms and Golden Eagles, the
Argyll Experience.

His article


(2) - "raptors spent significantly more time flying at close proximity
to turbine blades ... than 51-100 m away ... or >100 m away …
Analyzing the total number of minutes of flight time reveals that
something about wind turbines may attract red-tailed hawks to fly near
turbines and at dangerous heights. Similarly, American kestrels flew
in proximity level 1 (ie 1-50m from turbine) nearly four times longer
than expected by chance, golden eagles two times longer, and northern
harriers three times longer" . 
BIRD RISK BEHAVIORS AND FATALITIES AT THE ALTAMONT PASS WIND RESOURCE
AREA, THELANDER, C. G, SMALLWOOD, K.S., RUGGE, L. Period of
Performance: March 1998-December 2000, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory Report SR-500-33829, 2003. Report


(3) - Eagles and windfarms


(4) - SNH letter 4 November 2003 - page 1

SNH letter 4 November 2003 - page 2
penultimate paragraph mentions the eagles


(5) - SNH letter 7 March 2008
b> "We do not hold any correspondence relating to incidents of eagle
deaths or disappearances at or in areas of up to 10 km surrounding
windfarms" 

(6) - SNH letter 16 Aug 2006


(7) - Chilling Statistics 

Insertado por: marcos (30/03/2008) 
Fuente/Autor: Mark Duchamp