Abstract
The Shiloh I Wind Power Project Area is situated on roughly 6,800 acres of agricultural land in the Montezuma Hills, near Rio Vista in Solano County, California. The project consists of 100 wind turbines rated at 1.5 MW each for a total capacity of up to 150 MW. All one hundred turbines went on-line in March 2006. This report details the first year results of a three-year post-construction study of the Shiloh I wind power projects. This is the third fatality study of the newer turbine technology installed in the Collinsville Montezuma Hills Wind Resource Area (CMHWRA). These turbines are arrayed on similar landscape and habitat as that in which approximately 510 turbines of the older technology are deployed along with more than 200 turbines of the newer technology. During the first year of this study, carcass surveys were conducted once per week at every other wind turbine tower between April 10, 2006 and April 5, 2007, for a total of 52 near-complete rounds at fifty wind turbine towers. A total of 173 avian incidents were recorded by searchers during standardized wind turbine tower surveys, representing 35 species plus 13 unidentified passerines. Of the 35 species, 5 were raptor species including American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Golden Eagle, and Barn Owl. There were a total of 30 raptor incidents, 121 songbird incidents involving 22 species (plus unidentified species) and 22 incidents involving a mix of 8 other avian species found during this one year study. Remains of fifty-two bats were found at wind turbine towers by searchers during standardized surveys, representing 4 different species including Hoary Bat, Mexican Free-tailed Bat, Western Red Bat, and Silver-haired Bat.