Abstract
This Information Note details methods used in determining rates of turbine strike and scavenging at the Braes of Doune Wind Farm. The Bird Strike Searches are to detect turbine related bird deaths at the site to monitor collision rates and species involved. The Carcass Removal Trials are to investigate a) the efficiency of searchers and b) estimate rates of scavenging in the area. This is intended to estimate how many bird strike victims are missed by the Bird Strike Search method.
This work is part of wider efforts at the Braes of Doune to detect any impacts from the wind farm on the local population of red kites (Milvus milvus). Other work includes radio tracking of red kites and also generic bird survey techniques.
Results of the work are presented as brief summaries; a fuller description is intended to be published at a later date. This note is therefore intended as an interim report of techniques applied so far at the Braes of Doune and is in response to a growing professional interest in this kind of post construction bird monitoring at wind farms.