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www.stornowaygazette.co.uk...
. . . it was clear the eagle had a serious head injury and it was also being eaten alive by midges.
It was found in a remote part of the island close to a large wind turbine so this is likely to have been the cause of its injuries.
. . .
After an x-ray, thankfully no breakages were found but the bird had severe bruising to the body as well as head trauma.
. . . the eagle had an RSPB leg ring and tracker attached to its body, I contacted the local RSPB representative, Robin Reid. He was able to confirm that the bird had been born in June 2009 here on the island.
. . .
“The population of white-tailed eagles on the Isle of Lewis has been increasing in recent years following their successful re-introduction to Scotland.
“However, it is concerning that this injured bird has been found close to a wind farm. We know the species is susceptible to collisions with wind turbines and we are concerned about the impact of further proposed wind farms in the area.”
www.wind-watch.org...
The dead sea eagle, known as Red T, was a male released in the east of Scotland in 2011. The corpse was found three months ago under a layer of snow beneath a wind turbine at Burnfoot Hill, which was developed by the Bristol-based company, Wind Prospect, and is owned and run by the French state enterprise, EDF Energy Renewables.
www.stornowaygazette.co.uk...< br />
The Stornoway Wind Farm Project would see 25 turbines erected on land owned by the Stornoway Trust, a publicly elected body which manages the Stornoway Trust Estate on behalf of the local community.
Iain Maciver, Factor of the Stornoway Trust, said: “We are relieved that the Stornoway Wind Farm project can finally now move forward.
. . .
“I believe this is not just good news for the Trust, but ironically also for the appellants, who, in my view, would have been exposing themselves and those they represent to considerable risk had they been successful in their ill-advised actions.
“As things currently stand, however, if the project proceeds as planned, they too can look forward to a share of rental revenues, which to them will be worth in excess of half a million pounds per annum.’
www.hebrides-news.com...
Mrs Mackenzie criticised the Stornoway Trust for giving a lease to Lewis Wind Power, saying there was no consultation with the grazings committees.
She maintained: “Nobody asked us if they could use our grazings for multinational turbines. Nobody wrote us a letter. Nobody gave us a phone call. Nobody even thought of telling us about it in the passing at Tesco’s. We were kept in the dark by the Stornoway Trust and then, when we did find out, we were told it was too late – it was a done deal and we couldn’t do anything about it.
“Even the worst private landlord would not dare to behave like that to their crofting tenants and it is simply shocking that the Stornoway Trustees not only signed that lease behind our backs but that they should continue to defend it . . .
THE STORNOWAY WIND FARM THUMBSCREWS
. . .
The French multinational is the main player behind the big projects planned for Lewis and is putting pressure on Government.
. . . LWP’s Stornoway scheme is doubly controversial because it is the subject of a legal battle between LWP and four crofting townships who want to be allowed to develop their own renewables projects on some of the same sites – their own common grazings.
. . .
The townships wanting to build their own schemes are Sandwick North Street, Melbost & Brananhuie, Sandwick East Street and Aignish. Their stated aim is to use 100 per cent of the profit to benefit the whole islands community along the same lines as the award-winning Point and Sandwick Trust, which supports projects throughout the Outer Hebrides.
. . . very concerning that EDF were meeting Scottish Government about their new proposals two months before we – the townships whose common grazings these turbines will be on – had heard anything about it.
. . .
Rhoda and I went along to the LWP public event this week. Personally, I didn’t feel hugely comfortable – ‘a mission behind enemy lines’, as one of my friends put it – but it was very informative to be able to see 3D images of what the turbines will look like in various places, if they go ahead.
. . .
I wasn’t a welcome presence at all in that exhibition (that’s me next to Rhoda, above). I spent time speaking to one representative from LWP, who was nice and tried his best to answer my questions, but I was also followed around the whole time by another representative from LWP – which you can see from the pictures.
www.rechargenews.com...
Deployment of the new generation of large onshore wind turbines in the 5MW-plus range is seen as a key way to make viable onshore wind projects currently locked out of the contract-for-difference (CfD) auctions that are the UK's main support mechanism for renewables, with no sign that the new Conservative government is inclined to reverse the policy.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
The annual fatality rate was significantly reduced at the turbines with a painted blade by over 70%, relative to the neighboring control (i.e., unpainted) turbines. The treatment had the largest effect on reduction of raptor fatalities; no white‐tailed eagle carcasses were recorded after painting.
discoverwindenergy.com...
Studies have shown that insects are very attracted to the bright white color that is found on most wind turbines around the world. As a result, they frequently land on the structures when they are not moving or stay around the area for long periods of time.
This causes birds, bats, and other flying animals to get injured by the wind turbines. They could be flying through the blades and get stopped in mid-air or choose to nest below them to be close to a convenient food source that the insects have created. It is speculated white-painted wind turbines could account for the cause of death of many different species of wildlife for these reasons.
It has been argued that wind turbines should be painted the color purple instead of white. A big reason for this suggestion is the fact that insects seem to be attracted to brighter colors like yellow and white.
Since most wind turbines are painted white and reflect the sunlight, they almost act as a magnet for all kinds of bugs and flying animals. It was concluded by scientists after conducting research that purple paint would keep the bugs away from the area and stop luring a large number of birds and bats toward the spinning blades.
When wind farmers choose to paint their turbines in shades of grey to help them blend into their surroundings, they are also doing it to attract fewer insects.
Even though the color grey is very close to white, it is not as bright and reflective. As a result, it deters bugs away from gathering near the blades. Although many people are leaning toward the idea of purple and grey paint colors, the default color for most wind turbines is still white at this moment.