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Via Pontica and Integrated Bird Protection System in Kaliakra, NE Bulgaria
- 1. Stirling, Scotland, 27‐30 August 2019 Professor Dr Pavel Zehtindjiev Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- 3. What we know: Bird migration is a large scale process Data from: Movebank It is a free, online database of animal tracking data hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. https://www.movebank.org / Pfeilstorch (German for "arrow stork") found in 1822
- 4. What we know: Bird species have avoidance rate over 90% -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Averagebirdregistrations Turbines count
- 5. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 5 10 15 20Averageheightaboveterrain Turbines count
- 7. Eastern European flyway – VIA PONTICA According to GPS satellite tracking data passes away from Kaliakra NGO appeal in the EC and Bern Convention is based on limited and episodic data Enigmatic VIA POTICA is not defined in the appeal of NGO Kaliakra
- 8. >80 km Long term monitoring data: breeding, wintering, migratory periods BEFORE & AFTER APROUCH in Kaliakra SPA
- 9. • Specialized High-tech radars Bird Scan MS1 Deltatrack Radar System Radar Robin • Meteorological data Wind speed and direction Visibility barometric conditions • Experienced Field Ornithologists team Senior Field Ornithologist (SFO) Field Ornithologists The combination of the main elements ensures accurate assessment of risk for bird collision and guarantees taking immediate actions
- 12. 30 TARGET SPECIES 1 Egyptian Vulture(Neophron percnopterus) 2 Griffon Vulture(Gyps fulvus) 3 Black Vulture(Aegypius monachus) 4 Pallid Harrier(Circus macrourus) 5 Greater Spotted Eagle(Aquila clanga) 6 Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) 7 Lesser Kestrel(Falco naumanni) 8 Saker Falcon(Falco cherrug) 9 White-tailed Eagle(Haliaeetus albicilla) 10 Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
- 13. • Follows the methodology developed in the United States (Morrison 1998) for monitoring bird collision with the turbines and will apply to all Wind Farms included or joined to IBPS • Periodically performed assessment of the effectiveness of the search for victims of collision to determine the actual mortality • Annual assessment of the efficiency at the Population Level defined as the ratio of collision birds of the species concerned and the number of the population of that species for a given migration period passing through territory
- 14. • Dedicated website created • Publicly available information related to the observed birds, turbine stops, collusion victim results • Seasonal and annual reports for the public and competent authorities
- 15. Наименование на български език Наименование на латински език Приблизителен брой Сива чапла A. cinerea 6 Малък ястреб A. nisus 1 Обикновен мишелов B. buteo 21 Белоопашат миелов B. rufinus 1 Тръстиков блатар C. aeruginosus 13 Бял щъркел C. ciconia 76 Гарван C. corax 2 Observed bird species in week and monthly reports Turbine stops report Date Wind park Turbine number Species of birds Number of birds stop start 30.03.2018 AES D, C Сив жерав (Grus grus) 13 13:07 13:20
- 16. Maps with flocks observed in the period and map with GPS tracks of searches for collision victims are part of the reports Green 240 white pelicans 25.03.2018., Pink 67 white storks 25.03.2018, Blue 48 cranes 29.03.2018 and Yellow 13 cranes 30.03.2018 in the monthly report for March GPS tracks of the searchers for a period reported (March 2018)
- 17. Pictures of birds observed passing through the EWS territory are published in weekly and monthly reports
- 18. COLLISION VICTIMS - AUTUMN MIGRATION Species Number IUCN Common Swift (A. аpus) 1 LC Alpine Swift (A. melba) 1 LC Skylark (A. аrvensis) 1 LC Common Buzzard (B. Buteo) 2 LC Yellow-legged Gull (L.michahellis) 3 LC Larus sp. 1 White Wagtail (M. аlba) 1 LC Corn Bunting(M. calandra) 1 LC Grey Partridge (P. perdix) 2 LC Magpie (P. pica) 1 LC Starling (S. vulgaris) 1 LC Kestrel (F. tinnunculus) 2 LC Yellowhammer (E. citrinella) 1 LC Total 18 MORTALITY OF TARGET SPECIES = 0
- 19. COLLISION VICTIMS - SPRING MIGRATION Species Number IUCN Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 1 LC Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) 1 LC Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) 1 LC Buzzard (Buteo buteo) 1 LC Total 4 MORTALITY OF TARGET SPECIES = 0 COLLISION VICTIMS – WINTERING PERIOD Species Number IUCN Starling (S. vulgaris) 1 LC Buzzard (Buteo buteo) 1 LC Total 2
- 20. Dynamics of the autumn migration in the ISPB territory according to visual observations during the period 01 August - 31 October 2018. Letters indicate the direction of wind in days with increased number of migrating birds.
- 21. The combination of existing high-tech radar observations and meteorological data, integrated with field visual observations provide essential for the accurate risk assessment information and adequate application of Early Warning System. The monitoring on the efficiency of ISPB in 114 wind generators in Kaliakra region (NE Bulgaria) resulted in ZERO mortality within 30 sensitive target species of birds during seasonal migration and wintering periods. No barrier effect of wind turbines has been observed for any of the bird species observed in the periods of migration.
Editor's Notes
- Via Pontica (from Latin: Via Pontica, Black Sea Road) was an ancient Roman road in the province of Thrace, following the Black Sea coast. In the present moment this historical fact was transformed to the idea of a bird-migration migratory airspace limited in a corridor and even to a ban on the construction of wind power facilities in the entire Dobrudja region of Bulgaria. In 15 minutes I will present results of Integrated System for Protection of Birds designed to monitor impact of wind turbines on birds and to reduce the risk for migrating and wintering birds in a part of Via Pontica – Kaliakra.
- First I would like to explain the term Via Pontica. How the Via Pontica has been transformed from a humane made road to migratory fly way for migrating birds. For the first time Pavel Patev the great Bulgarian ornithologist used the term to indicate a territory useful for observations on migratory birds along the Black see coast. Pavel Patev did not define the boundaries of “the FLY WAY PONTIUS”. The term “Via Pontica fly way” by Nikolay Boev in 1970 in a newspaper publication in order to illustrate and explain migration of soaring birds. After this the term Via Pontica has been frequently used in the gray literature by many birders and is currently subject of many conservation documents. Up to now there is no clear definition of the territorial coverage of Via Pontica Fly Way as well as conectivity of bird populations indicated migrating along enigmatic VIA PONTICA FLY WAY. Here we can see the douaen of the Bulgarian Ornithology – Tanyo Michev ( in the center of the picture) the man who educated and inspired the modern Bulgarian Ornithology. Thanks to Tanyo soaring bird migration has been investigated in details in last 20 years in Bulgaria.
- The first data on bird migration has been collected when birds were occasionally marked by accidents. One good example are the storks with arrows which appeared periodically in the history. The first and most famous Pfeilstorch was a white stork found in 1822 near the German village of Klütz, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was carrying an arrow from central Africa in its neck. This Pfeilstorch was crucial in understanding the migration of European birds. Before migration was understood, people had no explanation for the sudden annual disappearance of birds like the white stork and barn swallow. Some theories of the time held that they turned into mice, or hibernated at the bottom of the sea during the winter, and such theories were even propagated by zoologists of the time.[4] The Rostocker Pfeilstorch in particular proved that birds migrate long distances to wintering grounds.[5] To test the behaviour of migrating white storks in respect to wind turbines we have combined power of GPS tracking devises and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into a large scale evaluation of wind turbine effect on migrating white storks as a model species of a typical soaring bird. The polygon of our study area covers a large section of the eastern flyway of white storks. We get 605 609 target points after processing of the available 1.200 000 points through the target territory (https://www.movebank.org/). The number of operating turbines and their coordinates were obtained from OpenStreetMap®.
- The collision with the rotating wind turbines and the barrier effect of the wind parks are virtually opposite situations and every species has specific avoidance rate and behavior. We have analyzed the GPS data from migrating white storks to see if when the birds avoid the territories with wind generators. The blue dots are birds at altetudes over 200 m above the terain and red dots are storks lower the 200 m (exposed to wind turbine impact). We have observed variety of situations along the eastern fly way of white storks. Depending on the number of wind generators birds can cross through or completely avoid a certain territory.
- When we plotted the density of wind turbines and altitude of birds over the same territory we can see the increase of the flight altitudes of white storks over the territories with 7 and more turbines per square kilometer.
- But in some situations when the open water bodies or other landscape characteristics limit ability of soaring birds to fly we observe bottleneck effect resulting in an natural increase of the migrating birds over the territory despite of the risk. |For example the city of Istanbul where the highest density of white storks along Eastern Fly Way was established by Satellite tracking. In such territories variety of mitigation measures can reduce the risk and mitigate the impact of wind turbines on migrating birds.
- Kaliakra region is the most eastern territory of Bulgaria. The region of NE Bulgaria is the major source for wind energy production. The number of operating wind turbines is much lower then established as critical for migrating storks number. In the same time Cape Kaliakra and adjacent territories has been recognized as Bird Important Area and later designated for NATURA 2000 zone. In order to provide safe environment for migrating and wintering birds Bulgarian Government has initiated process for adequate protection of this area.
- Long term monitoring program of preconstruction and operational stages of wind parks has been applied in the area of Kaliakra since 2003 until now. This studies resulted in a number of scientific publications and a lot of technical reports. All this data has been collected and analyzed in order to find the best solution for bird protection in the area.
- The Integrated System for Protection of Bird is commissioned by 12 operators of 114 wind turbines, of which 95 are fall within the SPA BG0002051 "Kaliakra" and 19 in the areas adjacent to the protected zone. The monitoring studies are based on the requirements of basic normative and methodological documents as follows: Environmental Protection Act, Biodiversity Act, Bulgarian Red Data Book, Habitats and Wildlife Conservation Directive, Birds Directive, Law of the Protected Areas, the Biological Diversity Act and Order RD-94 of 15.02.2018 of the Minister of Environment and Waters.
- The main purpose of IBPS: Ensure biodiversity protection while producing sustainable green energy Establish joint efforts of all the Wind Farms located in SPA Kaliakra Achieve effective biodiversity management and minimize the risk of bird mortality from the wind generators Suspend single turbines, groups of generators or whole Wind Farms in case of critical risk levels for a list with target species is achieved Apply common monitoring procedures during risk periods for species of conservation significance Ensure transparency and publicity of the monitoring results Use best world practices for bird protection
- The IBPS key element are Expert ornithologists, coordinated by the SFO, located at places where they can monitor birds approaching the wind turbine generators. The visual observations allow the bird species to be determined and, therefore, to distinguish the highly sensitive species, the species of conservation significance from the other bird species, especially in the lowest range of radar work, where there are many reflected side echo signals, called noise. In the case of “risky” bird movements being observed, a suspension protocol for the affected turbines is triggered.
- Based on the professional judgment of the SFO and on the radar data, the field ornithologists’ observations and the meteorological data Influenced by the following main factors: the bird species (defines their behaviour with regard to the generators, such as circumvention) and their conservation status (30 target bird species are defined) known typical behaviour of the species in regard to avoiding the turbine direction, speed and height of the flight specific climatic conditions, mainly in terms of wind direction and wind speed Integrated in the operating procedures of the duty staff Documented in the field logbook and by the turbine Scada systems
- The only available study which was able to quantify the influence of a TSS on collision fatalities was at Tarifa in southern Spain because it involved “before and after TSS” research (de Lucas et al. 2012a). The reduction of fatalities to about half was primarily based on its capacity to reduce fatalities of griffon vultures. TSS is least likely to have played a role in winter at IBPS territory because its operation is restricted to periods of ‘bad weather’ when (see earlier) the target species (geese) are likely to use behaviours which may compensate for reduced visibility when TSS is deployed. TSS at our territory is more likely to have played a role in preventing collision fatalities during the autumn study period, since it is more frequently deployed then (see above). Even at this time of year, however, it seems to be a secondary or tertiary factor in explaining the ‘success’ of the wind farm in avoiding or minimising collision mortality of potentially sensitive species.
- The web site has a contact form for information and further details on the published weekly, monthly and seasonal reports. The web site also provide methodology of the monitoring as well as models used for prediction of collision risk for birds in autumn and spring migration. All information is available for governmental and non governmental organizations, expert of Bern Convention and European commission.
- The weekly reports include number of observed birds in the IBPS territory, number of turbine stops with details on the time stopped and started as well as the reason for the directed stops. The weekly reports provide data on bird collision monitoring.
- Every week maps with the detected by the radar systems and confirmed by field ornithologists flocks of birds are published at the web site. Every day all searches for bird remains under turbines are documented and GPS tracks are mapped and archived.
- Some of the most interesting for the ornithologists observations are also documented and published at the web site. For example Egyptian Vulture with a satellite transmitter was observed and reported. This case is acknowledged by the Bulgarian BirdLife parner (BSPB) in Life + project web site. Another intriguing observation is a pair of Demoiselle cranes which stayed for a month during the breeding season in the middle of IBPS territory between the turbines in a temporary pond of surface water. This species is particularly rare for Bulgaria and attracts bird watchers.
- The monitoring of added mortality after 1409 searches under 114 turbines between 15 August and 31 October 2018 in the territory discovered 18 dead birds of 12 species in most intensive migratory season – Autumn 2018. All observed collisions does not add significant mortality rate to the natural balance of the populations of these species. Therefore we do not have any evidence for negative effect of operational wind turbines in Kaliakra region on bird populations flying through the territory in autumn migration.
- 4 collision victims are registered during spring migration after 1024 searches between 15 March and 15 May 2018. The established collision rate with operational 114 turbines in spring migration and wintering period of geese in the study region does not There is no significant additional mortality due to operational for the populations of birds passing through as well as wintering in the territory bird species. 1285 searches under 114 turbines in winter 2018 when the geese are presented in the region did not discovered any geese species including endangered Red-breasted geese (Branta ruficollis).
- The available long term monitoring data and GPS tracking positions of White storks at Eastern flyway indicate wide front of Via Pontica Fly Way and its geographic borders in NE Bulgaria. The all available data point at specific in respect to bird migration position of Kaliakra region. The territory of Kaliakra is not in the main Flay Way of Soaring birds. Variations in the number of migrating soaring birds in Kaliakra region is due to drift of soaring birds in days with western winds.