Over the last fifteen years there have been significant changes in the way many professional ecological surveys are carried out. In large part this has been driven by the standardisation of survey methods for many protected species (and species groups) brought about by the issue of widely accepted and endorsed guidance.
BSG Ecology’s Greg Chamberlain, Owain Gabb, Helen Simmons and Rachel Taylor will be attending the All Energy Conference at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), Glasgow on 4-5 May 2016.
We are currently working on energy projects throughout the UK and Ireland, and the team present will have over 50 years of consultancy experience to draw upon. We will be available to discuss ways in which we can provide innovative, cost effective ecological support required for energy sector planning applications, as well as technical concerns, such as the implications of forthcoming changes in bat survey guidelines for new and existing renewables schemes.
Bird ringing has been conducted at Oxwich Marsh by Gower Ringing Group since February 2013.
This is co-ordinated by Owain Gabb, a licensed bird ringer and trainer based in our Swansea Office.
The marsh is managed by Natural Resources Wales, and habitats include open water, reed bed, wet woodland and species-rich grassland to the landward side of an extensive area of sand dunes and open sandy foreshore. The entire area is notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Bird ringing has been conducted at Oxwich Marsh by Owain Gabb (a licensed ringer) from our Swansea Office, since February 2013.
During 2014 BSG Ecology provided training to two Master of Science students at Swansea University in order to help them develop their ornithological field skills. This enabled them to complete research projects on a species of particular local interest, Dartford warbler. The partnership was facilitated by the Access to Masters initiative, which is backed by the European Social Fund. In this short article, Hannah Meinertzhagen summarises the findings of her study, and the benefit she got from partnering with industry professionals.
John Baker, Senior Ecologist in BSG Ecology’s Oxford office attended the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) annual conference at the University of Leicester held between the 1st and 3rd April 2014. This year’s theme was the ecology and conservation of birds in upland and alpine habitats. Speakers came from across Europe and North America and included researchers from universities, consultants and representatives of NGOs.
BSG Ecology is currently providing technical support to MSc students under the tuition of Dr Penny Neyland and Dr Laura Roberts of Swansea University for their ornithological dissertations.
Owain Gabb, of BSG Ecology’s Swansea office, initially approached the University with ideas about studying aspects of Dartford warbler ecology and distribution on the Gower Peninsula in 2013. Following some discussion with academic staff, the topic was put to students on the 2014 MSc Environmental Biology: Conservation and Resource Management course as a potential research area.
As the number of solar parks in the UK increases, there is growing interest in the interaction of wildlife with ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. To date, a relatively low number of research papers have formed the basis for considerable discussion on the subject, and in some cases these have informed guidance relating to PV solar parks in the UK.
In February 2013 Owain Gabb from our Swansea Office, a licensed bird ringer on behalf of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and a member of Gower Ringing Group, began ringing birds at Oxwich Marsh, on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales.
In August 2013, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) released revised bird survey guidance for onshore wind farms. This represents the first substantial revision of guidance that was first formally issued in late 2005 (minor revisions / amendments were made in 2010). SNH has led the way on this topic in UK terms, and understanding changes in the SNH guidance is therefore very important, as they will be reflected in consultee expectations with regard to survey work throughout the UK.
There has been a considerable rise in the number of single turbine proposals over the past few years. This has come about primarily as a result of the introduction of Government feed-in tariffs, which have provided incentives to develop single turbine schemes. Despite the incentives, these small schemes generally have a limited budget if they are to be viable development propositions and sources of renewable energy.
Post-construction monitoring has been undertaken at wind farms in the UK for many years, and is now routinely requested for many multiple-turbine schemes. Despite this, relatively few UK monitoring studies have contributed significantly to our understanding of the ways in which birds and bats may be impacted by wind farm developments: for example with regard to the collision and displacement of birds, information still has to be pieced together using a wide range of sources.
