Abstract
The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm is located in the Moray Firth, at its closest 13.5 km from the Caithness coast. Construction of the offshore elements began in April 2017, the first turbine was installed and operational by July 2018 and the final turbine was installed on the 14th May 2019.
The potential ornithological impacts which were considered of greatest concern during the application process were collision risk to large gulls (great black-backed gull and herring gull) and displacement of foraging auks (guillemots, razorbills and puffins). All these species breed at colonies which comprise the East Caithness Cliffs SPA and some of the birds present at the Wind Farm during the breeding season are likely to be from this SPA population. Through discussion with the Moray Firth Regional Advisory Group Ornithology Subgroup (MFRAG-O), the potential for the above impacts to affect these breeding populations was identified as the focus of ornithological monitoring for the Wind Farm. A survey area, approximately rectangular in shape aligned parallel to the Caithness coast, was defined and surveyed in 2015 to provide pre-construction data.
The surveys follow transects extending from the Caithness coast to 4 km beyond the seaward edge of the Wind Farm site boundary which measure approximately 40 km from north-east to south-west (Figure 2-1). In 2019, following installation of all turbines, the first post-construction survey was conducted. The same survey design and aerial survey contractor (HiDef) were used to ensure data comparability.
All seabirds were recorded during the surveys, however the targets for monitoring identified by MFRAG-O (hereafter, focal species) were great black-backed gull, herring gull, puffin, common guillemot, razorbill, kittiwake and gannet. Therefore, this report only discusses these species.