Autumn migration of soaring birds in North Dobrogea, Romania: a study with implications for wind farm development

Autumn migration of soaring birds in North Dobrogea, Romania: a study with implications for wind farm development AttilA Fülöp1, 2, *, Lőrinc BărBos1, GáBor M. Bóné1, sziLárd J. daróczi1, Luca a. deheLean1, réka B. kiss1, istván kovács1, attiLa naGy1, taMás PaPP1 Attila Fülöp, Lőrinc Bărbos, Gábor M. Bóné, Szilárd J. Daróczi, Luca A. Dehelean, Réka B. Kiss, István Kovács, Attila Nagy, Tamás Papp 2012. Termikelő madarak őszi vonulása Észak-Dobrudzsában, Romániában: szempontok a szélerőmű parkok tervezéséhez. – Ornis Hungarica 20(2): 73–85. Abstract In Dobrogea, a core area for wind energy exploitation in Romania, existing knowledge regarding the intensity and pattern of bird migration is limited. In the absence of enumerated data, wind farms may be constructed in areas where large aggregations of migrants pass. In this study we recorded the intensity of the autumn migration of soaring birds in three locations within the Măcin Mountains, where wind farms are planned to be built. The locations chosen were at Văcăreni, Greci and Cerna villages. Furthermore we categorized all migrating individuals as threatened or non-threatened by the planned wind farms, based on their migration routes and height at local scale. At Văcăreni 4.716 individuals were counted, 3.394 raptors and 1.322 non-raptors, at Greci 2.387 individuals, 2.064 raptors and 323 non-raptors, and finally at Cerna, 5.268 individuals, 4.529 raptors and 739 non-raptors. At all three sites a significant proportion of birds, both raptors and non-raptors, were found to be threatened by the proposed wind farms. At Văcăreni 68.33% of raptors and 84.95% of non-raptors were at threat, at Greci 44.48% and 54.18% respectively, and at Cerna 59.37% and 94.86%. As such we conclude that intensive migration occurs in North Dobrogea and wind farms would have a considerable negative impact on migrants in the studied areas. Keywords: Măcin Mountains, migration corridor, raptors, wind energy, impact Összefoglalás A madárvonulás intenzitásáról és mintázatáról Dobrudzsa területéről, mely egy kulcsfontosságú régiót jelent Románia számára, a szélenergia hasznosítása szempontjából csekély mennyiségű ismerettel rendelkezünk. A megfelelő információk hiányában a szélerőmű parkokat olyan területekre építhetik, ahol jelentős madár tömegek vonulnak el. Vizsgálatunkban a termikelő madarak őszi vonulását követtük a Măcin-hegység térségében, Văcăreni, Greci és Cerna települések határában, ahova a közeljövőben szélerőmű parkokat terveznek létesíteni. Az átvonuló egyedeket megszámoltuk, majd minden madár esetében megállapítottuk, összehasonlítva a vonulási útvonalát és magasságát a tervezett szélerőművek hatáskörzetével, hogy veszélyeztetett-e vagy sem a tervezett a szélturbinák által. Văcăreni-nél összesen 4716 egyedet észleltünk, 3394 ragadozót és 1322 nem ragadozót, Greci-nél 2387 egyedet, 2064 ragadozót és 323 nem ragadozót, és végül Cerna-nál 5268 egyedet, 4529 ragadozót és 739 nem ragadozót. Văcăreni-nél a ragadozók 68,33%-a és a nem ragadozók 84,95%-a vonult a veszélyes zónában, Greci-nél a ragadozók 44,48%-a, a nem ragadozók 54,18%-a, Cerna-nál a ragadozók 59,37%-a, valamint a nem ragadozók 94,86%-a repült át a veszélyes területen. Eredményeink alapján megállapíthatjuk, hogy Észak-Dobrudzsában jelentős őszi madárvonulás figyelhető meg, valamint a tervezett szélerőmű parkok jelentős kockázatot jelentenének a vonuló madarakra, ha megépülnének. Kulcsszavak: Măcin-hegység, vonulási folyosó, ragadozók, szélenergia, veszélyforrás 1 Milvus Group – Bird and Nature Protection Association, Crinului street 22, 540620 Târgu Mureş, Romania 2 MTA-DE “Lendület” Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1., Hungary * Correspondence to Attila Fülöp: e-mail: [email protected]o, address: Milvus Group – Bird and Nature Protection Association, Crinului street 22, 540620 Târgu Mureş, Romania Ornis Hungarica 2012. 20(2): 73–85. doi: 10.2478/orhu-2013-0009 ORNIS HUNGARICA 2012. 20(2) 74 Introduction The move to alternative energy sources has become one of the most important strategies in the European Union for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (Nagy & Körmendi 2012). Along with solar power, hydroelectric power and geothermal energy, wind is an important renewable energy source which, when exploited through wind turbines, can produce electricity with minimal carbon emissions. Currently wind energy provides for 5.3% of the EU’s energy consumption. However, this is set to rise steeply over the next two decades as the EU moves towards its target of generating 28.5% of its electricity usage by 2030, according to some scenarios (EWEA 2011). This implies intensive proliferation of wind farms, and already a constant increase can be spotted all over Europe, including Romania, and inside Romania especially in Dobrogea. Dobrogea is a region situated in the South-Eastern part of the country, between the Danube River and the Black Sea. It is characterized by an arid climate and windy weather, which shows a high intensity over the whole period of the year (Lungu et al. 2009). Due to its climate, Dobrogea constitutes a priority area for Romania to exploit wind energy (RWEA 2011) and as such the number of wind farms has increased significantly in this region in the last few years, with the total capacity of the approved projects until January 2012 reaching 5000 MW power (CN Transelectrica SA 2012). Although wind farms are generally recognized as a ‘green’ energy source with various benefits, several adverse effects of wind farms on flying animals (e.g. birds and bats) can be highlighted, which cannot be neglected (reviewed by Drewitt & Langston 2006, Hötker et al. 2006, Kunz et al. 2007, Drewitt & Langston 2008). As a primary impact on birds, (1) wind farms cause habitat disturbance, both during building (Pearce-Higgins et al. 2012) and during functioning (Garvin et al. 2011, Carrete et al. 2012, De Lucas et al. 2012). Beside habitat disturbance, (2) wind farms also produce a barrier-effect in the course of passing individuals (Drewitt & Langston 2006, Pruett et al. 2009), and, (3) most significantly, there is a high risk of collision for flying animals with the moving rotor blades (Drewitt & Langston 2006), which can occur both during local movements, or during migration. Thus sedentary and migrating individuals can be affected as well (Drewitt & Langston 2006). Collision risk, hence mortality rate, of birds at wind farms can be highly variable over the year (De Lucas et al. 2008) and it depends on a wide range of factors, like bird species, number and behavior of individuals, flight strategy, migratory behavior, weather conditions and surface topography (reviewed by Drewitt & Langston 2006, Drewitt & Langston 2008), as well as from turbine height and elevation above sea level (De Lucas et al. 2008). It has been shown previously that the most affected groups are birds using the soaring-gliding flight style, like raptors (Garvin et al. 2011). Therefore, based on our present knowledge, the scenario with the highest collision risk would be a flock of soaring birds flying at the height of the wind farms in bad weather conditions, over a migration route (Kikuchi 2008). Raptors and other soaring birds migrate over well-established migration routes (or migration corridors) and generally use geographical bottlenecks (e.g. Bosporus, Gibraltar, Suez) to cross large water surfaces (Ferguson-Lees & Christie 2001). Over these migration routes and bottlenecks large concentrations of migrating birds can be counted (Newton 2008). In Romania, Dobrogea 75 is defined as an important migration corridor for birds coming from the Northernand North-Eastern part of Europe and heading to Africa through the Bosporus, following the Via Pontica flyway, a section of the Eurasian – East African Flyway which runs down the Western coast of the Black Sea (Domahidi et al. 2004, Newton 2008, Michev et al. 2012). Large numbers of birds pass every autumn over Dobrogea (Domahidi & Komáromi 2004, Domahidi et al. 2004, Komáromi 2005, Milvus Group 2008, Pârâu 2011). The geographical distribution of the migrants is relatively uniform, however migration intensity tends to be more accentuated on the Westernand Eastern parts of the region (Milvus Group 2011). In the present study we provide data on the magnitude of autumn migration of several raptors and other bird species in three different regions of North Dobrogea, all located within the area of Măcin Mountains, where wind farms are planned to be constructed in the near future. All three study sites are part of a Natura 2000 site (ROSPA0073) or are in the near vicinity of it, thus represent areas of high conservation priority. Beside the number of migrating individuals we try to assess the potential impact of wind farms on the migrants, based on the migration route and height of individuals compared to the operating range of wind turbines at local scale. Our study highlights the importance of this region as a migration corridor and the potential negative effect of the wind farms on migrants. Material and Methods Species of interest We focused our study on several bird species which may be negatively influenced by the presence of wind farms in the course of their migration. Typically such groups include all raptors and other large-sized soaring birds (e.g. Storks, Pelicans, Cranes). Beside the enumerated taxa we also recorded the species belonging to the following groups: Cormorants, Herons, Geese, Ducks, Gulls and Pigeons. Most of these birds are large-sized, thus they can be detected and counted from long distances. Study sites We made our observations from three different count points simultaneously. Count points were located in the area of Măcin Mountains, in the vicinity of the villages of Văcăreni (N 45.265267°, E 028.227751°), Greci (45.136395°, E 028.263373°) and Cerna (N 45.068871°, E 028.346660°). In all the three places wind farms are planned to be built with various number of wind turbines: 35 at Văcăreni (APM Tulcea 2011a, APM Tulcea 2011b, APM Tulcea 2011c, As Orimex New SRL 2011a, As Orimex New SRL 2012a), 24 at Greci (As Orimex New SRL 2011b, As Orimex New SRL 2012b, As Orimex New SRL 2012c) and 27 at Cerna (APM Tulcea 2011d, As Orimex New SRL 2011c, As Orimex New SRL 2013). Observation points were placed on the top of hills to have good visibility on the study areas and to maximize the chance to observe migrating birds over large distances (see Figure 1). General survey procedures We recorded the ‘visible’ migration of birds in the autumn of 2012 during two diffe rent periods, between 20–30 September and 5–14 October, summing 21 observation days in total. Survey periods were chosen A. Fülöp, L. Bărbos, G. M. Bóné, Sz. J. Daróczi, L. A. Dehelean, R. B. Kiss, I. Kovács, A. Nagy, T. Papp ORNIS HUNGARICA 2012. 20(2) 76 Figure 1. Map showing the location of the study sites in Măcin Mountains. A highlighted view of each site shows the positioning of the count points in relation to the distribution of the planned wind turbines and surface topography 1. ábra A vizsgált területek elhelyezkedése a Măcin-hegység térségében (bal oldal). Az egyes mintaterületeket külön-külön ábrázoló térkép, mely a megfigyelőpont elhelyezkedését szemlélteti a tervezett szélturbinák helyzetéhez és a felszín domborzatához viszonyítva (jobb oldal) 77 to cover the migration peak of the two most abundant migrating raptors in Dobrogea in this period, the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina) and the Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) respectively (Pârâu 2011). According to previous studies (Domahidi et al. 2004, Pârâu 2011) the migration peak of the Lesser Spotted Eagles in the area of Măcin Mountains is in the second half of September. The abundance of migrating Common Buzzards fluctuates over time, but the highest numbers were recorded between 20 September and 15 October (Domahidi & Komáromi 2004, Komáromi 2005, Pârâu 2011). We carried out our observations every day between 9 AM and 6 PM according to the method described by Bird & Bildstein (2007). During these hours 2-4 ornithologists were present on every survey point, actively searching for migratory birds arriving from the North, North-East or North-West, but without disregarding the other directions either. Surveyors were equipped with binoculars (Leica Ultravid HD 10×42) and spotting scopes (Kowa TSN-883, eyepieces 30× and 20-60×). Observations were suspended only in case of bad weather conditions (rain or fog), when the visibility decreased significantly and counting became impossible. We recorded all the observed migrating individuals or flocks in standard data sheets. Migrating birds were identified at species level. If accurate determination was impossible, birds were determined at genus level or marked as unknown. Unidentified raptors were noted using a common reference as ‘Rapaces sp.’. Beside the number of individuals we recorded the flight direction, distance from the count point and presence or absence in the risk zone. Wandering individuals were also noted (e.g. birds coming from South). Safe zone and risk zone Within the three study sites we determined the risk zone and the safe zone. The risk zone was delimited as the total operation range of the planned wind turbines. This took into account the altitude gradient, ranging between 0–200 meters above the ground level, to give the approximate range of motion of an average wind turbine. Individuals flying within the described altitude limits inside the area of a wind farm are considered as presenting a high collision risk with operating wind turbines. The safe zone was defined as all the area outside of the planned wind farms, or the altitude >200 meters above ground inside the area of the wind farms, the height from which most migrating birds can safely cross above the wind farm area. Double counts and data manipulation Double counting inside the same study area was prevented by following every bird or flock during its transition over the region, heading mainly from North to South, from the moment of its first detection until the moment of disappearance. Double counting between the count points cannot be completely avoided due to the positioning of the points along an approximate North-South gradient. Although the count points were at relatively large distances from each other, overestimates in the total number of individuals cannot be excluded. The number of observed migrants was summed and the proportion of threatened and non-threatened individuals was calculated in the case of every species at all the three count points separately. A. Fülöp, L. Bărbos, G. M. Bóné, Sz. J. Daróczi, L. A. Dehelean, R. B. Kiss, I. Kovács, A. Nagy, T. Papp ORNIS HUNGARICA 2012. 20(2) 78 SPECIES NAME Threatened Proportion of threatened (%) Nonthreatened Proportion of nonthreatened (%) Total at count point (100%) Raptors European Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus 4 66.67 2 33.33 6 Osprey Pandion haliaetus 1 33.33 2 66.67 3 Black Kite Milvus migrans 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 28 66.67 14 33.33 42 White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 6 85.71 1 14.29 7 Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 130 65.66 68 34.34 198 Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 59 79.73 15 20.27 74 Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 14 82.35 3 17.65 17 Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus 11 73.33 4 26.67 15 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 1495 63.83 847 36.17 2342 Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus 2 50.00 2 50.00 4 Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina 431 82.57 91 17.43 522 Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 3 75.00 1 25.00 4 Booted Eagle Aquila pennata 3 42.86 4 57.14 7 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 3 75.00 1 25.00 4 Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus 82 100.00 0 0.00 82 Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo 19 79.17 5 20.83 24 Saker Falcon Falco cherrug 1 33.33 2 66.67 3 Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 6 75.00 2 25.00 8 Unidentified raptor Rapaces sp. 15 57.69 11 42.31 26 Total raptors 2319 68.33 1075 31.67 3394 Non-raptors Mute Swan Cygnus olor 0 0.00 1 100.00 1 Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus 133 100.00 0 0.00 133 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 8 38.10 13 61.90 21 Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmeus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 White Stork Ciconia ciconia 11 84.62 2 15.38 13 Black Stork Ciconia nigra 235 72.98 87 27.02 322 Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull Larus michahellis/cachinanns 0 0.00 3 100.00 3 Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus 491 92.82 38 7.18 529 Stock Dove Columba oenas 142 91.61 13 8.39 155 Unidentified pigeon Columba sp. 100 70.42 42 29.58 142 Total non-raptors 1123 84.95 199 15.05 1322 TOTAL 3442 72.99 1274 27.01 4716 Table 1. Total number of migrating individuals recorded at Văcăreni study site during the full study period. The distribution of migrants between the risk zone (marked as Threatened) and safe zone (marked as Non-threatened) shows the potential impact of wind farms 1. táblázat A Văcăreni-i megfigyelőponton, a teljes vizsgálati időszak alatt rögzített, átvonuló egyedek összessége. Az egyedek eloszlása a veszélyes, illetve a nem veszélyes zónában a tervezett szélerőmű parkok potenciális hatását mutatják 79 SPECIES NAME Threatened Proportion of threatened (%) Nonthreatened Proportion of nonthreatened (%) Total at count point (100%) Raptors European Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus 6 60.00 4 40.00 10 Osprey Pandion haliaetus 3 100.00 0 0.00 3 Black Kite Milvus migrans 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 13 50.00 13 50.00 26 White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 1 12.50 7 87.50 8 Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 94 58.39 67 41.61 161 Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 23 67.65 11 32.35 34 Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 9 81.82 2 18.18 11 Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus 3 60.00 2 40.00 5 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 572 38.49 914 61.51 1486 Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina 168 59.79 113 40.21 281 Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Booted Eagle Aquila pennata 3 100.00 0 0.00 3 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 0 0.00 1 100.00 1 Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo 7 100.00 0 0.00 7 Unidentified raptor Rapaces sp. 7 36.84 12 63.16 19 Total raptors 918 44.48 1146 55.52 2064 Non-raptors Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus 0 0.00 2 100.00 2 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 1 5.56 17 94.44 18 White Stork Ciconia ciconia 2 66.67 1 33.33 3 Black Stork Ciconia nigra 93 53.76 80 46.24 173 Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull Larus michahellis/cachinanns 1 25.00 3 75.00 4 Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus 78 63.41 45 36.59 123 Total non-raptors 175 54.18 148 45.82 323 TOTAL 1093 45.79 1294 54.21 2387 Table 2. Total number of migrating individuals recorded at Greci study site during the full study period. The distribution of migrants between the risk zone (marked as Threatened) and safe zone (marked as Non-threatened) shows the potential impact of wind farms 2. táblázat A Greci-i megfigyelőponton, a teljes vizsgálati időszak alatt rögzített, átvonuló egyedek összessége. Az egyedek eloszlása a veszélyes, illetve a nem veszélyes zónában a tervezett szélerőmű parkok potenciális hatását mutatják A. Fülöp, L. Bărbos, G. M. Bóné, Sz. J. Daróczi, L. A. Dehelean, R. B. Kiss, I. Kovács, A. Nagy, T. Papp ORNIS HUNGARICA 2012. 20(2) 80 SPECIES NAME Threatened Proportion of threatened (%) Nonthreatened Proportion of nonthreatened (%) Total at count point (100%) Raptors European Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus 13 68.42 6 31.58 19 Osprey Pandion haliaetus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Black Kite Milvus migrans 3 50.00 3 50.00 6 Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 24 88.89 3 11.11 27 White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla 2 100.00 0 0.00 2 Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis 1 50.00 1 50.00 2 Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus 157 65.69 82 34.31 239 Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes 11 100.00 0 0.00 11 Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 51 70.83 21 29.17 72 Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus 7 63.64 4 36.36 11 Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus 8 100.00 0 0.00 8 Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus 3 75.00 1 25.00 4 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 1968 66.22 1004 33.78 2972 Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina 384 35.59 695 64.41 1079 Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Booted Eagle Aquila pennata 4 66.67 2 33.33 6 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 2 66.67 1 33.33 3 Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus 16 84.21 3 15.79 19 Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo 13 65.00 7 35.00 20 Saker Falcon Falco cherrug 3 100.00 0 0.00 3 Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 Unidentified raptor Rapaces sp. 15 68.18 7 31.82 22 Total raptors 2689 59.37 1840 40.63 4529 Non-raptors White Stork Ciconia ciconia 4 66.67 2 33.33 6 Black Stork Ciconia nigra 218 98.64 3 1.36 221 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 10 30.30 23 69.70 33 Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull Larus michahellis/cachinanns 1 50.00 1 50.00 2 Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus 291 98.31 5 1.69 296 Stock Dove Columba oenas 17 100.00 0 0.00 17 Unidentified pigeon Columba sp. 160 100.00 0 0.00 160 Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus 0 0.00 4 100.00 4 Total non-raptors 701 94.86 38 5.14 739 TOTAL 3390 64.35 1878 35.65 5268 Table 3. Total number of migrating individuals recorded at Cerna study site during the full study period. The distribution of migrants between the risk zone (marked as Threatened) and safe zone (marked as Non-threatened) shows the potential impact of wind farms 3. táblázat A Cerna-i megfigyelőponton, a teljes vizsgálati időszak alatt rögzített, átvonuló egyedek összessége. Az egyedek eloszlása a veszélyes, illetve a nem veszélyes zónában a tervezett szélerőmű parkok potenciális hatását mutatják 81 Results At Văcăreni count point 4.716 birds were counted, 3.394 raptors and 1.322 non-raptors (Table 1). At Greci station a total of 2.387 birds were seen migrating, 2.064 raptors and 323 non-raptors (Table 2). The highest number of migrating individuals was registered at Cerna count point, with 5.268 individuals, 4.529 raptors and 739 non-raptors, counted (Table 3). At Văcăreni 68.33% of raptors and 84.95% of non-raptors migrated through the risk zone (Table 1). At Greci count station 44.48% of raptors and 54.18% of non-raptors migrated through the risk zone (Table 2), and finally at Cerna 59.37% of raptors and 94.86% of non-raptors migrated through the risk zone (Table 3) (Figure 2). Figure 2. The proportion of threatened and non-threatened migrants observed at the three study sites during the full study period 2. ábra A teljes vizsgálati időszak alatt rögzített, a tervezett szélturbinák által veszélyeztetett, valamint nem veszélyeztetett átvonuló egyedek aránya a három mintaterületen A. Fülöp, L. Bărbos, G. M. Bóné, Sz. J. Daróczi, L. A. Dehelean, R. B. Kiss, I. Kovács, A. Nagy, T. Papp