Latest news with #Kittiwakes
Scotsman
30-04-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Calls to stop massive Scottish wind farm with 307 turbines as 31,000 seabirds forecast to be killed
The cumulative impact of wind farm turbines in the area could accelerate one seabird species to extinction, the RSPB said. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ministers have been urged to reject plans for an offshore wind farm that has been predicted to kill tens of thousands of seabirds. Five charities, led by RSPB Scotland, have written to the First Minister to argue that approving Berwick Bank in the Firth of Forth would put nature at risk and accelerate at least one species to extinction. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the environment impact assessment for the wind farm, SSE Renewables, the developer, reportedly said it expects more than 31,000 bird collisions over the projected 35-year lifespan of the development. The company is said to have amended its designs to minimise risks to Scottish seabirds. The Scottish Government, which is considering whether to approve the project, said it cannot comment on live applications. Rampion Offshore Wind Farm The proposed development, which would be one of the largest in the world, will have up to 307 turbines across an area four times the size of Edinburgh. The Bass Rock was described by Sir David Attenborough as 'one of the 12 wildlife wonders of the world' | Lisa Ferguson If given the go ahead, the wind farm would stand about 20 miles from the globally recognised seabird colonies of St Abb's and Bass Rock, the latter being internationally known for its famous gannet colony. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The largest number of seabird species expected to be killed are kittiwakes, followed by gannets and herring gulls. The letter to First Minister John Swinney calling for the application to be rejected has been signed by RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the National Trust for Scotland, the Marine Conservation Society and the Scottish Seabird Centre. RSBP Scotland said new offshore wind developments are being held back due to their combined impacts with Berwick Bank on seabirds. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It said an example of this is Ossian, a similar-sized windfarm that would generate almost the same amount of electricity. This project, using the latest floating turbine technology, is proposed further offshore, away from key seabird sites. Ossian alone would reduce the Kittiwake population at St Abb's Head by up to 13 per cent, the charity said. However, conservationists claim Ossian and Berwick Bank together are expected to reduce the same Kittiwake population by up to a shocking 81 per cent, which they said could fast track Kittiwakes towards extinction. SSE submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government in late 2022 and is still awaiting a decision. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad RSPB director Anne McCall | RSPB Anne McCall, director of RSPB Scotland, said: 'Offshore wind has a key role in tackling the climate and nature emergency. We fully support well-sited wind farms, which work with nature. But they are being held back by a major spanner in the works. 'Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland's globally important seabirds. Its impacts are so damaging it is blocking plans for new, less-harmful windfarms. 'As the First Minister said earlier this year - nature should be at the heart of climate action. Our message to the Scottish Government is clear. Refuse Berwick Bank to unlock the full potential of offshore wind while protecting our outstanding wildlife.' SSE insists seabird densities are "not exceptional" in the area and the impact on seabirds would be among the lowest of any wind farm site. Both those claims are disputed by RSPB Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Seaside resort residents cower from bird poo onslaught as endangered kittiwakes flock to town after offshore wind farm 'hotels' failed to attract them
It is known as the birthplace of Benjamin Britten, the late British composer and avid birdwatcher. But people in the Suffolk coastal town of Lowestoft are struggling to maintain their most famous resident's enthusiasm for the local sea bird population in the face of an aerial onslaught from kittiwakes. Growing numbers of the endangered species have sent locals scurrying for cover as their droppings descend from the sky with increasing frequency, with some people reluctant to leave their homes at all. One local business owner said staff were spending up to two hours daily cleaning the mess left on his shop's windows and canopy. 'It stinks and it's making a big mess,' said Mr Vino of V&A Stores. 'A few customers came into the shop last week and complained about the smell'. The birds have been resident in the resort town since the 1950s, when they began to colonise the entrance to the town's port. Such is the ubiquity of the red-listed species that efforts to prevent them from nesting on local buildings have given way to initiatives designed to accommodate them. Most notable among those has been the construction of kittiwake 'hotels', artificial nesting sites which have been in place for the past two years. Another case in point is the local BT building, where netting intended to keep the gulls at bay was replaced with nesting shelves. Kittiwakes are seen perching on purpose-built ledges on the side of a building in Lowestoft Such measures have helped Lowestoft to buck the trend that has caused a 40 per cent decline in the global kittiwake population since 1975 as fish stocks have been diminished by overfishing and climate change. But not all residents are convinced that is a welcome development. Tony Shreeve, who has lived opposite the BT building for the past decade, points to the havoc the birds have wrought. 'They are a bit hooligan-like - they tear the place apart and go through the bins,' he said. Even tourists like Shirley and Christopher Wyartt, visiting Lowestoft from Ipswich, have noticed the mess made by the birds. 'It is just left on the ground,' said Mrs Wyartt. 'It is an eyesore.' Kittiwakes typically return to where they hatched, and the number of birds flocking to Lowestoft to settle during the spring and summer has risen more than threefold over the past four years. Almost 2,000 kittiwakes have returned to their usual nests in the town, up from about 650 in 2021 - making Lowestoft home to one of the UK's most successful urban colonies. 'They've really come back in force now and it is more noticeable,' said Dick Houghton of the Lowestoft Seagull Action Group. 'If they were hatched in the town, they'd tend to return there. The more birds we have, the more mess.' Houghton is not averse to the birds, but neither is he oblivious to the problems they cause. 'They've increased in numbers by setting up on shop fronts and bedroom windows,' he said. 'They crap over the side of the nest, which generally lands on the pavement. 'They feed entirely on fish and small sea creatures - the stink is the smell of rotting fish. They've become more in your face and in your nose.' Explaining that chicks usually return to where they were hatched after spending the winter months in the North Atlantic, Houghton said the first kittiwake returned to Lowestoft on February 1, with the rest following 'en masse'. 'The hotels were built to provide opportunities for the birds to nest, otherwise the wind turbines could kill them,' said Houghton. 'People have assumed the hotels were there to take birds from the town - which is the ideal eventually. 'It takes one or two brave ones to try it out before the rest follow.' One seagull that has definitely gone, however, is a giant mural painted by the street artist Banksy as part of his Great British Spraycation series. The mural, part of a collection that appeared across Norfolk and Suffolk in 2021, showed a seagull tucking into a refuse skip full of polystyrene chips. It was removed from the side of a local house in the small hours in 2023. For all the controversy surrounding the birds, there are tentative signs that the offshore 'artificial nesting structures' - or kittiwake hotels - are starting to bear fruit. Following efforts by ornithologists to use life-like decoy kittiwakes and recordings of their distinctive calls to coax the birds to the hotels, a kittiwake chick hatched at one of them last year for the first time. It is hoped that more birds will nest and lay eggs in the hotels over time, prompting the birds to return there rather than populating the town. 'Businesses, and people living in Lowestoft, who are host to kittiwakes are playing a vital role in protecting vulnerable seabirds,' a spokesman for East Suffolk Council said. 'However, we do appreciate that there are challenges associated with housing kittiwakes, including mess. 'East Suffolk Council continues to coordinate regular pressure washing of public areas during the nesting season, to support local people by managing the mess from kittiwakes and other birds. 'The Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership has also been supporting businesses with advice on managing the impact of urban gulls.'
BBC News
22-04-2025
- BBC News
Lowestoft residents 'fed up with being pooed on' by kittiwakes
Seasiders "fed up with being pooed on" by endangered kittiwakes say they are reluctant to go into their town centre in case a "big mess falls down from the sky".The endangered birds have become synonymous with Lowestoft, in Suffolk, since first becoming a familiar sight at the piers at the entrance to the Port of Lowestoft in the 2023, so-called 'kittiwake hotels' were even built to give young kittiwakes nesting in the town for the first time "a safe home" away from the hustle and bustle. Some locals said the swooping seabirds continue to prove a problem but others defended them, saying they are an important coastal bird. "Everywhere you go there's just bird poop and it smells. They are noisy and they get on my nerves," said long-time Lowestoft resident, Chrissie Hatcher."It puts me off because it just makes the town dirty and I am fed up with being pooed on, especially when you are going out somewhere."I feel sorry for the holidaymakers because when I moved down here it wasn't like this because we had the fishing industry, so they were always out at sea." Some have also said the kittiwakes can pose a physical danger, as they are often inclined to take things that do not belong to them – especially food."My daughter bought some doughnuts and she had just started eating them and the bird swooped down and was right near her face," said Jackie Dowding, 83."That was a bit frightening, so you have to be really, really, careful you are not eating because they are always looking for you."But, they do have a right to live and, if you are up in London you get nothing but pigeons' mess, so it is no different really, just different birds." The birds are also proving problematic for some shops in the town centre, according to charity shop manager Bobby Jay."I would be lying if I said they haven't been a disturbance and some customers have made some quite negative comments about them," said the 27-year-old."I've had people refuse to come into the shop because they get two feet away from the door and a big mess falls down from the sky."I understand that can be quite intimidating and off-putting but they are here to stay and I actually quite enjoy their company - they are not really causing any issues." Given the global kittiwake population is thought to have dropped about 40% since the 1970s, Mr Jay believes it is "quite important" the town attempts to cater for were made towards fully embracing the gulls when bird hotels were built just off the coast by the energy firms Vattenfall and Scottish Power two years structures were created with advice from environmental groups with the aim of keeping the birds safe from predators but also away from the town and a result, bosses at East Suffolk Council say Lowestoft is now home to one of the UK's most successful urban kittiwake day-tripper Bob Webb, 65, believes residents should make more of an effort to embrace and live amicably alongside them."Kittiwakes are a really important coastal bird and this particular population is just trying to find places to roost, but lots of their traditional grounds have gone," he said."They need to be near food, because they've got to fly out to fish and bring it back to the nest."They're just trying to adapt and humans and birds have got to live together at some point." According to the Wildlife Trust, there are 380,000 pairs of kittiwakes in the UK, and the hotels in Lowestoft can accommodate up to 430 pairs of Pearce is a Lowestoft town councillor and also part of the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership, which "seeks to safeguard nesting birds while reducing conflict with businesses and building owners in the town"."They appear to be doing well in Lowestoft because in other places they are on the decline, so that is important," he said."I do welcome the fact they are here but I do appreciate that when you live on the doorstep with the noise, the mess, and the smell, it is a challenge."The Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership is trying to work with other stakeholders to find a way for birds and people to live side-by-side without conflict."We do need to put extra cleaning in to deal with the extra mess and, as much as I like them, I don't want to tell people to suck it up and put up with it."East Suffolk Council said it appreciated the "challenges associated with housing kittiwakes, including mess", but it was continuing to "coordinate regular pressure washing of public areas during the nesting season to support local people by managing the mess from kittiwakes and other birds".Addressing the role of the 'kittiwake hotels', a spokesperson added: "The artificial nesting structures (ANS) in Lowestoft have been installed by offshore wind developers to offset the impact of wind farms on seabird populations."The ANS aren't designed to relocate the kittiwakes currently nesting in Lowestoft. Kittiwakes are faithful to their nests and return to the same site each year." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
28-01-2025
- General
- BBC News
Puffin food fight goes to court as UK and EU clash over sand-eels
A challenge to Britain's ban on commercial fishing for sand-eels in the North Sea has begun in a European court. Sand eels are a vital source of food for seabirds that live along the UK coastline, including the internationally important puffin colony at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire. A "closure order" was put in place in March 2004 to prohibit trawlers netting the tiny fish from English waters, following concerns that sand-eel stocks were becoming too low. However, the EU claims the move is "discriminatory and disproportionate" and could threaten the future of commercial sand eel fishing in Denmark. Conservationists backed the fishing ban by the UK government and said it was vital in order to preserve enough food for threatened populations of some UK seabirds. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which manages Bempton Cliffs, is one of several conservation organisations calling for the measure to remain in place. Bernadette Butfield, an RSPB senior marine policy officer, said: "Sand-eels are one of the key food sources for puffins at places like Bempton."But it's not just puffins that benefit from the fishery closure, it's also species like kittiwake. "In the UK, 62% of our seabird species are in decline." Ms Butfield said the outcome of the legal fight could be crucial for seabird populations."Losing this case to the EU could place some of these seabird species far closer to extinction."Dave O'Hara, senior site manager at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, added: "We have campaigned for years for this legislation which is key to the health of the sea off Bridlington and our nation's seabirds. "Sand-eels are key to life in the sea and an important food source for our iconic and threatened species of birds that Bridlington and Flamborough are world famous for. "Puffins, Kittiwakes, gannets, and a host of other species as well as dolphins and whales, attract thousands of visitors to this part of the coast. "Sand-eels and a healthy sea put money into the local economy and nature into our lives." Sand-eels are caught commercially for use in animal feed and in oil production. Danish fishing organisations have described the North Sea ban as "unnecessary" and claim that sand-eel stocks are plentiful, disputing the scientific evidence. Esben Sverdrup-Jensen, from the Danish Pelagic Producers' Association, said the ban had a "massive impact" on the industry. "It means we have lost about half of the fishing grounds that we have traditionally fished on for decades," he said. Mr Sverdrup-Jensen disputed the claim that sand-eel stocks were under threat. "Sand-eel is probably the best managed fishery in the world," he added. Hugely significant The court case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will hear three days of arguments on whether the British ban breaches the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA).The hearing marks the first time the two parties have been to court since Britain left the EU in 2020. UK conservationists believe the outcome of the case could be hugely significant for seabird populations along the east coast. A judgement in the dispute is not expected until April. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
