COWRIE is pleased to announce the release of the above report prepared by BTO (British Trust for Ornithology).  

Cowrie commissioned the priority research METH-08-08 to review assessment methodologies and provide further recommendations for carrying out ornithological impact assessments. 

COWRIE previously published guidelines for ship and aerial survey of marine birds for offshore windfarm assessments (Camphuysen et al. 2004). The purposes of the current review are fourfold: 

1. to assess the extent to which these recommendations have been followed 

2. to identify any differences in interpretation of the guidance between sites 

3. to test the practicalities of using high definition cameras during aerial surveys 

4. to provide more rigorous guidelines for the type of analytical techniques that should be used.   

Click here to download the full report. 

NB. 19 January 2010: Some slight clarifications are currently being made on this report. The updated version will be available in the next coming weeks  

NB: Note that a recent workshop, conducted in July 2009, reviewed developments in high definition imagery approaches and provides more up to date information and recommendations than are given here.