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A review of the distribution and abundance of divers, grebes and seaduck in the SEA 5 area was carried out by Cork Ecology at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry as part of the production of the SEA 5 Consultation Document. The study area was defined as the east coast of Scotland from the English border north to John O’ Groats, including Orkney and Shetland, and the offshore waters in the SEA 5 area.

Divers, grebes and seaduck are primarily inshore species typically wintering in sandy bays or estuaries although some e.g. great northern divers prefer rocky shorelines. Some species are resident while others are winter visitors to Britain.

This review considered thirteen species: red-throated diver, black-throated diver, great northern diver, great crested grebe, red-necked grebe, slavonian grebe, scaup, eider, long-tailed duck, common scoter, velvet scoter, goldeneye and red-breasted merganser.

Report prepared by Colin Barton and Claire Pollock, Cork Ecology, Cork, Ireland.

Potential impacts of offshore wind farms on swans and geese

Offshore wind farms may impact birds directly by mortality from collisions or indirectly by displacement from migratory flyways or local flight paths. At present there are very little data on the effects of offshore wind farms on swans and geese.

Whooper swan, pink-footed goose, European white-fronted goose, barnacle good and brent goose have been highlighted as potentially sensitive species to wind farms and these species are likely to be focal species for environmental assessment.

Key areas and species

Of the nine species reviewed, five species, whooper swan, mute swan, pink-footed goose, greylag goose and barnacle goose occur in internationally important numbers at coastal sites in the SEA5 area. Greenland white-fronted goose occur in nationally important numbers.

This report gives a description of nearshore seabird distribution and abundance in the SEA6, SEA7 and SEA8 areas.

In advance of SEAs for areas 6, 7 & 8, a series of data assessment projects were instigated. The purpose of these projects was to assess the extent, quality and accessibility of data relating to specific environmental factors. In some cases, the project leaders produced brief explanatory notes describing the environmental factor being considered, in other cases the project was limited to a data search alone.

The contractors were asked, where possible, to enter the data onto an "End-Note®" database file in order that bibliographic searches may be made.

Please note that the boundary between SEAs 6 and 7 changed during the time these reports were produced, so may appear in a different position in some reports.

This report provides a review of the coastal distribution and abundance of swans and geese in the SEA6, 7 and 8 areas, including migration routes.

Three species of swan (mute, Berwick's and whooper) and five species of goose (pink-footed, white-fronted, greylag, barnacle and brent), which occur regularly in coastal areas of SEA6, 7 and 8 were considered in this review. Apart from mute swan and greylag geese in north-west Scotland, all species are winter visitors to Britain.

Data from Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) annual reports and relevant bird reports from 1991/92 onwards were reviewed and 5 year means calculated.

Sites that regularly hold more than 1% of the national population of a species are deemed to be nationally important, and sites with more than 1% of the biogeographic population are internationally important.

Internationally and nationally significant numbers of swans and geese winter at coastal sites in the SEA6, 7 and 8 areas. Many of these sites are multi-species SPAs including the Ribble and Alt Estuaries, Severn Estuary, Upper Solway Flats and Marshes, several sites on Islay and Strangford Lough.

Whooper swan, pink-footed goose, European white-fronted goose, barnacle goose and brent goose have been highlighted as potentially sensitive species to wind farms.

Four of these species (whooper swan, pink-footed goose, barnacle goose and brent goose) occur within the SEA6 area in internationally important numbers. Within the SEA7 area, whooper swan, Greenlands white-fronted goose, and barnacle goose occur in internationally important numbers. Within the SEA8 area, dark bellied brent geese are recorded in internationally important numbers and European white-fronted geese occur in nationallly important numbers.

This report was prepared by Cork Ecology.

SEA7 Technical Report - Seabirds

The aims of this study were:

• To provide an overview of individual species offshore distribution in SEA 7.
• To identify, where possible, offshore areas in SEA 7 that are important for seabirds.
• To assess offshore seabird vulnerability to surface pollution in SEA 7.
• To provide a brief outline on the potential for offshore SPAs in the offshore waters of SEA 7.
• To highlight major gaps in understanding and survey coverage in the offshore waters of SEA 7.

Methodology

• Ship-based and aerial survey data for the SEA 7 area collected between 1979 and 2005 were provided by ESAS.
• Offshore waters were defined as greater than 200 m in depth and the offshore distribution of seventeen species of seabirds were reviewed.

Species accounts

• Northern Fulmar, Northern Gannet and Black-legged Kittiwake were the most abundant species recorded on ESAS surveys in offshore waters of the SEA 7 area.
• The SEA 7 area was also important for European Storm-petrel and Leach’s Storm-petrel.

Important offshore areas in SEA 7

• Generally seabird densities were low in offshore waters. Important areas were along the shelf break, Rockall Trough and Rockall Bank.
• Species diversity of seabirds was low in offshore waters compared to inshore waters, although more species were recorded during the summer months.

This report was prepared by Claire Pollock and Colin Barton of Cork Ecology.