The journey towards a carbon-free society is accelerating with new wind, solar and hydro schemes and the roll-out of supporting infrastructure. We’re pleased to be playing our part, providing ornithology services for a suite of projects across Scotland.

Confidential windfarm projects

Scottish Borders

We are undertaking ornithology surveys at a large upland site in the Scottish Borders. Our client hopes to develop a powerful wind farm within a mixed moorland and forestry habitat.

Our surveys have included targeted watches to look for migrating pink-footed geese from Iceland, which pass through this region in huge numbers in the autumn period. We hope to see more golden eagles, whose local population is being reinforced through an exciting local conservation project.

East Ayrshire

One of our earliest ornithology projects involves surveying birds at a remote hill farm in Ayrshire. The site is surrounded by plantation conifers and has a history of heavy grazing.

This site is interesting for its relatively poor bird interest, reflecting the recent pressures on the UK uplands in the last few decades.

This area of Scotland has seen considerable development of wind energy projects in recent years, a trend that is in sharp contrast to its once-dominant coal mining industry.

Highland Region

We are working on the early stages of a mid-sized wind farm development in the Scottish Highlands, where a fantastic local assemblage of rare birds provides a key driver in the development process.

Sites like this, where the development potential is high, but the wildlife is rare and sensitive, are challenging and stimulating. They require innovative solutions and strong partnership working to explore the options for accommodating these new and necessary technologies into some of the very ecosystems that are most at risk from climate change.

These projects build on our expansive portfolio in the green energy sector, working with generation and grid connections.

Learn more about Ecology at LUC.