Notice of Review 11-00044 Dingwall Highland

This pair have been well studied and the male is known to regularly fish
the Inner Cromarty Firth near to the Conon Islands. The outbound flight
line is from Loch Ussie directly over the Conon roundabout and
approximately 1km to the south of the proposed turbine location. The
inbound flight is along the same route, and Ospreys carrying fish to the
nest take the easiest route, avoiding high ground.
Additional pairs nest upriver of the Conon Islands but at distances greater
than the Loch Ussie pair. All flight lines associated with these pairs are
away from the proposed turbine location. No pairs nest immediately to the
north of Dingwall.
Therefore, there are no issues associated with the proposed development
and disturbance to nests or collision risk to known breeding pairs. And the
proposed development is not sited near a fishing loch which could
potentially attract non-breeding birds.
Potential adverse impacts on Osprey are therefore predicted as negligiblelow.
Red Kite Milvus milvus
Annex 1 and Schedule 1.
UK breeding population estimated at c.1000 pairs.
Red Kites were reintroduced to north Scotland in 1989-1993 and following
the successful release of birds, a breeding population has established.
However, this breeding population (55 pairs in 2009) is still largely
centred on the Black Isle and parts of Easter Ross. Pairs have been slow to
spread out, although they are now breeding eastwards as far as Tain. A
relatively high density of breeding pairs occurs in the Dingwall area.
The moorland edge, mixed woodlands, coniferous plantation and
permanent grazing which encompass an area from Strathpeffer in the west
to Evanton in the east (including the Dingwall area) comprise an important
foraging area for a number of established pairs, and much of the higher
ground in particular is important as a nursery area for both juvenile and
immature Red Kites.
There are currently no pairs of Red Kites breeding within 2km of the
proposed turbine location. A pair did breed on the Conon Islands in 2008,
but the site has been unoccupied in subsequent breeding seasons
(approximately 1.8km from the turbine location). The nearest occupied
nest site is approximately 3.75km from the potential site area. Soaring
Red Kites are nonetheless a common feature of the area in general and
birds are commonly seen in the Dingwall area, including over the town
itself. Indeed, two adults and a juvenile Red Kite were observed in the
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