The collection of ecological data on birds and bats has traditionally relied upon large amounts of field-work that is both expensive to gather and has the potential to be open to interpretation. Coupled with the fact that government guidance is also open to interpretation and that birds and bats are all protected by legislation it is essential that ecological data is both sufficient for the job and can be defensible at public inquiry.

During 2010 Baker Consultants has been pioneering the use of remote sensing technology (with the Wildlife Acoustics’ SM2) which is new to the UK and offers improved data collection for bat and bird calls. The technology is cheaper, more reliable, easier to deploy and constructed to cope with the extremes of the British climate.

As well as field-testing the SM2, Baker Consultants has been working with Dr Fiona Matthews of Exeter University to carry out controlled lab testing against the current industry standard. When used to detect bat calls we found that the SM2, is at least four times more sensitive than the current system and in the case of high frequency bats such as lesser horse shoes, up to six times more sensitive.

The SM2 was originally developed for the collection of bird data and has been used in the field by biologists in over 30 countries. The system offers the potential to collect bird data that, when combined with VPs and breeding bird surveys, will provide a more complete picture of bird activity. It can also be used to detect crepuscular and nocturnal species such as nightjar that are otherwise problematic to survey.

Not only is the SM2 cheaper than current system but it also uses revolutionary new call recognition software that has the potential to significantly cut the cost of data analysis.

Because the SM2 records a more complete picture of bat and bird activity, the survey results are more defensible at Public Inquiry. If necessary the full spectrum recordings can be scrutinised and can form a reliable baseline for post construction monitoring.

Baker Consultants is the first ecological consultancy to offer this system in the UK. Based on our established track record within the wind industry we believe this to be a major step forward in ecological data collection that will become a new industry standard.

Andrew will be presenting further data on the SM2 at the forthcoming Renewable UK conference at Glasgow on Tuesday 2nd November. If you are attending please come and seek him out, otherwise he can be contacted by phone or text on 07590 122969.