Bird/bat deaths at N.Y. wind farm

Lowville, NY, June 11, 2007 -- The Maple Ridge Wind Farm and its owners, PPM Energy and Horizon Wind Energy, released a post-construction avian and bat mortality study. The study, "Annual Report for the Maple Ridge Wind Power Project, Post-construction Bird and Bat Fatality Study -- 2006," concluded that "bird and bat fatalities found at the Maple Ridge turbines were within the range of fatalities found during late summer and fall migration at turbines in the United States." The study was prepared by the consulting firm Curry and Kerlinger.

Because the project itself was not operational until mid-2006, the report did not cover portions of the spring bird migration, and thus definitive estimates of bird mortality are not yet available. However, the bird carcasses that were found during the study included no species listed in state or federal endangered species lists, though one raptor, an American kestrel, was found, the study said. The study went on to say "the number of fatalities of night migrants was fairly low at the Maple Ridge facility."

Birders might recognize the name "Kerlinger" -- as in Paul Kerlinger, author and former director of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory.