ABPmer was contracted by Innogy to undertake coastal waterbird disturbance monitoring for the operation of a maintenance pontoon facility at the Port of Mostyn in the Dee Estuary. This pontoon facility was constructed to provide berthing for operations and maintenance vessels supporting the development of RWE Innogy UK’s offshore windfarms in Liverpool Bay.

As part of the marine licence conditions for this pontoon, monitoring of bird disturbance was required for the first two years of its operation to quantify the level of potential disturbance on feeding and roosting waterbirds using the mudflats adjacent to the pontoon facility.

The monitoring used threshold criteria levels developed by ABPmer to describe the level of disturbance to birds as well as provide an objective analysis of the effects caused by different quayside activities. Measurements of noise levels were also recorded during each survey count period using a sound level meter (0.1dB resolution).

Monthly reports summarised the results of each survey to ensure that, if there were any issues, they were identified as soon as possible.

Header photo courtesy Andrew Pearson