Gulls face the guns to prevent air strikes

More than 1,000 seagulls in part of the Ribble Estuary are to be culled to prevent crashes involving BAE Systems aircraft.

Controversial plans to reduce numbers in colonies of herring gulls, black-backed and lesser black-backed gulls have been given the go-ahead by the Environment Secretary.

But the order, by Owen Paterson, has been slammed by bird protection group RSPB.

The charity says it is not against a cull of the birds on Banks Marsh for safety reasons, but is concerned about how Defra has taken its decision and its implications for the UK’s wildlife.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s conservation director said: “Although we recognise the air safety risk, we believe the secretary of state’s conclusion is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of wildlife protection. We strongly disagree with his interpretation that it is acceptable to lose up to a quarter of a protected site’s breeding bird population without it damaging the conservation value of that site. This sets a very worrying precedent.”

Bird strikes have brought down aircraft worldwide and with fast jets such as the Typhoon being flown from Warton there were fears a serious accident could happen.

The RSPB accepted that BAE had tried non-lethal means of solving the problem but numbers had grown.

A BAE spokesman said: “The population at the Ribble Estuary presents a risk of birdstrike to aircraft operating from Warton airfield. BAE Systems has sought to reduce this risk. Following a public inquiry, and a decision by the Secretary of State we were given consent to cull up to 475 pairs of herring gulls on Banks Marsh which we have now undertaken.”

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/business/local-business/gulls-face-the-guns-to-prevent-air-strikes-1-5799937

Device to scare birds causes Guard base lockdown

JACKSON, Miss. — After a report of gunfire, Air National Guard officials locked down a Mississippi base on Wednesday, but the noise thought to be shots turned out to be a device used to scare birds away from an airport runway, authorities said.

The lockdown of the base in Flowood, a Jackson suburb, also prompted Gov. Phil Bryant to return from an event on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and sent area law enforcement officers and first responders rushing to the scene.

A Madison police officer assigned to a federal task force was in a car accident on the way to the base, but was not seriously hurt, said Madison's assistant police chief, Robbie Sanders.

Adding to the confusion, the 172nd Airlift Wing had been preparing for a drill this week that would have simulated a gunman on the base.

The unit is near the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport and uses the airport's runways.

Tim Powell, a Guard spokesman, said the airport uses a firing mechanism that makes noise to scare away birds.

Birds are hazardous to aircraft. Perhaps the most well-known bird strike in the United States happened in 2009 when a flock of geese brought down US Airways Flight 1549 and the captain safely landed the jet in the Hudson River.

Powell said someone thought the noise was a gun and reported it to the command center, which prompted the lockdown.

Airport CEO Dirk Vanderleest said the device is similar to a starter pistol and fires something like a bottle rocket. He said a buzzard was flying near the runway as a plane approached and an airport worker was trying to scare it away.

Vanderleest said the airport uses the device often and it hasn't caused a problem before. He said "heightened awareness" due to the upcoming drill likely contributed to the situation.

Powell said Guard commanders were pleased with the way the unit and civilian authorities responded to what they believed may have been a dangerous situation.

"Everybody responded correctly. Law enforcement responded very, very quickly," Powell said. "It's obvious the plan is working correctly. And that's the kind of plan that would save lives."

The governor returned to Jackson and went to the base after learning there were reports of gunfire, according to his spokesman, Mick Bullock.

"The governor received a call and took that call very seriously and responded appropriately," Bullock said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130410/us-guard-base-bird-scare/?utm_hp_ref=media&ir=media

MIAA to shoo birds away with P45M sound device

The Manila International Airport Authority on Tuesday said that they are planning to acquire a sound device that will frighten away birds from the airfield, thus preventing bird strikes on aircraft. The sound device is worth P45 million.

MIAA’s airport grounds operations and safety division chief Joseph Agustin said that the new device has two powerful speakers, and it will replace the sirens currently used.

 The sound device should be in place before February 2013.

 Apart from the sound device, the airport authority is also planning to invest some P23-million to cover an artificial pond found between the runways. The artificial pond absorbs the excess water coming from the runway, thus preventing their flooding.

 According to Danish ornithologist Arne Jensen, water from the pond attracts birds. “Normally, you don’t have wetland inside the airport because it attracts birds,” Jensen said on Tuesday, at the sidelines of an on-site visit at the airport.

As of August, about 49 bird strikes have been recorded since January.

Currently, and aside from the sirens, the airport uses pigeon-hawk replicas, and starter pistols to get rid of the birds. They also have falconers that fly their birds-of-prey at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s grounds.

Read on:  http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/279428/news/metromanila/miaa-to-shoo-birds-away-with-p45m-sound-device