Chichester Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I work for Chichester Harbour Conservancy and witnessed two paramotorists causing a disturbance to a flock of birds at Itchenor so I wanted to raise awareness of the impacts they can have on wild birds. The pictures I enclose shows them affecting the birds, as they were flying very low and diving to heights of 50 ft. Over 80,000 birds rely on Chichester and Langstone Harbours for food, shelter and nesting and the area is protected by European law (Special Protection Area). It is vital that birds are not frightened by activities in both of these Harbours or in other Special Protection Areas as this can affect their feeding, breeding and survival. Paramotorists may not be aware of their impacts so I hope that this information will raise awareness and avoid this happening in again in the future. The location of Special Protection Areas can been found by looking at this website http://www.magic.gov.uk/ Chichester Harbour Conservancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Thanks for posting (and in the unusually calm and kind manor) in which you did it. I have shared this to help spread the message. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Hi I am a local pilot to chichester and I also run Sussex Paramotors 07867317307.... This is not one of "our" Local pilots ... I would be interested to see the Video as I cant seem to see any birds in those photos.... The only areas marked on an Air map as a bird reserve is Langstone Harbour and Pagham Harbour. Apart from the obvious dangers flying low over water or mud flats at 50ft it is not Illegal unless they are flying within 500ft or any person or object... Pilots who fly into our local area with an Air map would not know about the Special Protection Areas. TBH there news to me and i've been flying in this area for years.... I found your link hard to follow and found no info on Special Protection Areas??? I'm not very techy My advice if this happens again would be take video and photos and contact the CAA.... If you could provide us with any information on all the local Special Protection Areas that would be great and i would happily pass this on to every local pilot I know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chichester Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 Hello, Unfortunately I cannot post the video as it is too large. Most of the birds had been frightened away by the time the photo was taken. In any one year up to 55, 000 shorebirds will pass through Chichester Harbour, many of them stopping here during migration to feed on the food rich habitats. There may be no regulations preventing a Paramotor pilot going down so low where buildings or people are not present (although there are plenty of boats and navigational marks in Chichester Harbour) it is a fact that birds become disturbed and negatively impacted when a paramotor gets too low. With this knowledge, I’m sure that most paramotorists would not want to disturb birdlife with or without regulation in place. The issue of birds being disturbed is not limited to paramotorists, but to extends to everyone and anything that come within a range with the birds perceive as a threat. Paramotorists can have a relatively large impact on the birdlife compared to other recreation sports as they are highly visible and easily heard by birdlife. Thank you for offering to distribute information about the location of Special Protection Areas and I enclose one map showing the Special Protection Areas local to Chichester and a weblink showing the wider Special Protection Areas across of the Solent. http://www.solentems.org.uk/maps/ Chichester Harbour Conservancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Thank you for posting up that Area map.. I will pass it on to all local pilots... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spigot Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Looks nice down there. Any legal reason for not flying the area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 It's amazing flying down here.... There is no Legal reason why we can not fly in this area... Only two bird reserves, Pagham harbour and Langstone harbour (1000ft asl) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hoskins Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 On 18/02/2016 at 15:51, morgy said: Hi I am a local pilot to chichester and I also run Sussex Paramotors 07867317307.... This is not one of "our" Local pilots ... I would be interested to see the Video as I cant seem to see any birds in those photos.... The only areas marked on an Air map as a bird reserve is Langstone Harbour and Pagham Harbour. Apart from the obvious dangers flying low over water or mud flats at 50ft it is not Illegal unless they are flying within 500ft or any person or object... Pilots who fly into our local area with an Air map would not know about the Special Protection Areas. TBH there news to me and i've been flying in this area for years.... I found your link hard to follow and found no info on Special Protection Areas??? I'm not very techy My advice if this happens again would be take video and photos and contact the CAA.... If you could provide us with any information on all the local Special Protection Areas that would be great and i would happily pass this on to every local pilot I know.... Rather surprised at your response, given your commercial business and it’s very close location to Chichester Harbour. Your sector needs some regulation by the looks of the photos and gives pilots a bad name. Bob Hoskins Goodwood. RV8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.