UPDATE: After contact with SSE Restoration Manager in Inverness
today, I was promised that additional safety discs will be put on the power lines at Kingsteps, possibly insulators too. They will keep me informed.
It has come to my attention that a young swan was killed on Sunday after hitting the power lines at Kingsteps Car park. This is the same spot that our previous resident Cob was electrocuted and later died. It is tragic that a young swan is killed before having a chance too live at least a few years. I have contacted (SSE) Scottish and Southern Energy group again and asked for additional safety discs to be put on the power lines in question. After our previous resident cob was killed in 2007, I got SSE to put discs on the lines so the swans could see and avoid the power lines - clearly more measures are needed !
I do not know if it was one of our Nairn cygnets that was the victim.
Swans are beautiful fliers, but being so large need time to manoeuvre to avoid collisions. The pond at Kingsteps is surrounded by woodland and has only one flight approach which crosses the carpark and power lines. The height and distance from the pond are in the middle of the flight path and need highlighted dramatically.
Any area of water where Swans might land has to be looked at regarding the proximity of power lines, especially if they are within a 100 metres of the water.
The power companies do take the safety of wildlife into consideration and have a wildlife engineer who will act on lines in any dangerous locations. If you know of power lines that have caused deaths to birds, please report them to SSE engineers and keep their phone number for future reference. 0800 048 3515
2 comments:
A bit of a dramatic headline for an unfortunate event?
Well I remember our previous resident in 2007 who survived the initial electrocution only to be put to sleep 4 days later. These unfortunate events often happen because of human activity ie, erection of power lines etc. The onus is on the power distributors to make their supply lines as safe as possible for wildlife as well as humans. It may be a dramatic headline but a fact all the same.
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