The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Russell Hayes reported from Nocton Fen on LBC Bird Reports on Sunday 4 December that :

" At least 3 Swans have hit the wires there this winter, making a total of about 23 dead in the last 3 years. Unfortunately, the bird scarers that were put in place last year do not stop them hitting the wires in the dark. "

Clearly as Swans leave the Fen at dusk to roost, some fail to see the bird scarers which serve them well during daylight hours. These reported deaths are occurring in a very small part of Lincolnshire but the problem must be compounded throughout the UK as a whole, and other birds flying at dusk or at night are also affected, of course. However, my researching the web has produced little evidence of any recent progress in preventing these nocturnal wire-deaths.....we have the daytime deterrents (discs, strips, etc) but, apparently, none for dusk/after dark.

Does any member know if the relevant authorities.... RSPB, Wildlife Trusts, Environmental Agencies, etc..... are actively involved in attempting to find a solution to this urgent problem ? Surely something is being done or has been done ?.....and results published. Some effective solution should already exist somewhere even if it hasn't yet reached Nocton Fen.

After all, it's not exactly rocket science to come up with a relatively cheap photo-luminescent technological answer. Contortionately, putting my head over the proverbial LBC parapet, and then sticking my amateur neck out, what about, for example :

Where the present wire problem exists, add an extra thick wire/cable, covered with a durability enhancing all-weather and non-fade luminescent/ self-luminous "glow in the dark" coat plus intermittent luminescent strips/discs strung across with the existing wires/cables and daytime bird deterrents, assuming , of course, Swan vision can detect luminescent items. ( Presumably, basic research has already established or could easily establish this point.) If Swans can't, then we move to a different drawing-board. If they can, there are several long-lasting, all-weather, etc., luminous paints, that glow in the dark after daylight exposure to light, on the market and being used widely to identify escape routes when lights fail, or at night......eg. sold under the trade names Glowtec/Starglow; Promain.

I may well have put forward a naive and intrinsically-flawed suggestion but other LBC members might wish to add to the debate, especially re positive information as to what the relevant authorities are already doing/have done to combat the problem.

Freddy

Hi Freddie

There are solutions out there see http://www.pr-tech.com/bird-diverters/birdmark.php

It would appear that the ones used on Nocton Fen do not glow in the dark like the ones in the link.

I shall contact "Western Power" and see if they can source some of the glowing type.

Russell

update: 05/12/11 I have contacted the electric company and it has been passed onto the local office where someone will call me back later.

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http://birdmanbirds.blogspot.com/

Russell,

Brilliant......and furthermore, if I might say so, "a little" along the same lines that I was suggesting.....Night Glow Capability......and it appears from the product publicity that birds CAN detect luminescent objects in low light/night-time situations.

Freddy

Well done both.

Hugh

Hi Freddy

Power lines are clearly a very important source of swan mortality and anything that can reduce it would be good. I did a google search and found the following 2005 paper which is an attempt to summarise the main sources of bird mortality in the USA:

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/d ... ickson.pdf

In summary the main killers are:

Buildings 550 million
Power lines 130 million
Cats 100 million
Vehicles 80 million
Pesticides 67 million
Comms towers 4.5 million
Wind turbines 0.0285 million

Which puts it in perspective. I'd be interested if anyone has seen similar data for the UK.

I had also reported this to a local Electricity Company contact following Russell's original post. He has been very good in the past at getting transformer wires sheathed to stop Barn Owls being fried when they land on top of transformer boxes. I'll report back when/if I have some news.

Alan

Good news:

I have been contacted today by Ray Beech at "Western Power" who is going to replace some of the existing diverters with "glow in the dark" type diverters and also extend the diverters further along the wires towards the River Witham bank.

Russell

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http://birdmanbirds.blogspot.com/

Good news indeed, Russell....well done .... and that action by Western Power should certainly save Swans and other birds from an early and now 'avoidable' death.

Furthermore, I'm sure these " glow in the dark " diverters would be welcomed by birds in certain appropriate areas elsewhere in Lincolnshire and beyond where they are not as yet in use. .......... Do members have any specific suggestions as to where ?

Freddy

Well done Russell

My contact also went to Ray Beech so a double pronged attack on this one may have helped. The glowing-type 'diverters' have already been ordered, but no date for installation, though should be pretty quick as he thinks they have them in stock. Just for interest these 'diverters' glow for ten hours or so after dark, so they should be OK for the dusk flight at least - and I assume that swans/ducks/geese landing would be more at risk than those taking off.

Alan

A number of days have now passed since this thread first appeared (Monday 5th December) and several interesting and constructive comments have been posted.......but nothing as yet from an RSPB or Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust source. We all consider these organisations obvious main players in every aspect of " bird protection ," so would it be possible to get confirmation from an RSPB and an LWT official as to whether :

a. "Glow in the dark" diverters are at present in use in the county on one or more Reserves.

b. If not, whether there are existing plans to use them in the future (and, perhaps, where.)

Wires present a deadly hazard to all dusk-flying/night-flying birds and even a limited 10 hour lasting " glow " effectiveness overnight in winter is obviously better than nothing at all. The main victim in the Nocton Fen area is the Mute Swan and Russell has informed us that Western Power is now taking steps to install Night Glow Capability diverters at Nocton. In addition, Alan is liaising with Western Power re installation elsewhere in the county. Clearly, an obvious need has been identified by some.

However, WE must speak up for eg. the Mute Swan's protection from an 'avoidable' death elsewhere in Lincolnshire (and beyond) for, after all, by definition the Mute Swan cannot speak up for itself.

Freddy

Very good Russell. Well done.

Like you, I have found quite a number of dead swans, including one Whooper, under the wires at Nocton Fen over the years. I imagine putting lines underground there is impractical.

John Watt

I found a Mute Swan wire strike (and reported it here) last year on a section of power line, North of Kirkby Riverslea pit opposite the furtherst North West pit. Although not reserve boundry, I have not seen a wire strike where the LWT reserve area wires do have deterrents. However, the tree line by reserve tends to put the birds higher than the wires height anyway.

I have seen plenty at Nocton Fen myself too so would also like to thank Russell and all for the time taken to raise this and initiate a positive response from Western Power.

I suspect glowing detterents are cheaper than going underground, however if wire strikes continue post glowers, the loss of service to local residents post a wire strike might prompt such action in the future?

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JH Birding
http://jhbirding.blogspot.com

The new luminescent flight diverters were fitted yesterday, so we hope that these will solve this problem. A big thankyou to the Electricty Company responsible for a very rapid intervention.

Alan

Received a call from Ray Beech (Western Power) today letting me know the work had been done yesterday, Had a quick look down the fen and all looks well. Thanks again to Ray for a prompt response.

_________________
http://birdmanbirds.blogspot.com/