February 24, 2021 12.26 pm This story is over 37 months old

Bird diverters fitted after dead swan found under power lines

Two incidents in two months
The dead swan was found under power lines in Burton. | Photo: Data Collector, Lincoln Swans

A dead swan has been found under power lines north of Lincoln, the second tragic discovery in the same location in two months.

The unringed adult was found near Burton on February 21 under wires that run over fields close to fishing lakes between Burton and Burton Waters. It is in the same location that a unringed juvenile swan was found dead in December last year.

It prompted the Lincoln Swan project to call on Western Power Distribution to put reflectors on these power lines on Monday, February 22 and action was taken the following day.

A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution told The Lincolnite that it patrolled the area and fitted bird diverters on the high voltage line within 48 hours of it being reported.

Bird diverters are round discs that hang from the lines. They are made of a reflective material and move in the wind, effectively making the wires more visible to birds in flight and giving them a better chance of avoiding collisions.

Dr Jenny Dunn, Senior Lecturer in Animal Health at the University of Lincoln, said: “WPD acted very quickly to add bird diverters to the power lines where the dead swan was found over the weekend.

“We have seen an increase in the number of swans on the waterways in the Burton area recently, and hopefully the diverters will reduce swan mortality from power line collisions in the area in the future.”

Meanwhile, the increase in swans around the Brayford in Lincoln this winter could be down to a number of them spending more time feeding at the west end of the Pool, according to Dr Dunn.

The Lincoln Swan Project ringed 195 swans in and around Lincoln since September 2017. Some 1,022 sightings have been submitted through the ‘Swan Project’ app, which was launched at the beginning of May 2020.