Whooper swans are winter visitors to the UK arriving in late autumn from Siberia and Iceland and leaving in the spring. They arrive in there thousands with large numbers of them heading to the fenlands of cambridgeshire where they spend their days feeding in arable fields in large groups, eating crops like leftover potatoes and grain, before heading to roost on open water as it begins to get dark.
Many of the fields that the swans spend time feeding in have power cables running along pylons nearby. These can be a real hazard for large flying birds like swans who often struggle to see the power lines and due to their size are unable to make quick movements in flight to avoid collisions. After several reports from concerned locals of collisions, UK Power Networks has put together a dedicated team to help stop the problem.
Using a long specially insulated rod, small spinning fluorescent discs are hung from the live cables, which carry 11,000-volts. These fluorescent discs are known as diverters and help birds avoid the cables resulting in fewer collisions as well as fewer power outages.