EP North installs stork platforms to protect the health and life of migratory birds

Immediately before the arrival of the first storks from the south in our country, Elektrodistribuenie Sever-Shumen region installed platforms for stork nests in the villages of Yasenkovo and Sini vir. Platforms are placed in places with already existing sockets that need reinforcement to keep birds away from the live wires and protect against a possible short circuit. Earlier this year, a total of 60 new platforms were installed on the territory of North-East Bulgaria. The electricity distribution company carries out similar activities on electricity distribution facilities in order to protect the life and health of migratory birds mainly during the autumn-early spring period, when they are not in the country and their nesting and breeding of offspring are not disturbed. During the summer season, bird protection activities on the network are more limited and work is being done on specific signals for urgent intervention to protect migratory animals.

Storks, like some other animals, themselves choose the most convenient for them nesting place, taking into account the population of the area, air currents around the nest, and others. They are known for their preference of areas with a living population for raising their offspring. The most common places for the construction of nests by storks are precisely electric poles, in some cases trees or chimneys of houses. It has been proven over time that it is not advisable to place platforms on poles before knowing whether the birds will choose exactly them for nesting, because in the mass case they remain unused. For this reason, Elektrodistribuenie Sever continuously monitors the need to intervene for the installation of bird protection facilities and platforms according to the nesting sites chosen by the birds, working in cooperation with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, RIOSW and follows the prescribed recommendations.

Caring for the environment and the conservation of protected species is a priority in the work of the EP North. In the period 2020-2021, nearly 19,500 pieces of various types of bird protection devices worth BGN 1.3 million were installed in the territory serviced by the company. The facilities are located in North-Eastern Bulgaria, where the migratory routes of birds pass.