If they were migrating geese then there could be some free roasted xmas dinners :-).
Perhaps those 11Kv lines are a bit too 'saggy' though ?. How would they stay apart during high winds, which are expected in that part of the country ?..
That was my thought: if the starlings landing and taking off stretch and swing the wires so much that they touch, even in cold weather when the heat hasn't made them expand, then a gale could do the same. The wires need to be tightened.
It was a hell of a lot of starlings on each wire. Individually they may not weigh much but on those numbers and all acting in synchrony they must be well beyond normal design tolerances.
Our local mains in the village is three phase aluminium core wrapped around a steel hawser. It proved strong enough to support most of the weight of a tree. The recoil when the tree was cut free was spectacular!
All the poles in the village are now banana shaped with "do not climb" warning stickers on them.
Is it only starlings that murmurate, or do other birds do it, does anyone know?
I don't think winds normally cause too much problem on 11kV. Trouble is, they don't produce enough corona discharge to keep birds clear.
On national transmission lines the current they can carry is limited by sag caused by thermal expansion, so they can carry more power at low temperatures. A rare example of Sod getting it wrong.
If "synchronous swallows" (!) are more than a once-in-a-lifetime event, then the design tolerance of the wire tautness and/or wire spacing must be set so doesn't cause a problem.
What are the poles made of? For them to be "banana shaped", they must have bent without breaking, which suggests metal rather than the wooden poles that are normal for HV and 240 V overhead wires.
Would insulating them to prevent this actually cost a lot?
Yes. Only an idiot or a socialist would even consider it.
The air gap *is* the insulation. The wires look too saggy.
Isn't it a made up word, based on a murmur of starlings?
Magic, absolute magic!!!
Avpx
Oh very likely, but I was meaning that spectacular swirling about in a flock that starlings do. Other birds fly in flocks, but do any of them murmurate like that?
It's amazing to watch. If only 'strictly' had that degree of control.
It is difficult to see, but they don't look particularly saggy to me once they settle after the birds have taken off.
In high winds, they ought to all blow in the same direction, rather than bounce about randomly.
Animals are amazing and most show us to be the pathetic creatures we really are.
With great (albeit artificial) power comes great responsibility and that includes protecting not exploiting and killing those around us,
*especially* for no real reason.Millions of years after birds could fly together in vast numbers, man has just managed to get some drones doing a fraction of what even a starling can do (but not the flying nearly 1000 miles in one go). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
A Buzzard shaped kite would be cheaper.
There's only so much tension you can apply to lines, without the lines failing. They're not intended to be strung like guitar strings. The tension is somewhat irrelevant if the stretch was in a straight line, but when the transmission curves gently across terrain, there need to be guy wires to counteract the forces involved.
When a line touches the ground, now it's too loose :-)
"Suggested Practices for Avian Protection On Power Lines"
Paul
This is pretty impressive:
I'm not sure how many starlings can beat that?
OK, a clear win on speed - no bird can exceed the speed of sound, and given how energy inefficient supersonic flight is it's hardly surprising. Birds have made it to 37,000 ft which is the same height as commercial airliners but doesn't come near the Blackbird.
But birds have been tracked flying non-stop for 7,500 miles, and the swift can stay airborne for 10 months (and probably longer if they didn't have to land to raise chicks). The largest ever formation of aircraft (drones) seems to be just over 3000, while the largest recorded starling murmuration is about 6 million.
It's the same as in many fields - human technology wins easily on raw power, but struggles to match nature in efficiency and control.
Mike
Unsurprising. Nature has had millions of years to fine-tune flight.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.