[size=75:yczv6o7u]novinite 9 March 2010

Bulgaria Electricity Provider Safeguards Nesting Storks

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Bulgaria's electricity distribution company CEZ has installed over 500 safety platforms for stork nests on its power poles during the past three years.

The company is also monitoring a further 800 nests on its pylons, ready to take safety action should that prove necessary.

Rosen Yardanov, the Director of Maintenance and Operations at CEZ, announced on Tuesday that the birds cause frequent power outages when they settled on electrical cables.

By providing metal platforms and fitting insulated connectors, both the electrical components and the storks are protected. The cost of a single installation comes to less than BGN 100.

Yordanov commented that the protective program, although cheap and cost-effective, was often operationally complicated. Some nests proved difficult to move. In these cases, the solution was to erect a new pole and transfer the power cables, leaving the stork undistrubed in its nest on the old pole.

The stork is considered in Bulgaria as a welcome harbinger of spring, and is associated with good luck and fertility. The birds migrate in huge numbers along the Via Pontica, which crosses Bulgarian territory, as they spread throughout Europe on their journey from their winter nesting spots in Africa and the Indian sub-continent.

A Bulgarian tradition still observed is that, when one sees their first stork in spring, one may remove one's Martenitsa, worn since March 1, and tie it to a tree, or place it under a stone, for good luck.

there are no storks in balchik, so the martenistsas are rather worn after years of wearing them

3 yeas now and no storks.