Engineers working on the new Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission) substation at Tummel Bridge have had a birds-eye view of something special – the delivery, hatching and then fledging of four baby swallow chicks.
During a time of inactivity, a pair of enterprising swallows have taken advantage of a partially built electricity steel lattice tower within the new substation compound, building their nest snuggly up within the metal structure. When the project environmental team spotted the nest with its four eggs, they swiftly set up a work exclusion zone around the tower so the brooding parents wouldn’t get in a flutter whilst works continued in other areas.
Almost six weeks later the SHE Transmission on-site team were proud to report that four baby chicks had successfully fledged and flown the nest. Engineers were then able to get back to completing the tower.
Environmental Project Manager for SSE, Chris Meek, said: “We do everything we can to identify and avoid nesting birds, working with ecologists and liaising closely with Scottish Natural Heritage to identify and protect known habitats and nests. However nature has a funny habit of surprising you. You’d think a part built tower in the middle of a new substation would be the last place birds would want to nest. But it became the ‘des res’ nursery location for this pair of swallows – and a very successful one at that!”
Swallows are common summer visitors to Scotland, arriving in April and leaving in October. They traditionally build mud and straw nests on ledges, often in farm buildings and outhouses or under the eaves of houses. Numbers have fluctuated over the last 30 years and the species is now amber listed due to population declines across Europe.