Wind Turbines Surround Tåkern Bird Sanctuary, Östergötland, Sweden

Lake Tåkern is located in Östergötland, Sweden, along the eastern side of the much larger Lake Vättern. Nearly 300 bird species utilize Tåkern, and it is considered one of northern Europe's foremost bird lakes. It is 12 km long and 8 km wide, with an average depth only 0.8 meters. Tåkern lies around 10 km south of Vadstena, bordering in the west at Omberg.

The whole lake, with the surrounding shorelines, has been a formally-recognized nature reserve (naturreservat) since 1975. From April to the end of July, it is not open to the public, except four visitor centers and their associated walking paths.

During a recent visit to Tåkern I was taken by the sheer number of wind turbines that have been installed around this bird sanctuary, as well as their close proximity to the lake. In the U.S. there are reports of bird and bat mortality at wind turbines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated in 2009 that turbines kill 440,000 birds per year, and that mortality is expected to increase significantly as wind power generation expands by 2030 to levels about 12 times higher than 2009 levels.

So, all of these turbines surrounding Tåkern (there are a lot more not shown in this video) are certainly an interesting development. I imagine they will either help demonstrate that wind turbines are in fact compatible with important bird habitat, or they will have a significant detrimental effect on the bird populations that utilize Tåkern.

http://www.takern.se

http://www.natura.org/natura2000management/se_takern.html

Видео Wind Turbines Surround Tåkern Bird Sanctuary, Östergötland, Sweden канала WesternPAdude