Friday, January 17, 2014

Birdwatchers see rare white-throated needletail fly into wind turbine

An enthusiast who travelled to the Western Isles to view a rare bird has told of his "dismay" after watching it fly into a wind turbine and die. The white-throated needletail, which breeds in Asia and winters in Australasia, was spotted on Harris. About 30 birdwatchers travelled to the island to see the unusual visitor, which has only been recorded five times in the UK since 1950. However, they then saw it die after colliding with the wind turbine. Birdwatcher David Campbell, from Surrey, told the BBC Scotland news website that the incident took place late on Wednesday afternoon.  Mr Campbell, who is now making his way home to south east England, said: "We just watched the whole thing with dismay." A relative of the common swift, the white-throated needletail is said to be the fastest bird in level flight. It is reported to reach a top speed of 105mph...more


Speed Kills!  And that poor Mr. Campbell, look what happened on a previous visit:  "He added that on a previous bird watching trip he had seen a migratory wryneck hit by a train."  Why does he keep returning and witnessing this carnage?  Is he truly a birdwatcher or is he surreptitiously collecting ingredients for Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.  He couldn't call it White-Throated Needlelltail Soup or Migratory Wryneck Soup, so Chicken Noodle it has to be.  One informant claims his family has been doing this for 80 years!  Stay tuned as we are working 24/7 to ascertain the source of his noodles.  If you have any leads on this please let me know immediately.

1 comment:

Tick said...

You so bad! Or as they say in south Louisiana, "I know you shamed."