Even more rare now...

[Gob]

I know I shouldn't laugh, but...

There had been only eight recorded sightings of the white-throated needletail in the UK since 1846. So when one popped up again on British shores this week, twitchers were understandably excited.

A group of 40 enthusiasts dashed to the Hebrides to catch a glimpse of the brown, black and blue bird, which breeds in Asia and winters in Australasia.

But instead of being treated to a wildlife spectacle they were left with a horror show when it flew into a wind turbine and was killed.



John Marchant, 62, who had made the trip all the way from Norfolk, said: ‘We were absolutely over the moon to see the bird. We watched it for nearly two hours.

‘But while we were watching it suddenly got a bit close to the turbine and then the blades hit it.

‘We all rushed up to the turbine, which took about five minutes, hoping the bird had just been knocked out the sky but was okay.

‘Unfortunately it had taken a blow to the head and was stone dead.

‘It was really beautiful when it was flying around, graceful and with such speed. To suddenly see it fly into a turbine and fall out the sky was terrible.’

The last sighting of a white-throated needletail was 22 years ago. A relative of the common swift, it is said to be capable of flying at an astonishing 106mph.

The bird was thousands of miles off course when it was originally spotted in Northumberland, before travelling further north. But it hadn’t reckoned on the wind turbine hazards of the Hebrides when it landed on the Isle of Harris.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2XTdlNFUm
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[Lord Jim]

Not really an "aww..." kind of "feel good" story is it?...

The sort of thing that only a person with a twisted sense of humor would find amusing...

Which of course wold not include me....

[dales]

He's only resting.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Eco-friendly?

[Sue U]

Pining for the fjords of Sydney, I reckon.

The bird is "rare" only in Britain, where it is several thousand miles out of its normal range:

Eco-friendly?

Moreso than coal- or oil-fired generating plants.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Tell that to the bird.

[Rick]

Can't, its dead...

[Lord Jim]

No it's not, it's pining.

[Joe Guy]

People are so dramatic about these things.

I bet it was just bad timing. The bird died of old age and just happened to fall into a turbine.

I'm sure an autopsy would prove that to be true.

[Sue U]

Can't, its dead...

You can still tell it; you just can't tell it much.

The bird died of old age and just happened to fall into a turbine.

Probably died of exhaustion after flying all the way from Canberra.

Alternatively, realizing it was in Scotland, suicide.

[Long Run]

We've seen this black humor skit a hundred times. File under life imitates art.

[Rick]

We've seen this black humor skit a hundred times. File under life imitates art.

I guess yer referring to Anton Chekhovs "Seagull" that showed up in Glasgow in the early 1900s, however it is still alive to this day...

[Joe Guy]

For your enjoyment...

[Sue U]

We've seen this black humor skit a hundred times. File under life imitates art.

I guess yer referring to Anton Chekhovs "Seagull" that showed up in Glasgow in the early 1900s, however it is still alive to this day...

That made my day.