Yesterday morning, driving along the main road back to Tarbert in the Outer Hebrides, we came across a large group of people parked up by the roadside, accompanied by their cameras and waterproofs. Perhaps they’ve spotted the Sea Eagle, we thought, and went to find out. But no, it was the White-throated Needletail. This bird, which winters in Australia and had only been spotted in the UK eight times before, is a type of Swift and the world’s fastest-flying bird. We stayed for a while to catch a glimpse, with many others pitching up too. It was quite a scene.
This afternoon, however, news has reached the mainland that this very same White-throated Needletail is no more, having flown straight into one of the island’s wind turbines where it ‘was killed instantly’.
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