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Birdwatchers see rare swift killed by wind turbine
The Telegraph via FARK.COM ^ | 6/27/2013 | Simon Johnson

Posted on 06/27/2013 10:54:13 PM PDT by prisoner6

Dozens of birdwatchers who travelled to a Scottish island to see an extremely rare swift have been left distraught after it was killed by a wind turbine.

Around 40 people were watching the White-throated Needletail, the world's fastest flying bird, on the Isles of Harris when the tragedy happened.

Sightings of the bird have only been recorded eight times in the UK in nearly 170 years, most recently in 1991, prompting around 80 ornithologists to visit the island in the hope of catching a glimpse.

David Campbell, from Surrey, told BBC Scotland the incident took place late on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking as he made his way home, he said: “We just watched the whole thing with dismay."

Josh Jones, of Bird Guides, a specialist website for ornithologists, said he had spoken to witnesses, who had seen the bird fly straight into one the turbine’s blades. He said: “It is ironic that after waiting so long for this bird to turn up in the UK it was killed by a wind turbine and not a natural predator.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: decompression; energy; environmentalists
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>> the world’s fastest flying bird

With or without the turbine?


21 posted on 06/27/2013 11:40:54 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: Gene Eric

Turbine. No afterburner.


22 posted on 06/27/2013 11:46:10 PM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama equals Osama))
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To: prisoner6

White-troated Needletail killed by White-collared Needled*cks.


23 posted on 06/27/2013 11:49:07 PM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama equals Osama))
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To: max americana

Don’t you hate when the swift hits the fan?


24 posted on 06/27/2013 11:53:21 PM PDT by Trod Upon (Every penny given to film and TV media companies goes right into enemy coffers. Starve them out!)
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To: Trod Upon

You dear FReeper win the best comment award!


25 posted on 06/28/2013 12:05:26 AM PDT by prisoner6 (Tea Party, Constitution, patriot, DOMA, NRA, pro-life...can you hear me now big ears?)
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To: Trod Upon

“Don’t you hate when the swift hits the fan?”

LOL. Excellent.


26 posted on 06/28/2013 12:08:53 AM PDT by flaglady47 (When the gov't fears the people, liberty; When the people fear the gov't, tyranny.)
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To: prisoner6

Sounds like the punch line to a Monty Python skit.


27 posted on 06/28/2013 12:11:23 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: Jeff Winston

That’s a great, underappreciated movie!


28 posted on 06/28/2013 12:12:58 AM PDT by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
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To: JennysCool

I agree. I need to see it again. :-)


29 posted on 06/28/2013 12:20:43 AM PDT by Jeff Winston
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To: prisoner6
Gee .... wind turbines with 120 foot long blades traveling at a velocity of 100 mph .... who would have thought that it could actually be hazardous to birds that share the same airspace?

Of course the question begs to be asked ..... If a bird is pulverized by a wind turbine .... and nobody was there to see it ..... did the bird really die? For all of the low information folks out there .... it's a variation of the old "A Tree Falling in the Forest" schtick.

30 posted on 06/28/2013 12:22:56 AM PDT by R_Kangel ( "A Nation of Sheep ..... Will Beget ..... a Nation Ruled by Wolves.")
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To: prisoner6
Oil and gas are certainly more environmentally friendly.

Caribou grazing near oil refinery

The noise from a wind turbine
31 posted on 06/28/2013 12:57:17 AM PDT by Maurice Tift (Never wear anything that panics the cat. -- P.J. O'Rourke)
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To: prisoner6

Wind turbines are killing a LOT of bats, and bats eat a LOT of mosquitos, so killing bats helps spread disease.

No, the bats don’t fly into the blades, bats have echolocation ability, as you know. The bats fly past the blades just fine and die when the turbulence crushes their lungs. Probably happens to small birds as well.

Large predator birds are the most prone to flying into the blades.

Wind turbines also put out a vibration that disturbs sleep in humans out to distances which vary with terrain and other factors. The current regulations for wind turbines allow the fans to be too close to housing.

There’s more eye-opening info if you do a little research.

Wind is a very dirty energy.


32 posted on 06/28/2013 12:59:48 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (....Let It Burn...)
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To: prisoner6
Wind turbines DIRECTLY EFFECT GLOBAL WEATHER!

They slow the wind speed and change weather patterns!

Once again the road is paved with good intentions! The destination never changes though!

33 posted on 06/28/2013 1:30:57 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Jeremiah 50:32 "The arrogant one will stumble and fall With no one to raise him up; And I will set)
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To: prisoner6
I thought liberals liked Eagles?



34 posted on 06/28/2013 1:46:02 AM PDT by goron (If this be treason, make the most of it! - Patrick Henry)
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To: Jeff Winston

Good grief! Another post with dialog without naming the movie or play or whatever. Posters who do this should be banned for a month.


35 posted on 06/28/2013 3:02:19 AM PDT by raybbr (People who still support Obama are either a Marxist or a moron. No, they are both.)
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To: prisoner6

There will be casualties, but Green Energy must go forward...like grinding up hippies and liberals for cleaner air and compost would be a great start!


36 posted on 06/28/2013 3:09:22 AM PDT by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html - A real life experience book about the war in Iraq)
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To: SaxxonWoods; MestaMachine; Rushmore Rocks; Oorang; sweetiepiezer; txnuke; Velveeta; aragorn; ...
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

. . . . Check out # 32.

.

37 posted on 06/28/2013 4:18:24 AM PDT by LucyT
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To: goron

There is something symbolic in the death of this country and the picture of a dead eagle near a wind farm.


38 posted on 06/28/2013 4:18:25 AM PDT by Flick Lives (We're going to be just like the old Soviet Union, but with free cell phones!)
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To: LucyT
ha ... just more unintended consequence

.

39 posted on 06/28/2013 4:19:57 AM PDT by Elle Bee
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To: CottShop
Well at least now they can get some good close up shots of it without it flying off

I tried telling a left wing bird watcher once that this was how Audubon studied and painted his legendary works, except with a gun. The whacko said quite bluntly.... "Audubon wouldn't harm a feather on a bird"

40 posted on 06/28/2013 4:25:53 AM PDT by catfish1957 (Face it!!!! The government in DC is full of treasonous bastards)
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