Further to your article regarding the demise of the hen harrier, it would
be an interesting exercise to produce a map of where raptors are in decline
and lay it over a constructed wind farm map to see if there are any
similarities (Hen harriers virtually extinct in the northeast of Scotland,
News, February 7).
Industrial wind turbines litter the hills of estates, many of which are
sporting ones. With increasing global reports of large numbers of these
birds being killed by turbine blades it is wrong to ignore the very real
possibility that the wind industry is contributing to the decline. Raptors
live in the same remote areas where wind farms are built. It is understood
that they are attracted to opened out areas caused by construction and also
by the bodies of smaller birds and bats that have been previously killed by
the blades.
No wind farm is monitored 24/7 and the chances of finding all the
casualties are remote. Predators will remove carcasses and injured birds
will drag themselves into the undergrowth and be killed or die of
starvation. This is not an emotional account – this is actually happening
and it is time the Scottish Government seriously looked into it instead of
denying Scotland has a problem. If it is happening world wide, it is
happening here. The only difference being that we are not investigating it.
Lyndsey Ward
Beauly
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