Turbine toll on birdlife – Herald

I WAS fascinated to read that a magnificent, and rare, gyrfalcon is
patrolling North Uist (“Twitchers in a flap to spot a gyrfalcon”, The
Herald, April 6). Let’s hope it avoids the Harris wind turbine that
tragically finished off the “once in a lifetime” visit by the
white-throated needletail in June, 2013.

Research from around the world has recently revealed horrifying levels of
bird and bat mortality caused by wind turbines. The systematic cover-up and
burying of corpses is routine.

In Australia for example, the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle is threatened
with global extinction by wind farms. Our own iconic golden eagles and
raptors are particularly susceptible as their habitats are on high ground.

Recent figures for bird deaths indicate: Spain, 330 birds per turbine per
year; Germany , 309, and Sweden, 895.

Before any more turbines are built the wind industry should tell us the
Scottish figures.

George Herraghty,
Lothlorien, Lhanbryde, Moray.