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A dream sighting of a rare bird in Scotland with an unfortunate ending A dream sighting of a rare bird in Scotland with an unfortunate ending
(2 months later)
With all the unnecessary zeal of a reformed smoker I usually adopt a lofty tone towards twitching, and especially towards my own disreputable rare-bird-chasing past. To think I once drove overnight from Scilly to Aberdeen to see an Isabelline wheatear! At the time, I was consumed by the thought that this was only the third sighting of the bird ever recorded in Britain. Now I reflect on a different kind of consumption: was all that carbon really well spent?With all the unnecessary zeal of a reformed smoker I usually adopt a lofty tone towards twitching, and especially towards my own disreputable rare-bird-chasing past. To think I once drove overnight from Scilly to Aberdeen to see an Isabelline wheatear! At the time, I was consumed by the thought that this was only the third sighting of the bird ever recorded in Britain. Now I reflect on a different kind of consumption: was all that carbon really well spent?
However, I recently discovered that there are ways to re-engage with the old twitching habit and still feel absolved from all its wickedness. It occurs on those very few occasions when it is you who finds the rare bird that all the others want to chase. We were in the port of Tarbert on the hunt for its famous tweed, when out of a Hebridean moor swooped a bird from our dreams. A white-throated needletail is the ultimate paradox: a swift species with huge gravitas. It originates in China but thinks nothing of spending its winters in Australia. It is, in fact, the world's fastest bird in level flight. Unbelievable though it seemed to us, the eighth example ever to be seen on these islands was suddenly careering overhead.However, I recently discovered that there are ways to re-engage with the old twitching habit and still feel absolved from all its wickedness. It occurs on those very few occasions when it is you who finds the rare bird that all the others want to chase. We were in the port of Tarbert on the hunt for its famous tweed, when out of a Hebridean moor swooped a bird from our dreams. A white-throated needletail is the ultimate paradox: a swift species with huge gravitas. It originates in China but thinks nothing of spending its winters in Australia. It is, in fact, the world's fastest bird in level flight. Unbelievable though it seemed to us, the eighth example ever to be seen on these islands was suddenly careering overhead.
Instantly phone calls were made and within moments lives all over Britain were being re-oriented towards Harris. The most amusing moment came the following day. Watching one friend go from gibbering anxiety to exultant delirium (when he finally saw the bird) was like watching an addict eventually get his fix. Another friend I hadn't seen for 20 years suddenly sprung up in front of me. He'd been in Leeds the previous day. One carload had driven from Kent to Inverness, then flown to Stornoway. How sad that this extraordinary creature should end its days through collision with a nearby wind turbine. But it did at least achieve immortality of a sort: next day it was front-page news in the Scottish edition of the Sun.Instantly phone calls were made and within moments lives all over Britain were being re-oriented towards Harris. The most amusing moment came the following day. Watching one friend go from gibbering anxiety to exultant delirium (when he finally saw the bird) was like watching an addict eventually get his fix. Another friend I hadn't seen for 20 years suddenly sprung up in front of me. He'd been in Leeds the previous day. One carload had driven from Kent to Inverness, then flown to Stornoway. How sad that this extraordinary creature should end its days through collision with a nearby wind turbine. But it did at least achieve immortality of a sort: next day it was front-page news in the Scottish edition of the Sun.
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