Well - those twitchers who saw it being killed by the Sparrowhawk can surely
tick it off their lists - a bird has only to be alive when you see it!
On 22/11/06, Graham Etherington <> wrote:
Just to clear up some misconceptions in this excellent (not) piece of
stereotypical journalism...
1. 'British' birders (as a whole) wouldn't 'flock' (how predictable) to
see
a Red-rumped Swallow as it's an annual visitor to the UK, often with up to
15 records a year. During my time in the UK, I've found 4 in total, whilst
out birding. Some of the Scottish listers might make the effort to see the
bird though.
2. There's no such species, sub-species, or form, as Scottish Sparrowhawk.
3. Birders (as we all know) don't use 'high-powered' binoculars. Just the
opposite really, with the majority of people favouring nothing above 12x
4. No 'large crowd' had gathered to watch the bird, as it was taken by the
Eurasian Sparrowhawk 20 minutes after it was first found.
5. "And, even if it is now deceased, the twitchers can still tick it off
their lists" - I don't think so!!!!!
Cheers,
Graham
On 11/22/06, Tim Dolby <> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> It seems that once again British birders have flocked to see a rare
> bird, this time a Red-rumped Swallow, which was last seen in 1987. With
> some misfortune however most people dipped on the bird because the bird
> was eaten by a Scottish Sparrowhawk. Perhaps inappropriately (and
> tastelessly) this is the sort of thing we love to see happen on a
> Twitchathon.
>
> Tim
>
> See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2453215,00.html
> <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2453215,00.html>
>
> One swallow, and it was gone...
>
>
> By Alan Hamilton
>
> NATURE, red in tooth, claw and sometimes rump, is a cruel beast.
>
>
>
> Birdwatchers who flocked with their high-powered binoculars, telescopes
> and long lenses to see a rare Mediterranean visitor to Lunan Bay, near
> Montrose, got more than they bargained for. They watched in horror as
> the red-rumped swallow was attacked and eaten by a Scottish sparrowhawk.
>
>
> Local enthusiasts spotted the swallow, which had taken a wrong turning
> on its migration route from southern Europe to its wintering grounds in
> Africa. Word that it had arrived on the East Coast of Scotland spread
> quickly, and a large crowd had gathered to watch it flying over the
> beach.
>
> The swallow's fatal mistake was to take a rest high on the roof of a
> nearby farm building. The twitchers watched in disbelief as the large
> hawk appeared, swooped on the swallow, crushed it with its powerful
> talons and flew off with its tasty Mediterranean dinner.
>
> Mike Sawyer, of the Dundee branch of the Royal Society for the
> Protection of Birds, said yesterday: "We were horrified. We had just
> phoned local birdwatchers to tell them of this rare occurrence. Then we
> had to ring them back and tell them it had been eaten."
>
> According to the RSPB the red-rumped swallow, Hirundo daurica, is a rare
> visitor to the UK but occasionally turns up during the migrating season,
> probably having lost its way. A specimen was last sighted in the Tayside
> area in 1987, and there have been only about a dozen sightings in
> mainland Scotland.
>
> The sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, is a large and common predatory native
> that preys on at least 120 species of small bird as well as on small
> mammals. The swallow, by contrast, lives on a diet of insects that it
> catches on the wing.
>
> One red-rumped swallow may not make a summer, but it makes a red-letter
> day for twitchers. Its demise is the second death of a rare bird in
> Scotland in as many weeks.
>
> Eileen Alexander, of Dundee, was delighted recently to find a rare
> Australian black-throated finch feeding in her back garden. But the
> creature, one of its home continent's most vulnerable species, collapsed
> and died before her eyes.
>
> "I was out in the garden feeding the birds when I noticed two sparrows
> watching this tiny bird that was hobbling around. Then the poor wee
> thing took a nosedive into the mud," Ms Alexander said.
>
> "I went to take a look at it but it was dead, so I called a friend to
> see if he could identify it. He said he'd never seen anything like it,
> so he took it away for investigation."
>
> As the finch does not migrate to Europe, Ms Alexander assumed that it
> had escaped from a local house or pet shop.
>
> The body is now in the hands of Mike Nicoll, a Dundee taxidermist, who
> hopes to preserve it. "It is not good in either welfare or ecological
> terms to release alien captive birds, and we hope this was not done
> intentionally," he said.
>
> The death of the red-rumped swallow at the claws of a skilled flyer, on
> the other hand, was very intentional indeed. And, even if it is now
> deceased, the twitchers can still tick it off their lists.
>
> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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>
--
Dr. Graham Etherington
Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia
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