Of all the places to spot a peregrine falcon, the most ironic must surely be perched on a meteorological mast at Knockgardner, right in the middle of the northern section of the proposed Linfairn wind farm. This is exactly where one was photographed by John Elverson at the end of March. You can see all three of the photos he managed to take at savestraitonforscotland.com/impact/wildlife/#peregrines and also read his account of how he spotted the bird. John has been in touch with the RSPB about this sighting, who responded,

“As you have highlighted peregrine is a species which is considered to be at some risk from wind turbines in certain locations. Fortunately, unless turbines are located in close proximity to a nest site (e.g. within 800m) the collision risk is likely to be fairly low for this species.”

Let’s hope we never have to find out if they are right or wrong about this…