I love irony. It’s so… ironic.

Rare bird last seen in Britain 22 years ago reappears – only to be killed by wind turbine in front of a horrified crowd of birdwatchers

There had been only eight recorded sightings of the white-throated needletail in the UK since 1846. So when one popped up again on British shores this week, twitchers were understandably excited.

A group of 40 enthusiasts dashed to the Hebrides to catch a glimpse of the brown, black and blue bird, which breeds in Asia and winters in Australasia.

But instead of being treated to a wildlife spectacle they were left with a horror show when it flew into a wind turbine and was killed.

A bird not native to England ends up there because it’s blown off course. Sort of an accidental tourist. As it’s flying about bird watchers are thrilled to see this rare bird and flock (get it?) to see it. Then WHACK the poor little bird flies into one of those humungous, noisy, and not very efficient turbines that the environmentalists insist are the answer to our of our energy problems. I

If someone had shot this bird or even killed it accidentally while driving down the road, there would be outrage. In this case, there are just apologies. And not very convincing ones at that.

A spokesman for the RSPB said it did not know the exact details of the case but migrating birds can be blown off course when travelling and the needletail may have lost its bearings and ended up in the UK. She added: ‘Careful choice of location and design of wind farms and turbines prevents, as much as possible, such occurrences happening on a large scale.

‘Wind energy makes a vital contribution towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, which is the biggest threat to our native birds and wildlife.’

Except that this isn’t a native bird, it was a undocumented immigrant bird.

But it’s for the better good of bird kind and these things happen from time to time.

You can’t make an environmentally friendly omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Or something.