The Long tailed Shrike is a bird that is found over much of Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea, it is found mainly in scrub and open habitats. Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory moving south in Winter, while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary although they may make short distance movements.
So you can imagine the excitement and surprise when a single bird turned up in mid July at Eastleach Martin which is right on the Gloucestershire Oxfordshire border. This is only the third ever record of the bird to be seen in the UK so of course Steve and myself set off up there hoping to see which might well be a once in a lifetime chance of seeing this long travelled but lost bird.
When we got there we found out we had to park in a field which one of the local farmers had provided it was to help stop blocking the narrow lanes between the fields where the bird had settled. They charged everyone £5 a car and gave all the proceeds to charity what a fantastic gesture.
We made it back to the area where the Shrike was last seen and with a little help off two other birders who we met when we arrived we located the bird fairly quickly, a mega tick for both me and Steve the gorgeous Long Tailed Shrike.
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| long tailed shrike |
The Shrike had settled in a line of scrubby bushes and was moving to different perches it would sometimes disappear for a short while but would pop back into view again giving some excellent views.
I also did a bit of digiscoping and managed to get a couple of decent clips.
The bird was apparently in moult hence it's scruffy appearance and would stay until September until it had fully gained it's new set of feathers.
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| long tailed shrike during it's moult. |
Steve absolutely fell in love with this bird and went up to see it about ten times before it finally left, here's a couple of stunning images and a short video that he took of the bird now fully moulted.
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| a very rare grey partridge |
