After an absence of 4 years a Great Grey Shrike was seen on Farley Moor in Matlock Forest yesterday. Fortunately for me it was still there this morning and performed well in the sunshine this morning. It was hunting in a clear fell area just inside the main entrance to Farley and spent much of its time sat on top of the dead pine tree, left as song posts for the Nightjars.
Whilst I was there it looked to be taking small prey, presumably beetles off the ground but yesterday it was seen to take a Meadow Pipit and skewer it on the tip of one of one of the pines! The used to be called 'butcher birds' because of this habit of keeping a larder.
It is quite a pale bird, with almost white upper tail coverts and a large area of white at the base of the secondaries as well as the typical white at the base of the primaries suggesting that the bird has come from western Russia rather than Scandinavia.
It is similar to a bird Ken photographed in 2012 possibly of the race homeyeri.
I written a more detailed analysis of why I think this bird is Homeyer's Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor homeyeri on my Wildlife Diaries blog.
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| Great Grey Shrike |
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