My Shrike Obsession - 18th August 2026

I could not resist another visit to the Long tailed Shrike this evening.Yes I know but when if ever will I have a truly mega rarity such as this so close to where I live and now, thoroughly settled in its temporary home and allowing such fabulous views? 

A brisk westerly wind was blowing along the bridleway this afternoon and the sun had been absent for most of the day. For once I felt underdressed in what has now become my summer plumage, tee shirt and shorts and the wind made me feel slightly cold.What a novelty after the constant heat and sunshine of the weeks prior

I found only two other birders present and they pointed out the shrike immediately, perched on a branch in its favourite hawthorn tree. I was informed it had just eaten a mouse or vole which it had impaled on a thorn and torn to shreds, swallowing much of it but leaving some for later.

The shrike sat content in the tree for the next ten minutes, plump and content, sheltered for the most part from the wind and no doubt digesting its recent meal. So far during iys stay I have seen it capture and eat grasshoppers, crickets beetles, bees, mice and voles and twice unsuccesfully attack a Dunnock.Others have reported lizards too. 

The shrike turned on its perch, in the process showing the very attractive grey and russet colouring to its upperparts, now looking quite natty as its moult nears completion. A few wing and tail feathers need to grow to their full extent and it will be all set to migrate if that is what it is likely to do.We will have to wait and see but it cannot be long now.

It slipped further into the tree and became invisible and none of us knew for certain where it had gone, had it left the tree entirely or was it still in the tree having decided to seek shelter further in the midst of an impenetrable tangle of thorns, leaves, berries and bramble?.

For the next half an hour there was not a sign of it. Convinced it had maybe slipped out the other side of the tree un noticed we searched elsewhere but there was no sign of it. In our searching we discovered a trio of Whinchats, a Common Redstart and Corn Buntings, while a Raven cronked in the distance as it crossed the vast openness of now harvested fields forming a pale straw patchwork that stretched away in all directions, etched between the outlines of dark hedges and isolated woodland

Standing in this loneliness of sky and farmland I could not help but reflect on how my current situation was so different to the day the shrike was discovered and hundreds of birders came to crowd onto the usually deserted road and bridleway, bringing a friendly but chaotic atmosphere to this un -prepossessing location.

We waited for a considerable time for the shrike to re-appear and when it did it was to reveal it had been in the tree all along, hiding out of sight but now it was back perched just inside the canopy and tucking in to the rest of the mouse impaled on a thorn. I could clearly see red bloodied pieces of mouse flesh in its bill and what remained of the mouse's head impaled on the thorn.

The shrike fed for a  short while but soon desisted, wiping its bill carefully on the branch it was perched on. It flew to an exposed branch of hawthorn to sit and await an opportunity to pounce on another victim. It again tried its luck in capturing a Dunnock that was scuffling along at the edge of the bridleway but as before was not quick enough 

It flew back to perch in an elder and that is where we left it.The wind by now was quite cold and the light was fading fast so there was little point in prolonging my stay.

The shrike remained perched and alert awaiting one more chance to feed before nightfall came. .

Shrike Me Down - 13th August 2026

Unable to curb my continued enthusiasm for the Long tailed Shrike that is now into its fourth week of residence  on Eastleach Downs, I returned for another evening of watching and photographing this rare visitor and enjoying the rural surrounds it has chosen to frequent.

In fact I can say without doubt the pleasure of walking on Eastleach Downs is just as much an incentive to visit as is the shrike. It has revived all sorts of pleasant memories from when I worked in nearby Fairford and would come here to run along the lanes for miles to keep body and soul together.It has been a long time since I did that and to return has been akin to rediscovering a long lost friend. 

As per usual on my visits I  took the bridleway from the Oxfordshire end, planning to walk its relatively short length to where it joined another narrow road, this time in Gloucestershire.The day had been uncomfortably hot, in the high thirties and I left it until 6pm before arriving.The sun although still strong was slowly waning as was the heat haze and soon it would be gone with the light becoming soft rather than harsh.All the while a stiff but warm northwest breeze did its best to render the temperature tolerable.

Approaching the boundary between the two  counties about half way along the bridleway, marked by a drystone wall and a bramble hedge, instead of the customary gaggle of birders/photographers I saw precisely no one.There was no obvious sign of the shrike either so I was going to have to locate it by myself but I knew it was here as it had been reported throughout the day and I confess to rejoicing that I was here alone.

Eastleach Downs showing the hedge at the end of the field that marks the border
with Oxfordshire beyond and the bridleway and shrike favoured scattered bushes
on the extreme right of the picture

Reaching the Gloucestershire end of the bridleway I stopped to scan back along the now very much flattened bridleway track, its unwavering course downtrodden by the many feet belonging to almost exclusively birders, photographers and the plain curious, that have all made a pilgrimage to see this now nationally famous bird.

The shrike, born last year is now undergoing its annual moult into adult plumage but still has a way to go before its moult is complete but undoubtedly looks a lot more svelte than it did in days past.Its moult has been relatively rapid but some wing and tail feathers are still to reach their full length or be replaced so it will presumably remain for a while yet. Today it has been here for a total of 26 days but was first noticed 11 days earlier before briefly disappearing so I suppose one can say in total it has been around Eastleach Downs for 33 days.

For half an hour I saw little birdlife apart from a lone Whinchat perched high on a bramble spray, flying up to snatch passing insects and three juvenile Northern Wheatears perched on various of the stone walls.I positioned myself so I could scan down the length of the bridleway to the drystone wall marking the county boundary but I still could see nothing more apart from a couple of Common Whitethroats and some Goldfinches

Then on the edge of a hawthorn tree above the bridleway a  pale breast shone in the sun and there was the shrike, having appeared from I knew not where and now surveying the ground below for prey,

It perched there for quite a while but finally descended to the ground although unsuccessful in capturing whatever had caught its eye and returned to a wild briar, perching amongst the orange haws and shiny green leaves whilst being buffeted by the strong breeze causing it to brace itself on sturdy legs and employ its long tail as a counterbalance to emain secure on its thorny perch

The buffeting eventually proved too troublesome and it flew to a stricken elder that had seen better days, much of what remained of its brittle presence appearing to be a mesh of dead branches and twigs but providing just what the shrike required as a perch.  

From here it flew down to seize a grasshopper before returning with its victim to another briar to swallow it whole, after carefully removing its legs..

It then took up a vigil from the elder again but the troublesome wind continued to cause it some discomfort and despite adjusting its position it found the struggle unequal and moved elsewhere

 

The shrike moults its tail symmetrically, commencing with the central
pair of feathers then moving outwards.The above four images clearly
show the new black central tail feathers now almost fully grown and
the graduated feathers of its tail, the outer ones still to be renewed

It stuck to  its hunting modus operandi throughout, regularly flying down to seize something it had seen. On one occasion it attempted to tackle a Dunnock feeding on the ground but the smaller bird managed to flee before the shrike could pounce. Its eyesight must be phenomenal as it often flew  quite a distance by means of a long glide from an elevated perch to seize a grasshopper or beetle on the ground..

You can hardly call it a hedge but here are a couple of trees which the shrike
hunted from with the bridleway running below

Gently and cautiously I followed the shrike as it moved to various perches and it allowed me to get much closer than on previous visits. I like to think this was because, for a long period, I was entirely on my own, only being joined by one other birder after about an hour into my visit.

The shrike perched exclusively in the bushes and trees alongside the bridleway and caught its prey from the fringes of the adjacent setaside field in which I stood..

Half way through my visit it indulged in an extensive preening session, paying particular attention to its belly and flight feathers, its tail being still in active moult as are some of its wing feathers. Once satisfied all was well with its plumage it was back to business looking for sustenance

The golden hour arrived somewhere round 7pm with the sun casting a warm orange glow across the land and the shrike perched contentedly on the edge of a hawthorn tree. A calm seemed to descend and the world fell quiet.

A sudden commotion of anxious calling from two Kestrels behind me broke the spell, the cause of their concern being a female Sparrowhawk that crash landed in the hawthorn presumably in a failed attempt to seize the shrike. Not unnaturally this precipitated the shrike's rapid departure into the centre of the tree and out the other side, unseen by the Sparrowhawk. A close but thankfully non fatal encounter.

After the Sparrowhawk went on its way I waited some minutes but knew the shrike was unlikely to return and risk exposing itself, so reluctantly had to accept this evening's audience with the shrike had come to a close and made my way back along the bridleway to my car.

My now customary pint of cider and two packets of plain crisps in The Fox at Great Barrington brought the day to a pleasant conclusion..

I have a feeling this will only end once the shrike departs.

My Top Five

My recent unforgettable encounter with the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater on Sanday, one of Orkney's 'North Isles' prompted me to  consider what are the top five birds of all time that I have been fortunate enough to see in Britain during my birding lifetime. I take into account not just the bird but also the circumstance and overall experience which are just as important. It is noticeable that all bar one have involved travelling to remote and distant islands. Inevitably it has been no easy task to select just five as there are so many memorable birds and experiences to choose from but I have after some deliberation settled on these. You can access the full story for each by clicking on the words see here at the end of the paragraph below each photo.

Here they are in order of preference

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater  19th July 2026

First: It has to be number one and will be forever. I cannot imagine anything that will top this. An unforgettable, fabulous, exotic creature that I only ever fantasised about and never thought I would see in Britain.Two previous failures to see one only made it all the sweeter when finally I stood with nine others at the edge of an isolated road on Sanday in Orkney and watched this iconic species for four glorious hours. It was the fourteenth record for Britain, the first for Orkney and the fifth for Scotland see here.

Black browed Albatross 8th April 2022

Second: The adult Black browed Albatross that spent two summers in and around the Gannet colony at the RSPB's Bempton Cliffs Reserve on the East Yorkshire coast. I travelled there to see and photograph it on no less than five occasions with Mark R my twitching pal. Each visit equally thrilling and in a glorious setting atop spectacular cliffs at all hours of the day see here.

Varied Thrush  29th October 2021

Third: Another Orkney special and only the second of its kind to be found in Britain had us travelling north to Papa Westray, requiring a twelve hour overnight journey by car to Caithness, then a ferry to Orkney and a chartered boat from Kirkwall to Papa Westray where we were met by a bus and taken to the remote site frequented by this very rare bird see here.

Bay breasted Warbler  26th of September 2023

Fourth: Part of a possibly never to be repeated influx of North American passerines that rained down on Britain in late September 2023.This Bay breasted Warbler was only the second ever to be found in Britain, on Ramsey Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales.Due to adverse weather and other restrictions only four sailings were permitted on one Saturday to see it and we were very fortunate indeed to secure places on the third sailing and equally fortunate to have the bird show perfectly see here

Wilson's Warbler  17th October 2015

Fifth: A trip to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides to view this stunner of an American warbler frequenting a secluded garden almost at the northern tip of the island and possibly one of the most pleasurable twitches I have ever made due to a combination of unbelievably benign weather for the time of year, the difficulties of getting there which precluded a 'big crowd',a genial host and being in the splendid company of my former twitching pal Clackers see here.

A Return to that Shrike - 8th July 2026

With the ever popular Long tailed Shrike lingering but twenty minutes drive from my home it seems remiss of me to not go and see it as often as possible. After all it is a mega rarity, only the third for Britain  no less and right on my doorstep, even rarer in Britain than the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater that I made such a huge and thankfully successful effort to go and see in far off Orkney last week.see here Mind you the shrike can in no way compete with the iconic status, charisma or sheer beauty of the bee-eater. 

On a sultry windless Friday afternoon of sunshine and heat I decided to venture forth to Eastleach in the neighbouring county of Gloucestershire and endeavour to try and improve on the images I have so far managed to take of the shrike. With the day being so warm it was pointless arriving before 6pm due to the heat haze and shimmer the sun brought to the vast acres of dry stubble that surround the shrike's chosen hedgerow.

I also took my scope this time, to look for other migrants in the hedgerows although my primary purpose was to see the shrike.If it did not work out with the shrike then I could at least enjoy the other birds that frequent here at this time of year.

I parked by the Oxfordshire entrance to the now very familiar bridleway which incidentally forms part of the ancient Akeman Street, a Roman road that stretches seventy three miles from St Albans in Hertfordshire to Cirencester in Gloucestershire. In this rural and secluded area of countryside there is a peace and a solitude that allows one to feel a definite sense of history and as I walked the bridleway it was not hard to imagine all those in the centuries before who had trod this very ground too. In our hurried lives it is surely beneficial to be able to find somewhere to slow the pace of life and pause for contemplation.

It was still very warm as I set foot on the bridleway's dry, crazy paving of cracked ground, the grass now so withered by the drought it is virtually white.  The heat haze was still very apparent but would soon disperse as the sun continued its slow decline into evening.

I stopped to scope the hedge and drystone wall that marks the boundary between the two counties, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. As usual the slim forms of young Common Whitethroats were abundant, slipping in and out of brambles and isolated hawthorns and amongst them emerged a sleek  Lesser Whitethroat, a prize of silver grey and shining white against a dark green background of bramble leaves.

 

I also had the great pleasure to discover two juvenile Whinchats perched on top of the brambles.Not such an easy bird to see these days.

Crossing the county boundary I joined around a dozen  birders/toggers, stationed a little way off the bridleway in a setaside field. Some like me having come back multiple times for more.

I found the shrike hunkered down in a hawthorn, largely concealed by leaves and twigs and everyone waiting for it to show itself to better effect. A short wait ensued and then the shrike flew down to the bridleway to seize something and returned to another hawthorn already festooned with a copious crop of red berries despite it being only early August.

The general concensus amongst those of us with cameras was to try to curb a natural impulse to move closer but rather wait until the shrike perched fully in the open and was not partially obscured by twigs or leaves. Having agreed that we should wait for it to come nearer to us rather than us move closer to it, the precise opposite happened as someone crept nearer with the inevitable consequence of the shrike flying further away along the hedgeline.

The shrike is currently in the middle of its annual moult and is far from looking at its best.The wings still show unmoulted outer primaries and secondaries and the wing coverts and scapulars are also in transition from first year to adult.The old outer feathers of the tail are still to be replaced whilst the newer feathers are yet to reach their maximum length.The overall impression is of a slightly scruffy bird but of nonetheless pleasing overall appearance.

The current state of its moult will possibly mean its stay will be protracted and I will have the opportunity to return to photograph it when it has completed its moult and will present itself in its full pristine glory.

Note the obvious darker new wing feather still not fully grown and the scruffy tail
showing the outer feathers yet to be replaced and new inner ones still growing.The
images at the end of this blog give a more complete impression of the current state
of its moult.

I would never have thought when watching the other Long tailed Shrike that I travelled so far to see on a cold cloudy, rainy day at Crail in Fife, that I would now be here, on a hot sunny day becoming almost blase about the presence of this much more obliging individual that has taken up residence on Eastleach Downs. Long may it prosper and long may it remain!

The realisation had by now dawned that maybe it would be best to allow the shrike to settle and see if it would come closer of its own volition We stood quietly or in some cases crouched in the dry setaside field watching  the shrike from some distance in the hedge and it duly moved to perch out in the open on a battered elder bush that like the hawthorns was prematurely bearing berries but this time they were bead like and black. 

Whilst waiting for the shrike to make its move I scoped the distant bushes and found a superb male Common Redstart perched inconspicuously on the edge of a large hawthorn and just to its left an even better male Whinchat which  in my mind fully justified the inconvenience of lugging my scope around as well as a camera, lens and binoculars.

Declining by common concensus  to chase after the shrike, it was agreed to wait and see if it would work its way back along the hedge which obligingly it did and showed very well to one and all.

Toggers shadows in the 'golden hour'

The shrike seemed more settled and as our number had by now decreased to a single figure, we edged forwards and it showed no alarm, remaining on its perch for a considerable amount of time. Eventually it flew down to seize something from the ground and returned to pose on the stem of a dead umbellifer.This was what the big lens guys and to be honest the rest of us had been hoping for and we set about taking image after image of it perched to photographic perfection on its dry stem.It could not have worked out better

Emboldened we edged yet further forward as the shrike remained apparently immune to any concerns about us and soon we were close enough, so no one could fail to get a good photo.The shrike remained clinging to its stem looking around but never found anything to eat. It remained where it was for ten to fifteen minutes and I took far too many images but I sensed these were going to be the ones I had craved. I just knew it would be so and checking the images on the back of my camera I was not disappointed with the results.

Vindicated, I realised I could do no better. The shrike resolved any quandary in that regard anyway, by flying to a more distant perch on a stand of Sweet Fennel. My erstwhile colleagues said they were going to wait in the hope it would return but from previous experience I knew that would be unlikely. Un-noticed time had slipped by and we were now in that 'golden hour' when the light is nigh on perfect and the sun, as it sinks to the horizon, casts a golden hue over the land.

I set off east up the bridleway towards my distant car, whilst meanwhile, the shrike had flown further west down the field and the others had followed it. I stopped at the county boundary and scoped the drystone wall and hawthorns and was rewarded  with a Northern Wheatear, bouncing along the wall catching flies and a juvenile Whinchat also hunting insects from the same wall. 

Whinchat

Best of all the male Common Redstart revealed itself to be still in its favoured hawthorn, shivering its tail, its bright colours highlighted by the now setting sun.

I celebrated yet another pleasant interlude at Eastleach Downs with what has now become my customary pint of cider and packet of plain crisps at The Fox in Great Barrington. 

Then headed for home.