Not Another One! - 19th July 2026

Sometimes circumstances combine to bring about a situation that is almost beyond belief and such a thing came about on Sunday the 19th July along a country road near te idyllic village of Eastleach Martin in Gloucestershire and which is close to the Gloucestershire/Oxfordshire border.

And what was the event that was almost beyond belief you ask. Well the presence of a Long Tailed Shrike, only the third ever to have been recorded in Britain and the first for Gloucestershire and England was belatedly publicised after its presence for at least 11 days prior to today had been unknown except to a select few. Add to this the almost unprecedented situation that a different male Long tailed Shrike had already been seen at Crail in Fife only two weeks ago after a gap of 26 years from when the first was discovered also in Scotland see here

It was almost unbelievable.

News leaked out on Saturday and a few birders went to the location, Eastleach Downs to search for it but there was no sign of the bird and frustratingly it looked like it would be another one that had got away but some are more persistent than others and returned on Sunday morning, including Mike King of The Gloster Birder  https://theglosterbirder.co.uk fame. At first it seemed there would be a repeat of Saturday with no sign of the bird. An Oxon birding colleague present from 5-8am failed to find it but just after he left Mike King also giving up at 10am after a similar fruitless search suddenly had it flying past him just feet away.

This precipitated release of the startling news onto my local Oxon Bird News WhatsApp Group and shortly after the two national birding information lines, Birdguides and Rare Bird Alert followed with the news and that is how I and many others came to learn of the shrike's continued presence just before Sunday lunchtime. 

The next problem for me was that myself and Mrs U were scheduled to go to friends for a long standing lunch date just as the news broke. At first I contented myself with the fact that I had already seen the first for 26 years at Crail and no longer needed it for my British List but the fact this third individual was but a twenty minute car  drive from my home was testing my equanimity to the limit.Mrs U well used to such situations said I should go and provided I rang our friends and explained about the shrike  she was happy to go to the lunch on her own.I duly rang our friends and well aware of my obsession they wished me luck and told me not to worry.

Cue my leaving the house shortly after noon and making the welcome short drive to Eastleach.I knew exactly where to go as I used to drive through Eastleach on my way to work in nearby Fairford. .The shrike was in bushes along and near a narrow country road that under normal circumstance saw little human or vehicular traffic  and was where I used to go to run its rural two mile length and back during my lunchtime to alleviate the stresses and strains of running my company. 

A lane I should add that over the years, as I pounded the tarmac revealed a number of Quail, Short eared Owls and even a ringtail Hen Harrrier on separate occasions.Although long since retired from work I could not help but wonder that if I were still going for runs along the road, would I have been the first to encounter the shrike.

The road in question is  narrow and this is harvest time so the potential for conflict with the famer was high on the agenda unless some off road parking could be arranged. Step forward various Gloucester birders who spoke to Sam, the farmer and arranged for a field to be opened to allow cars to park safely and not block the road to passing farm machinery. A quarter mile walk from the field along the pleasant road brought you to where the shrike was frequenting the scattered hawthorn trees, bushes and brambles that followed the wayward passage of drystone walls protecting the fields from the road. In other words typical shrike habitat.

I arrived at the site at around 1pm and already there were a good number of local birders present, standing  on the narrow verge by the road and looking over a drystone wall to some hawthorns that followed the route of a bridleway that ran out between the fields and itself followed a drystone wall to meet another drystone wall that ran at right angles and marked the boundary between Gloucestershire where everyone currently was and Oxfordshire.

Oxonbirders!

I drove further down the road parked my car in the designated field and getting my gear together walked back the quarter of a mile to the  scrum of birders. 

On getting there an enquiry to a fellow birder put me onto the shrike almost immediately. It was perched high and fairly distantly but clearly visible in a large hawthorn some way into the field by the drystone wall.It remained here for some time as in typical shrike fashion it dropped to the ground every so often to seize an invertebrate and then returned to its vigil on high.

The shrike regularly moved from one hawthorn to another while slowly the number of birders increased as the initial and  predominantly local Oxon and Glos birders ranks were swelled by others coming from more distant parts of Britain.At its peak there were well in excess of a hundred birders present with others leaving and arriving constantly throughout my four hours there.

Crowd scenes

The shrike moved closer to the road and eventually perched in a hawthorn right by the road which resulted in birders massing each side of it but remaining at a sensible distance. 

The shrike maintained its vigil unperturbed by its enthralled audience, everyone with cameras endeavouring to get a photo of this ultra rare visitor.

For about forty minutes the shrike remained in the hawthorn moving from one side to the other, mildly mobbed by young Whitethroats and on occasions chasing them through the tangled twigs of the tree.

By now it was approaching mid afternoon and the light for photography was too harsh and a strong heat haze was hardly conducive to a photographic masterpiece but everyone carried on regardless and as the afternoon wore on we followed the shrike as it moved from one favoured hawthorn to another.

As with all major twitches it also became something of a social occasion as old friends were greeted and new ones made. Personally I find this aspect almost as rewarding as seeing the bird. Its a communion with beings of a like mind. We all understand each other and there is no need to explain anything about this obsessive and compulsive phenomenon of twitching.  

Don't you write that blackaudi birding blog? 

Didn't I see you at the Western Reef Heron twitch? 

Are you going to Shetland this year?

How's your hip?

All examples of comments that engendered enjoyable conversations and interactions of various lengths and that are part and parcel of the twitching birding community I find myself part of and that Mark Cocker memorably described in his book Birders, Tales of a Tribe

So Wickster, John, Wreny and Vic, John P, Badger, Moth and Jane, Gnome, Cliff, Dave D, Richard, Graham, Adrian, Les, Julian, Mark P, Nick and Ann, Chris, Gary, Adam, Gareth and Paul, greetings one and all.

The shrike began to move away following the line of bushes and hawthorns toward the Oxfordshire border. I stood with Wreny and Vic on the Gloucester side, all of us willing it to carry on into Oxfordshire.Could we really get it on our Oxfordshire County List and in the process watch it become a first for Oxfordshire and one of the rarest birds ever to be recorded in the county?

We stood as slowly, ever so slowly the shrike graduated toward the county boundary, marked by a few bushes and the right angle of drystone walls. The distance and heat haze made it hard to ascertain exactly where the two counties met but finally to much relief and rejoicing it unequivocally crossed into Oxfordshire

You may smile but these things are important to mild obsessives 

Adam, who in conjunction with Jason runs the Oxon Birding web site called to confirm it had indeed entered Oxfordshire.

Right then.Put it on my county list please Adam

Eventually I reached that point where I knew the time had come to make my way back to my car and head for home. I had formed a plan to come back tomorrow very early when the light would be more benign and hopefully get the images I wanted.

Despite the parking instructions there are always some who feel the polite requests do not apply to them and had parked along the road and surrounding roads endangering the good will with the farmer generated by the majority. For the most part everyone behaved impeccably  and co operated and a donation bucket on site raised £1200 for a conservation charity on just this one day

Monday 20th July

I returned the next morning at 5am to the road in Gloucestershire and was surprised to find about twenty birders already present but my plans for some nice images of the shrike were to be thwarted.The sun already up was shining directly into my eyes and the shrike was very distant and currently over the county boundary in Oxfordshire. Mark arrived to get the bird on his Oxfordshire list and after a short wait achieved that and we left. The farmer had put out notices at the end of the road requesting people to not drive down the road but follow a diversion that would bring them to the parking field..

Mark went off to a dental appointment and I went home for some breakfast and then returned before the sun became too bright and the heat haze too intense,

This time I used my local knowledge and entered the bridleway from the Oxfordshire side and walked 300 metres to join half a dozen birders looking at the shrike perched in a large clump of hawthorn and bramble.Looking further along the bridleway I could see many other birders stood on the other road in Gloucestershire.They would be unable to see the shrike from there.

The shrike would move position after long periods of immobility, following the drystone wall and line of bushes that marked the county boundary. 

The bridleway crossing boundary between Oxfordshire (beyond the post) and Gloucestershire

It gave more than adequate views as the great thing about shrikes is that they generally perch unmoving for long periods in the open which is a great help when attempting to get a photograph.

I watched and photographed the shrike along with many others but it was always just that little bit too distant for me to get what I desired.I watched as it periodically moved along the bushes selecting  a suitable perch to watch for prey. A juvenile Yellowhammer followed it closely keeping a wary eye on its movements. 

A tap on my shoulder.I turned and there was Paul who I had not seen since we shared the joy of seeing Britain's second Bay breasted Warbler on Ramsey Island in September 2023 see here..We chatted and catching up on our respective news.It was good to see him. Less welcome was the behaviour of a minority who in selfish fashion proceeded to not listen to reason and stand in front of everyone else and obscure their view of the shrike.

More and more people arrived to swell our ranks and the shrike unsurprisingly moved further away. Approaching 10am the light was harsh and the heat haze made photography impossible.The shrike moved even further and we were reduced to distant obscure views of it perched in the bushes.This was no good.I resolved to come back this evening when hopefully there would be less people about and the light would be good and the heat haze banished.

Walking back to our cars we encountered a Spotted Flycatcher by the road, perched on a fence post. Before Paul went home to Cambridge I suggested a coffee and a continuation of our catch up so we adjourned  to The Fox at Great Barrington to sit by the river in the sun for an hour. 

I spent the rest of the day messing about with odd jobs about the house and arranged with Sally who had not seen the shrike, to bring her along with me on my return to Eastleach Downs in the evening when the light would be softer and the crowds presumably less.

It was  a beautiful evening as I parked the car on an area of bare parched earth below some overhanging trees beside the road. We passed though the metal gate granting access to the bridleway and once more I surveyed the rolling amber coloured acres of farmland, now shorn of their ripened crops, harvested early due to the drought. The tall summer grasses that border the fields now withered and dessicated to a beige of which Marks and Spencer would be proud.Everything parched to a dull scorched dryness as the relentless sun brought no respite day after day. 

We followed the gently downward sloping bridleway for 300 metres, the ground sunbaked to an overcooked hardness, cracked and uneven with small fissures that tripped you if unwary.We found two disappointingly numerous groups of birders, each group surveying the lowest part of the bridleway from either side, the dip bisected by a  weak hedge line hiding crumbling drystone walls that signified the county boundary. I enquired about the shrike and was directed  to it perched prominently in the top of the hedge  Sally saw it too through her bins and then through my scope so the first of our aims had been satisfied. Now I needed to get some half decent images but for that I had to be much closer to the shrike but this was not possible out of consideration to the many other birders present. I would have to hope the shrike might come closer to us but would the presence of so many birders cause it to remain at a distance.The only course of action would be to wait and see. 

We watched as the shrike moved from hawthorn to hawthorn along the hedge line, always selecting a prominent perch  but showing little likelihood of coming anywhere remotely suitable to get my desired images. I was philosophical. After all if my mission failed here I was still able to enjoy being in a beautiful isolated rural location on a peaceful summer's evening, What was not to enjoy? Maybe I was doomed to be unlucky.It was in the lap of the birding gods as to how the shrike would behave. It flew up once more as it had done and I expected it to fly further away as it had progressively done up to now, accompanied by a raggle taggle of smaller birds, mainly whitethroats that followed it around in mild anxiety.

To my surprise it flew towards us, coming much closer and perched perfectly in an isolated hawthorn sapling, swaying about and clinging to a tiny twig.

I cannot recall how many images I took but it was a lot. Everyone around me was doing exactly the same and birders from the other side of the hedge came rushing to join us. This was the moment for which everyone had been waiting and wishing for. Ten magical minutes passed as the shrike remained perched on its flimsy tree while we filled our camera's memory cards

Finally it quit its perch and flew back to the hedge and landed at some distance from us

Everyone appeared satisfied, we could hardly have failed after all and most took this as an appropriate time to leave. A nucleus of around twenty of us remained. It was now seven in the evening and that golden time was upon us when the air becomes still and the sun's harshness has turned to a benign golden balm that infuses and softens the contours of the surrounding countryside.

The shrike re-appeared, pitching onto a large clump of bramble from which a number of alarmed whitethroats fled. The shrike proceeded to fly up into the sky at random intervals, intercepting passing flies and bees.It would perch at the very top looking about and then suddenly rise into the sky to intercept a passing insect, returning in a series of swooping glides to the top of the brambles. 

You had to be quick as it was all over in seconds but I managed by trial and error to capture some half decent images of the shrike in flight hunting its prey which appeared to be predominantly bees 

It repeated the process a number of times and was always successful, taking its prey back to the bramble clump to be consumed  there on a perch.

After about half an hour it ceased and I stood with one other birder examining our images of it in flight. Our images showed it was in obvious wing and tail moult

It was approaching 8pm and I recognised this as a signal to leave. In the quiet of mid evening Sally and myself walked back along the bridleway to the car stopping to admire a Redstart that flew down onto the bridleway to seize an insect and then back up into the surrounding hedge

Tomorrow I will rest but I know I will go back as long as the shrike remains.

A mega rare bird almost on my doorstep demands nothing less,

.

Wednesday 22nd July

I did go back the next evening with Mark and after quite a wait the shrike showed very well for half an hour, spending virtually its entire time just over the border in Oxfordshire.We also had the pleasure of meeting Sam, the farmer and his family who joined us and chatted with us perfectly amicably and  Sam showed us video of the bird taken by a friend of his before its presence became public knowledge.He told us that the shrike had changed its habits since people came to twitch it and that prior to news of its presence it spent its entire time working along the hawthorns and bushes bordering the road in Gloucestershire but since Sunday it had moved further into his fields and favoured the brambles and hawthorns along the bridleway,

Walkng back to our car we found a male Whinchat and surprisingly a Reed Warbler amongst the many Common Whitethroats frequenting the scrub by the drystone walls

                                                                        Enough!

It's not just Birds that have Wings - 18th July 2026

Saturday morning and after a physio appointment on Friday I decided to test the resilience of my troublesome hip with a visit to Otmoor RSPB in search of Brown Hairstreaks. A lens  and camera combination weighing 2kgs hanging from my shoulder would be make or break with regard to my troublesome hip..

I arrived mid morning and took to  the familiar track between the fulsome summer largesse of tangled bramble, hawthorn, bindweed, hogweed and angelica, you name it, forming great impenetrable banks of vegetation, a natural corridor  rising  up to meet the morning sunshine

There was one other enthusiast already here with the same mission as myself and we stood chatting as you do, awaiting a hoped for appearance of a Brown Hairstreak..

Insect life was here aplenty,  a swarm of Gatekeepers tumbled down and amongst the blackberry flowers, their wings flashing open to reveal winking eyes as they fed on the bramble flowers, Green veined Whites, a Peacock and a Comma also enjoyed the bramble flower nectar along with countless bees, beetles and hoverflies, most beyond my identification capacity.

But what of the Brown Hairstreaks? Well not much when I first arrived just aftet 10am.There is one place in the mass of vegetation that seems to be particularly favoured by them and from experience I knew if one was not on view right away then the best strategy is to stand at that place and wait.Most times this ploy is eventually successful but occasionally not.

An hour passed, not unpleasantly standing in this narrow corridor through the vegetation, the sun was warm but not overbearing and the insect life was forever entertaining.With the increased sunshine and warmth as the morning progressed now came the dragonflies, Brown and Southern Hawker, Common and Ruddy Darters but not the elusive butterfly.

To my surprise no one else came to this popular spot.We were on our own and my erstwhile companion told me he had been here since 8am and had seen a male Brown Hairstreak before I arrived  but nothing since. He also mentioned,  as an afterthought, he had found a Wasp Spider on another part of the reserve.

I enquired whereabouts and it transpired not very far from where we stood .I rather like Wasp Spiders and he showed me an image he had taken of the spider which revealed it was a spectacular female sat proudly in the middle of her web like an exotic trapeze artist.

It was too much to resist and with little sign of any hairstreak action I made haste to the spider leaving my companion to keep a vigil for the hairstreaks.

It took no time to find the spider, hiding in plain site in its fantastical web.A superb colourful creature  its sulphur yellow body circled with broad bands of black, hanging upside down in the web's  centre with long black and white legs clinging  to the gossamer lines of her web - her patterning and colour an anti predator stratagem that mimicked a wasp perfectly.

She  had obviously been successful in capturing other insects, as two bundles of silk encased victims she had injected with poison as they struggled in her web were hanging there for later attention but  for now she remained still and unmoved in the centre of her web.The web is large and shaped like an orb secured by silken threads to surrounding blades of grass and other vegetation.Uniquely the web has a wide white zig zag strip running down the middle known as a stabilimentum.To this day no one is exactly sure what it is for.

Wasp Spiders are a relatively recent colonist from continental Europe and are now leaving their initial southern England colonies where they are not scarce and slowly moving northwards and it was good to see this one on Otmoor as I have only seen one other in Oxfordshire, at Radley which is not that far away.

Watching her I noticed a much smaller, pale brown spider hanging about at the periphery of the web but maintaining a discreet distance from the female. I assume this was a male Wasp Spider awaiting an opportunity to mate with the female. He was wise to maintain his distance as he was courting extreme danger, that could well prove fatal.In order to mate he has to wait until the female has moulted into her mature form, then and only  then take advantage of her jaws being soft and rush in to mate with her but many males never make it or misjudge the timing and are killed and eaten by the female.I could not help but ponder if one of the silken wrapped bundles in her web might be an unfortunate male.

Happy with my successful spider expedition I returned to my butterfly companion and to find him photographing a male Brown Hairstreak nectaring on a purple thistle head. Anxious it might depart we were solicitous in allowing each other to get our photos but we need not have worried as the butterfly remained for well over an hour, tripping through the florets of various thistle heads as it supped their nectar before flying up to settle on a bramble leaf.

                                                                We left it there.