Woodchat shrike at Reculver

[robinm]

Taken today- near railway east of towers. Never came close enough for a really good shot but not a bad record photo.

[Grousemore]

Nice one,Robin,never seen one of those.
Was it easy to connect with or fairly mobile,as I might be down that way tomorrow?

[IanF]

Well done Robin. I have never seen these in the UK.

[Geoff Pain]

Likewise never managed to catch up with one of these yet.

[robinm]

Was it easy to connect with or fairly mobile,as I might be down that way tomorrow?
Viewed from this position (http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?X=624000.00056015&Y=168500.881354224&width=700&height=400&client=public&gride=624200.00056015&gridn=168499.881354224&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&scale=10000&out.x=10&out.y=8). Bird was in bushes west of there, either side of railway line. We viewed for about 2 hours.

This was a UK tick for me - good start to the week. :t:

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

Nice one Robin, what a stunning bird. Am I jealous or what?

And there's a place called Wagtail nearby? LOL.

[Ruby]

Wow!!

[SimonC]

Oh I really wish I hadn't read this, Robin! :-C

I've been trying my best to forget that this bird was there! It's high on my list of most wanted birds but there's no way I can get to see it.................Damn, damn, damn!!

Oh well..............there'll be others

[Woody]

That's a beauty Robin. If only I had the time!....

Woody

[Ruby]

Hi All,

Managed to get down to Reculver yesterday and see this bird..... absolutely fantastic - it is perhaps getting used to the attention, as it was quite happy to have high-speed trains thunder past it and was completely unconcerned by dog-walkers passing by no more than 20' away (completely unaware of the bird's presence from what I could see)

I was just wondering what the future is likely to hold for this particular bird....

From what I can read, this is mainly a bird of Southern Europe and is a relatively unusual visitor to the UK. That being the case, the chances of bumping into another WS for breeding is probably pretty unlikely, so what is likely to happen to this bird??

It did seem perfectly happy and was catching lots of insects, so didn't seem in too much imminent danger. Is it likely to just mooch around here, living a lonely life?? or go back from whence it came?? or stay until winter and then die?? What is likely to have brought it here in the first place??

Hmmmm.... any thoughts???


Rgds..... Ruby

[robinm]

Hi All,

Managed to get down to Reculver yesterday and see this bird
Hi ruby, Glad you got down to see it. Great bird.

As to your other points I'll leave that to others.

[Ruby]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for letting us all know about this and for the excellent directions - found it no problem at all (mind you - the bunch of guys with scopes etc was a bit of a give-away...) :t: ;)

Fantastic couple of hours in the sunshine - lots of other birds as well - Greenshank, Warblers, lots of Wheatear and dozens of Yellow Wagtails.


Rgds... Ruby

[robinm]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for letting us all know about this and for the excellent directions - found it no problem at all (mind you - the bunch of guys with scopes etc was a bit of a give-away...)
Not too much guess work required !

We should be really grateful to the guy who found it. He birds that area virtually every day.

[Bluetail]

I was just wondering what the future is likely to hold for this particular bird....

From what I can read, this is mainly a bird of Southern Europe and is a relatively unusual visitor to the UK. That being the case, the chances of bumping into another WS for breeding is probably pretty unlikely, so what is likely to happen to this bird??

It did seem perfectly happy and was catching lots of insects, so didn't seem in too much imminent danger. Is it likely to just mooch around here, living a lonely life?? or go back from whence it came?? or stay until winter and then die?? What is likely to have brought it here in the first place??

Hmmmm.... any thoughts??? We now get enough Woodchat Shrikes every year for the species not to be an official rarity any more. However, the chances of a pair meeting up are very remote indeed (it's never happened yet as far as I know). Species like this tend to move north when anticyclonic weather encourages them to migrate. If the high pressure is really extensive and reaches as far north as the English Channel, they may well end up in Britain. The individuals we get may well be pioneering ones or "inferior" birds that can't compete for territories in their home range. No one knows what happens. It is commonly suggested that overshooting migrants like Woodchats, Red-rumped Swallows, Black Kites etc simply turn round an go back, but there isn't any evidence for this that I've heard of. Occasionally they will stay. Hoopoes breed here once in a blue moon, a Red-rumped Swallow once summered at a House Martin colony in Dorset and, of course, there were the Bee-eaters that bred in Durham recently.

[Ruby]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the info - that was all very interesting....

Some friends went to see this bird on Friday and were not able to locate it - maybe it's moved on....