northern shrike

Shrike watching from tree

Dear North American Birders! I hope you are all well! We are UK based filmmakers and we are attempting to film Northern Shrike singing and hunting behavior in their winter territories, broadly around the Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota region (or anywhere with particularly cold winters...

Dear Idaho Birders! I hope you are all well! We are UK based filmmakers and we are attempting to film Northern Shrike singing and hunting behavior in their winter territories. This is somewhat of an ambitious challenge as a) shrikes are not all that common, b) they don’t always sing, c) they...

Dear Wyoming Birders! I hope you are all well! We are UK based filmmakers and we are attempting to film Northern Shrike singing and hunting behavior in their winter territories. This is somewhat of an ambitious challenge as a) shrikes are not all that common, b) they don’t always sing, c) they...

Dear Montana Birders! I hope you are all well! We are UK based filmmakers and we are attempting to film Northern Shrike singing and hunting behavior in their winter territories. This is somewhat of an ambitious challenge as a) shrikes are not all that common, b) they don’t always sing, c) they...

A lifer for me...almost dropped my camera... in my back yard. Now that I've seen and gotten a picture, I hope he carries on out of our neighborhood. We have a lot of Chickadees and Nuthatches. Like to keep it that way. :)

I owe this guy a great deal of gratitude, if It was not for him I would not have seen all of the birds this winter. The red polls, pine grosbeaks, all of the winter raptors, and the owls. I chased him all winter to get a image and I got it plus all of the others. This is the final image I got...

Finally a closer image, he came from the tree tops and only sat for a few seconds, I manged one good shot before he was gone again.

I have my first new bird to enter my gallery of the new year. I have been watching out for this one for a few weeks, but I could not get close-enough for a good image, and spotting this guy is some fair lighting has been difficult too. I managed this one on an overcast day and he perched on a...

Taken on the last day of 2009

Finally managed to find my first Shrike of this year.

Took a trip to Plum Island today in search of the Snowy Owl, which of course "we just missed him" everywhere we looked. Although this guy isn't new to my life list, it certainly isn't something I see a whole lot, with the exception of last year when he was a daily visitor to my feeder...

Uncommon but regular winter visitor to NS. This is my first "keeper" digiscoped with my new scope.

Walking in North Jetty in Iona there suddenly came the Shrike from a tree onto the ground and rushed into the grass, a few seconds later, it came out with a mouse, staying for a few more seconds and then flew away. This one needs extensive sharpening.

An uncommon winter visitor is always a nice change. This one stuck around long enough for a few sketches, although he made me keep my distance. The top few drawings are of my pet quail, Spidge -- a frequent subject of mine when it's too dark to go birding and I need an avian model!

First time I've seen one of these at Powell Butte.

It was shrike time on Vancouver Island, and I was determined to see my first of the season. I kept my eyes open for one of those gray, masked birds. What a pleasant surprise to find a brown juvenile instead. I'd never seen one before.

I post this not for the artistic quality but to show the headless vole impaled on the thorn beside it. I also removed 2 branches in Photoshop that obscured it's head. On examination of the bush after it left, I found 2 other headless corpses impaled on thorns. Obviously a discerning diner.