Since I'd planned to travel back home from Norwich yesterday morning, the news of a Balearic Woodchat Shrike at Wykeham in Yorkshire was very timely.
I arrived on site mid-afternoon. Cars parked at the side of the road & birders with 'scopes & cameras poised, indicated I was in the right place. The bird soon appeared on top of the roadside hedge, then flitted over to the other side of the hedge. Carefully moving around the hedge provided excellent views. A first summer male Balearic Woodchat Shrike. For the hour or so I was there, he moved about both sides of the road, perching for lengthy periods in the open on top of the hedges, at times on the other side of the hedges, giving very good prolonged, repeated views (at one point snacking on a bee). Just what was required!
A couple of the features marking this bird out as the badius subspecies are visible in the photo above: the lack of white at the base of the primaries; narrow black band across the forehead. More info on this form by Brian Small. Further info from Birding Frontiers.
The previous evening in Norwich I'd spent a very pleasurable few hours in the company of a couple of very old friends I hadn't seen for yonks & ages. A couple of pints in The Fat Cat with Peter (who I've known since we were five years old, living on the same road & been in contact with, but not seen for several years), Clive (who I've been in contact with, but not seen for 18 years) & Rod (who I hadn't seen for 18 years), was great fun. The conversation inevitably & most entertainingly turned to foreign birding trips adventures/mishaps.
Video by Pete Hines
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