Red-backed Shrike: Positioned on the edge of the the English border, near Whitchurch in Shropshire and Wrexham in Wales you'll find one of the biggest and best raised bogs in Britain.
Its a great place for dragonflies and damselflies, but also birds. its funny actually as I've been working for days at a time in Shrewsbury (not too far from Wixhall) and while working in the area the bird news has been pretty quiet, then when the job finishes a quality bird turns up. Typical.
The Red-Backed Shrike's Latin name is Lanius collurio with Lanius coming from the Greek for butcher! As this species is known as the butcher bird due to its rather barbaric behaviour. It uses its sharp hooked beak and to tear its prey apart and will also impale its prey onto anything sharp, usually thorns or even barbed wire.
This bird definitely lived up to its name as it spent more of its time while I was there deep in a hawthorn hedge feeding on cached pre.
It appeared to be feeding on a small mammal, butchered and impaled on a thorn. Possibly a larder hidden deep in bush. Fascinating to watch it pick at the bones and remove flash while sticking it down on the thorns.
