06/09/2020 Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham

Red-backed Shrike: Today I had a free pass while Dawn was out with the girls and decided to take baby Autumn. So I was off down the M6 to Sutton Park.

Sutton Park is a large urban park located in Sutton Coldfield. Most of the park is a National Nature Reserve that contain large areas of heathland a perfect area for a visiting shrike!

It was my first every visit to Sutton Park and i was blown away, the place is stunning a real valuable resource of nature in the heart of Birmingham. 

The Red-Backed Shrike has the Latin name Lanius collurio with Lanius coming from the Greek for butcher and this species is known as the butcher bird due to its rather barbaric behaviour. They are famous for impaling and spearing its prey on spiky barbs of bushes and thorns with its bird of prey like bill. Pretty cool really.

I loved the place, not only is it a temporary home to this shrike but it's also home to cronking ravens, green woodpeckers and redstarts.

This little stunner gave the group of birders I was with some entertainment while the shrike went missing. The shike wasn't phased by the dozens of dog walkers or the presences of onlookers, birders and photographers.

It either spent long periods of time flying from perch to perch, chasing off chiffchaffs and foraging for food. There were plenty of birders with cameras (just like me) who were well behaved.

I think this is my second only adult red-backed shrike that I've seen after seeing up to six juveniles, so for me it was well worth the trip down the M6.

12/10/2014 Ness Point, Suffolk

Red Backed Shrike: From Burton Norton we dove through to Ness Point and picked up this little beauty!

Upon arriving we bumped in to a very polite local who pointed us in the direction of the birds preferred bush.

We waited with this guy for a few minutes before catching sight of the bird in a completely different bush further up the car park.

I was happy to tell this guy the bird was elsewhere as he had been waiting for a few hours in this one spot for the bird to turn up.

The bird came incredibly close as it picked off wasps that were bathing in the sunlight.

Our main aim for heading through to Suffolk was to catch up with Minsmere's Little that had been seen on and off all day.

However our luck ran out and we dipped the crake!

However due to time restrictions Alan and I were forced to leave and was proper gripped!

Perhaps an excuse to take Dawn away for a weekend......if the bird continues to show.

27/08/2013 Spurn, East Riding of Yorkshire ‎

Icterine Warbler: My first trip to Spurn and in the words of Scott Reid 'its the bollocks'.

First stop was Beacon Lane where we had reports of an icky Warbler and Barred Warbler, both of which I needed. I decided to go for the barred with Liam as they are really tricky to see so we left Alex to find the icky.

This turned out to be a bad decision as Liam and I walked right passed the barred leaving a group of birders behind us to see it. We were gutted but turned back to see Alex who had successfully relocated the icky.

We also had a Wryneck down the lane, I had two ticks within a few minutes of getting out the car, AWESOME.

Red Backed Shrike: Our next stop and my third tick of the day, we headed across to the warren where some guy just had a RB Shrike. We hopped out the car and after a short wait the bird made an appearance.

We also had a flyover from a Yellow Wagtail  here, but there were discussions that it may have been a Citrine Wagtail - wishful thinking.

Spotted Flyatcher:  Spurn was full of some great birds, beside the rarities the supporting cast included spot fly, pied fly and Redstart.

We spotted all of these in the same area which the RB Flycatcher had been seen, but failed to see it after a long search.

Winchat: Feeling a little deflated after dipping the RB Fly we headed down to Spurn Point to improve on our bad luck earlier that morning, as news came though that another barred was down on the point.

Again we had no sign of the bloody barred but got this nice shot.



Red-breasted Flycatcher: While looking for the barred Liam went back to the RB Shrike site to try again and then sent us a text once he found it.

My fourth tick of the trip, although it showed really well it was difficult to photograph as it stayed in the shade of a tree.

Wryneck: The highlight of the trip for me had to be the Wrynecks, after a huge fall over the weekend we had no trouble finding them.

The Beacon Lane bird was showy and we had good views until we came across this bird on the mound next to the Crown and Anchor at Kilnsea.

We were blown away by the bird as it fed on ants in the grass not bothered by anyone, it was even happily feeding as cars passed right by it.

We came across another bird a bit further down Easington Road which amazed us further as this time it was only a few feet away.

After another failed attempt to locate a barred down Beacon Lane and deciding to call it a day and head back home the Wryneck's were all over Easington Road and there where birders laying an arms length away getting some amazing shots.

Spurn migration festival here I come!