Red-backed Shrike

An even bigger surprise than the recent run of sunshine at the wheatear study plot on Mynydd Preseli was this red-backed shrike which found its way into one of the traps set for wheatears at the weekend.

female Red-backed Shrike

News was withheld initially as turning up inland during June meant it may have been intending to breed, and this schedule 1 species is a target for egg-collectors, but it can now be confirmed that it was just a passage bird. The shrike was not made welcome by the local resident birds with meadow pipits, stonechats and wheatears all mobbing it. After being ringed  it slowly worked its way west along the Preseli ridge. If only the wheatears were as easy to catch!

Paul and Paddy