Great Grey Shrike an early Birthday present.

Saturday 6th November 2021.

The Great Grey Shrike remained distant at all times hence the record shot photos of the bird.

It was into the New Forest today in search of the Great Grey Shrike at Backley Bottom, which was not too far from Picket Post along the A31. So nearly missing the turn off for parking in the lay-by the A31, we then climbed over the fence, walked under the underpass and eventually got our bearings correct to join several other birders in search of this elusive Shrike.

A female Stonechat on the heath.

Andy standing inside a Toadstool fairy ring! Enough said!

The New Forest is a hot spot for this species, with possibly 3 to 4 birds settled here each winter, but because their hunting range covers a huge area, we were in no doubt it wasn't going to be easy to locate the bird. The weather was a little indifferent with a bit of blue sky and sunshine trying to break through a lot of heavy cloud and the blustery westerly breeze certainly made the trip a tad cold at times. If we never had a good hike across the heath, it could have really been a cold trip.

A Redwing in the trees near the small bridge.

The Raven passing overhead while we were all watching the Shrike.

After a few false alarms, we found the area where the Shrike had been seen last this morning, roughly a mile or so south from where we parked the car and thankfully, someone to our left some distance away was waving at us, for he had refound the Great Grey Shrike. We soon caught up with him and I got the briefest of views (approximately 5 seconds worth!) of the bird distantly perched around 300 yards away on a dead tree bough on the edge of the woodland, then it flew off into the wood, with poor Andy getting no view whatsoever!

Another couple of distant photos of the Great Grey Shrike.

We patiently waited for around half an hour and then the bird reappeared and showed very well, albeit distantly, for the small crowd gathered with us. Yes, it was distant, but I had my scope with me and we got reasonable views of the bird perched high up in a tall dead bough of an old Silver Birch. There it remained till we left around 15 minutes later (it started to get quite cold standing there in that wind!), thoroughly happy with an early Birthday present from the birding Gods! Yes, I always go birding on my birthday where possible. We never got to see a Great Grey Shrike last year and though distant, this bird surely made up for that.

Another photo of the Redwing by the bridge. Plenty more flew overhead this morning.

The female Stonechat on the heath. 

There was a good supporting cast here today also at Backley Bottom, which included at least three Stonechats on the heath (2 females and a male bird). Overhead, we had large flocks of Fieldfares and Redwing going over as well as a flock of 20+ Crossbills heading north as did a flock of around 30+ Siskin. While waiting for the Shrike to reappear, a Raven passed overhead heading south and a Water Rail was heard to call near the small bridge! I didn’t expect that! A few Dartford Warblers were heard somewhere on the heath, but no sightings of any this morning.

Turkeytail Fungus growing on this old log.

I am not sure what species of Toadstool this is, but I shall endeavour to find out later.

The Great Grey Shrike was my 198th species for the year and to grab the 200th species is now a very distinct possibility; even maybe in November. Andy, sadly is lagging behind with 179 species for the year and has gone off to Thorney Island for the afternoon to hopefully grab a few more ‘year-ticks’! Worth keeping an eye out for Short-eared Owls there.