With two Red-Backed Shrikes in Sussex, which one to go for? The Church Norton one was an adult male, nice. But the Climping one was closer, with thunderstorms forecast the Climping one's proximity to the car park and with the legs still aching from yesterday's Wryneck heroics, the choice was difficult but laziness swung it😀 , Climping it is !! Anyway I prefer the subtle shades and colours of a 1st winter bird rather than the over the top gaudiness of the adult male😂 So I arrived about 9.30, first task to recover from the price of the Carpark!!😡😨😱 £2.25 for an hour, 11 quid for 12 hours, for a surface full of potholes and bogs that weren't open, shame on you Littlehampton!!! After recovering, I kitted up and headed out, 30 yards up the path a lone birder was pointing a camera at a bush, she confirmed the bird was present but hidden result!!! The bird started a bit shy, but soon came out to play, although it stayed sadly distant, to be honest I think it was a bit birderist😲!! It happily sat with in about 10 feet of golfers but shied away from our long lenses!! There was also a bit of confusion, when at one point we thought we had two Shrikes but turned out to be a rogue Whitethroat!! Not much else about, a single Wheatear flew down the Golf Course and there were a few Swallows knocking about. There was only 4 birders present while I was there but we enjoyed great views, Shrikes are always awesome!!
Some pics below, there is a theory that you can have too many Shrike pictures, not a theory I subscribe to!!
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| Started out tucked away |
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| But soon came out to play |
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| Grubs up, caught quite a few bits while I was there |
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| Whitethroat |
Think I covered most angles😂 Maybe the Male will hang about til next weekend and I can have a crack at him as well!!!
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