What a cracking bird to see me reach 300 UK bird species! This mega rare Red-tailed or Turkestan Shrike has been at Bempton Cliffs RSPB for a few weeks now and today I finally made the two and a half hour drive to see it.
I just can't bear the heat, so there was no way I was going to spend a day in sun at Bempton in the recent unprecedented heatwaves we've been having. But with the promise of slightly lower temperatures as autumn progresses, I decided to go for it and I really wasn't disappointed.
There have only been seven previous recorded sightings of this bird in the UK, with the first being seen in 1995. It normally breeds in Asia and overwinter in the Middle East.
Shrikes are carnivorous passerines or songbird, but sometimes I think they should be classified as raptors as they eat small birds, mammals and amphibians as well as beetles, wasps, bees and flies.
It was feeding well today and its tail feathers have mostly regrown after being damaged a few weeks back.
So who knows, it may well be shortly off back home soon.
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