A red-backed shrike on Cowpen Marsh was a big draw, but an even bigger tick was its cousin, a
woodchat shrike, which had birders wading through waist high bracken above Scaling Dam.
A Red-backed Shrike was seen recently near Erddig Country Park, and a
Woodchat Shrike at Ynys-las on Monday.
The 4 bird species found infested by Hyalomma ticks carrying AHFV RNA were the western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) (A), eastern
woodchat shrike (Lanius senator niloticus) (B), sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) (C), and common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) (D).
It shares this feature with all the other shrike species passing through Egypt in spring: the Red-backed Shrike, the
Woodchat Shrike, the Lesser Grey Shrike, the Isabelline Shrike and of course, the Masked Shrike.
Some 30 different bird species were examined, and one species, the
woodchat shrike, which winters in southern Africa and nests in Central Europe, proved to be a carrier of virus-infected ticks.
Drawing out spring were a few rarities continuing to be found, including a Greenish Warbler on Bardsey and a
Woodchat Shrike on the Great Orme.
The striking Hoopoe bird along with
Woodchat Shrike have been spotted around the country since the beginning of April.
We had our "Birds of Europe" and identified a Marmora's warbler, slate-gray with a red eye; a tiny yellowish finch called the serin; a
woodchat shrike, with a red head, white throat, and black tail.
Mind you, if a sub-alpine warbler or a
woodchat shrike (to name two such visitors he says have been spotted by The British Trust for Ornithology) swooped down on my lawn I doubt I'd notice.
AN INVASION of Spanish rarities, including a Scops Owl, a Black-eared Wheatear, a Night Heron, a
Woodchat Shrike and several Alpine Swifts and Hoopoes, appeared in Cornwall at the end of March following a long spell of southerly winds.
June is capable of throwing up rare visiting birds and the sighting of a
woodchat shrike sent birders from all parts of our region hurtling over to Scaling Dam last week.
On April 23, 2009, a
woodchat shrike (Lanius senator senator) was caught at the Antikythira Bird Observatory in the Greek archipelago.