RED-BACKED SHRIKE. GETTING CLOSER . . .

This morning we made a lightning trip to Ribadesella and dropped in on a Red-Backed Shrike territory we know nearby, just in case. The bird proved to be super obliging in lovely early-morning sunlight. Here are a few photos of the beauty.

THE REDBACK'S LARDER

A few days ago here in Arriondas (Asturias) I was lucky enough to find something I’ve always wanted to see: a Red-Backed Shrike’s larder. It was a tad distant but even so the following sequence of photos gives a nice idea of events.

 First it arrives at the larder, swag in beak (the word “swag” seems fitting for a bird with such a robber’s mask) and pins it on the hook.

With the booty now hanging from the hook, it seems to be mulling over which titbit to eat first.

It eventually decides for the tail and bends down to amputate it.

 And down it goes to his great satisfaction.

The words in the speech bubble say “Lizard’s tail . . . mmmmmm . . . . my favourite”. Obviously this bird thinks and speaks in Spanish so we have to subtitle him.

SURPRISE PACKAGES IN GREDOS

The site.

Last Sunday, on a recommendation made by our friend Santi Villa, we tried out another site in Gredos. And what a site it turned out to be!! All the normal high-mountain stuff was still very active, singing away and giving amazing views from atop rocks, Broom scrub and telegraph wires. Especially obliging were the wonderful Bluethroats, which I was able to photograph right from the roadside

We also saw Alpine Pipits, a Tawny Pipit, Whitethroats (a very high density), Spectacled Warbler, Yellow Wagtail, Ortolan Buntings, etc. Here’s a snapshot of a Whitethroat.



This Wheatear, otherwise quite shy as a species, came close enough for me to get a semi decent snap.

Skylarks never stopped trilling high in the sky.

We saw a total of 8 Rock Thrushes, also quite shy and never coming very close. Two males once sat side by side quite amicably on the cables and then one of them attacked a nearby female, as you can see in the photo.

The big surprise came as soon as we arrived at dawn, when we heard first the tick-tock song of a Snipe and then saw him drumming overhead, the first we’ve ever seen breeding in Spain. I believe these to be the most southerly breeding snipes in the whole of Europe. Truth is it seem really weird to be hearing drumming snipes, so many of which we’d heard a couple of years ago in the Shetlands, in the same site with such Mediterranean species as Rock Thrush, etc. We even managed to get this shot of it flying overhead.

Another surprise came when we found a male Red-Backed Shrike at a height of 1909 m but it didn’t give us a chance to photograph it.

We also found these orchids, which we think are Robust March Orchids, Dactylorhiza etala subsp. sesquipedalis. If any blog visitor could confirm this identification we’d be grateful.

Already dead chuffed with the morning’s birding, we were on the way down the mountain when this wonderful Ocellated Lizard slithered into view to give us the last snap of the day.