UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Until we had this personal encounter I had only ever had brief glimpses of a “butcher bird”!
I suppose I had images in my mind created by it’s nickname that this bird was a nasty piece of work indeed.
I was wrong. They are beautiful, and only obeying the laws of nature when they follow their practice of skewering prey on thorns or barbed wire.
In this encounter, the shrike had hit one of our windows but thankfully it was a glancing blow – not a direct head on collision. As a result it was temporarily stunned, and when I carefully approached, it looked at me but allowed me to pick it up and hold it.
I think it liked the warmth of my hand because it did not want to leave. I finally managed to gently transfer it to the deck rail where it sat for a few moments before finally flying off to a nearby tree.
I was thankful it was not seriously injured and grateful for the opportunity to get these (and many other) pictures.
A magnficent creature indeed!
(click or double click for enlargement of pictures)
EMAIL to deerthistle@sympatico.ca
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