The mantra is - see the bird, get a record shot, get a quality picture. Quality pictures being the real objective and they are few and far between. I have probably only ever seen half a dozen Red-backed Shrikes but in my gallery of those shots, deemed as quality keepers, I have more pictures of them than of any other species.
They are a bird that seems to have little fear of humans or disturbance. They tend to establish small territories to which they stay loyal for days or even weeks and they sit out in the open for long periods at easy eye or camera level. If you can't get a decent picture, then it's probably time to give up on the photography.
The juvenile recently reported at Medmerry proved to be equally obliging
Most birds seen in the UK these days are on migration passage but they were once a common breeding bird in this country.
A report - The past and present status of the Red-backed
Shrike in Great Britain (Peakall, 1962) gave evidence of the decline of the bird as a breeding population. It is now virtually extinct in this country as a breeding species and is a Red List schedule 1 bird.
Egg collectors got some of the blame for the loss of the last few birds but the report suggests that the warmer, wetter summers lead to smaller numbers of large flying insects and therefore to a decrease of those species of birds which specialise in preying upon them.
This does not bode well for some other species, likely to re- establish themselves here, that would be seeking the same prey - White Stork, Black Stork, Roller, Hoopoe and possibly Bee Eater. Lets hope the warmer dryer summers we are now experiencing increase the populations of these larger insects although I have my doubts given the continuing decline I see about me
Why can't all birds present themselves like the Red-backed Shrike?
