Brown Shrike (Lanius-cristatus) Staines Moor. 10/12/2009

Staines Moor

I returned to Staines Moor today for the 4th time to see the Brown Shrike which has now been present for over 2 months. With the storms that have constantly raged across most of the country now easing off and clear skies returning it made perfect sense to spend what little time I had free with the long-staying Brown Shrike. With overcast skies now making way for sunshine and blue skies I hoped that I could at last get some really good photos. I had visited a week before when a break in the weather tempted me back to the moor to attempt some photos only to arrive and the clouds close-in. I was pi**ed off to say the least as when I had left home it was a beautiful sunny winters day and as I entered the moor the overcast skies closed in and the light dropped giving me little chance of any decent photos, it was a real pity as the bird was perched in a hawthorn bush 200yards from the footbridge. Don't get me wrong it was an absolute pleasure to see the bird up close and in full view but I couldn't help cursing the weather for ruining my attempts to photograph it, my attempts were blurred and disappointing as you will see from the photo below but despite this I had the best views of the Brown Shrike to date. If you're going to see it I think It's certainly worth looking at the bushes on the left-handside of the river after crossing the footbridge before you go stomping out on to the moor.

Brown Shrike

I arrived at Hithercroft Rd(TQ040743) and made my way along the footpath which is now a mud and water filled quagmire(wear boots if your going to see it!) and entered the Staines Moor, in front was a small group of birders viewing the thickets to the right of the bridge where the Shrike was TQ033735. The Shrike was quite active as usual dropping to the floor on occasion whilst hunting and then disappearing behind the thickets, I noted a few Bumble Bees during my stay so I presume it's still feeding well and there must be a good number of Beetles etc about. It remained at distance for long periods and continued to feed. I wandered along the footpath after being told a few Water Pipits were present around the flooded areas of the Moor and it didn't take long to hear Pipit calls above the traffic noise from the nearby motorway, locating them was another problem. The constant noise soon drowned out the calls as I got closer and it was only when a Stonechat flushed a couple of "small brown jobs" from a flooded pool 70yrds in front of me did I get to see anything, one was a Meadow Pipit which flew in to a bush where it was soon joined by a few others but one bird dropped down to the edge of the pool. I inched myself closer to see over the tops of the grass and along the edge of the pool finding a Water Pipit feeding, it wandered along the edge of the pool giving me just enough time to view this dumpy grey-brown pipit with a clear white eye stripe and wingbars before it took flight across the moor, I searched again for it without any luck so headed back towards the Shrike viewing point.

Brown Shrike

As I approached the footbridge in the distance I noticed a brilliant blue object sat in one of the Hawthorn trees, through my binoculars I could see it was a Kingfisher which was peering down in to the river below. I took a wide berth and grabbed my camera and readied my scope, it was way to far to digiscope effectively and I hoped by walking slowly away and around it rather than towards it I would be able to get in range. It was some way off but I managed to slowly approach it without disturbing it, with the backdrop of the Hawthorn berries it looked spectacular and in true fashion as I took my 3rd photo it flew to another bush and then off down the river. Even without managing to get any good photos they are always a pleasure to see so I was happy all the same. I've seen this behaviour before on the Berks/Bucks border near Hambleden Weir where they sit in the trees on the River Thames bank watching the water below them, it always seems to be in winter and I presume the river is choppier and a higher vantage point is probably better to see prey from.

Kingfisher

So I was just getting over the fantastic view of the Kingfisher when I noticed a large bird sat in the top of one of the many thickets around the footbridge, closer inspection showed it was a female Pheasant which was feeding on the berries in the bush. Lets face it Pheasants probably are given little respect due to the fact they can come across as incredibly daft birds at the best of times, I'm sure many of us have been in situations where a Pheasant has decided to cross the road in front of us only to turn round and head back where it came from. Despite this they are clever birds which adapt to the best of opportunities, I have watched them at close quarters feeding from bird tables and using Squirrel guards to stand on to use bird feeders where they feed happily.

The problem is Pheasants aren't the smallest birds and although she acrobatically tried to pick off the berries from the top of the bush the small branches she was perched on couldn't take her weight and eventually she fell out of the bush and on to the ground below. Had it been anything else, especially a human they would have no doubt caused an injury, this Pheasant just fluffed her feathers looked over her shoulder as if to see if anybody was watching then sauntered off through the grass, an amusing moment of mother nature to say the least.

Pheasant

The Brown Shrike showed briefly again before disappearing again and while waiting for it to reappear I noticed a Fieldfare fly in to a bush next to the five of us now watching the Shrike. The Fieldfare soon started feeding on the Hawthorn berries which gave me the opportunity to get a few photos. I've always found Fieldfare relativity timid and getting close enough to get a good photo can be extremely difficult, this bird seemed more interested in feeding and although wary remained long enough for me to get a couple of photos before it was time to leave.

Fieldfare

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) - Staines Moor, Surrey. 15/10/09

Brown Shrike-Staines Moor

I decided to return to Staines Moor to have another look at the Brown Shrike, parking at Hithercroft Road(TQ040743) this time I soon met a couple who had travelled from Lincolnshire to see the Shrike and we set off together. We headed off along the footpath towards Staines Moor chatting as we went, they told me that they had distant views of the Flamborough Head bird in 2008 and I assured them that they would get better views of this bird with patience. As we headed in a South westerly direction along the footpath alongside the King George VI Reservoir a steady stream of birders passed us as they left the site, some suited and booted and no doubt on their lunch hours. We arrived at the small footbridge that takes you on to Staines Moor and were greeted with a handful of birders viewing the area west of the footbridge, when I had seen the Shrike on Monday it was further West of this position(TQ030735) but had now moved 100-200yrds east to (TQ033735).

The Shrike wasn't in view when we arrived and after taking position in a line of 20 or so birders we waited for it to appear. It didn't take too long although some of the first views were brief, everybody jostled for position eager to get a glimpse of this rare visitor as it perched at the top of the thickets and bushes in it's familiar pose. The Shrike kept moving from bush to bush and it wasn't always possible to see from every angle meaning a few people had to keep moving from end to end to see it. I'm sure we've all been in the position at some point where we're desperate to add a species to the list and as I had already seen the Shrike I decided to take a step back and let everybody get a their fill. I guessed at some point the numbers would drop and I'd get better views without the hustle and bustle, over time numbers dropped allowing everybody present to get comfortable views without too much movement and then the Shrike disappeared again.

The Shrike soon decided to sit in a thicket fairly low down and was just visible through a gap in the foliage, this created a small viewing angle which it could be viewed from. A few shuffles left and right and it could be seen sat quietly, preening a few times before flying in to the top of a Hawthorn bush where it sat intently viewing the ground below, a quick dart down to the ground and it then flew out of sight again. The Brown Shrike continued to feed and perch up amongst the thickets for the next hour, sometimes hiding out of view but returning within a few minutes and perching again in the tops of the bushes where it often sat for a couple of minutes, very similar to when I first saw it on Monday. A number of Ring-necked Parakeets passed overhead in a steady stream of 2's and 3's calling as they went which prompted me to ask my new acquaintances whether they had reached Lincolnshire yet, Richard told me that he had seen the occasional one but they certainly weren't a common sighting. A familiar face in Richard Crawford from Berkshire arrived and again the Brown Shrike showed well in it's familiar pose at the tops of the bushes giving everybody good views, it then became a little less showy often flying round the back of the bushes and sometimes hiding in the middle of the Hawthorn bushes. It appeared again and sporadically fed for an 30 minutes or so of before it was lost to view again, Richard and his wife where now happy that they'd had good views of the Brown Shrike, said they're goodbyes and headed off back to Lincolnshire.

As the afternoon ebbed away more and more birders departed leaving me on my own apart from a handful of people that were viewing from the footbridge, the Shrike showed on and off briefly before disappearing out of sight at 4pm ish, it definitely seemed most active between 3-4pm and during the afternoon caught at least 3 large Bumble Bees, a few Beetles and what looked to be a large Moth. By 4.45pm the Shrike hadn't reappeared and I decided to leave, as I left I passed a good number of arriving birders that had obviously got out of work early to see the Shrike and were heading to Staines Moor with haste.

I compiled another few video clips of the Brown Shrike which shows the primary projection fairly well in the second part of the video.

Location of the Staines Moor Brown Shrike

(You can zoom the map in & out by the right mouse button)

View this map on Multimap.com
Bird's Eye view on Multimap.com
Get directions on Multimap.com

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) - Staines Moor, Surrey. 12/10/09

1st Winter Brown Shrike

I decided to go to Staines Moor today and try and digiscope the reported Red-backed Shrike that was found on Sunday, I had seen Red-backed Shrike here back in September 2005 and hoped that this bird would show equally as well and perhaps give me a good opportunity to get some better photos than I did back in 2005.

Arriving at Staines Moor I parked up at the bottom of Moor Lane and proceeded on foot through the metal gate and along the bridleway crossing through the fields with cattle in and out on to Staines Moor. As I walked through the hedge and out on to the moor I disturbed a feeding Green Woodpecker which soon took flight and headed off to a nearby bush

I headed Northwards and In the distance could make out a small group of birders scanning the bushes and thickets at the north end of the moor, with haste I made my way towards them and what I thought would be the Red-backed Shrike. A small flock of Meadow Pipit passed over and a male and female Stonechat were sat in the tops of the thickets.

I approached the group of birders I had seen in the distance and asked if the Shrike was still about, they told me it was still about but had disappeared and couldn't be re-located, pointing out where it had been. I noticed Chris Heard busy on his phone and when I was informed the amazing news that it had been re-identified as a Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) and not a Red-backed Shrike as first thought and I soon realised they weren't mucking about. Wow, what a shock that was I can tell you but it wasn't going to be any good if I didn't get to see it!

The Brown Shrike had disappeared from view and after 20 minutes of scanning the thickets from the same spot we separated to see if we could re-locate it, apart from a very inquisitive pony/horse there wasn't much to be seen except for passing Meadow Pipits overhead. We checked from a few different locations without closing in on the last sighting area so not to flush the bird without any luck, the birders I had met on arrival said their goodbyes and headed off leaving myself, Chris Heard and two other birders to search for the Shrike. We started to wander back to where it had been watched from earlier and noticed a birder pointing across the moor, we hastily made our way towards him with the leaving birders now following us and hot on our heals.

The Shrike was perched in the top of one of the many thickets on the moor and beautifully highlighted by the sun giving good views of the warm rufous tones to it's head, nape, mantle and down it's tail, the obvious dark mask stood out extremely well and it seemed to have a longer and heavier bill. It sat quietly for sometime giving good views before it started feeding around the ditches and bushes often returning to the same bush and more than often in full view, it carried on feeding around the ditches returning to perch in the thickets but would be lost to sight every so often. Whilst watching the Shrike It was extremely insightful listening to Chris describe the characteristics of this extremely MEGA rare inland bird mainly basing his re-identification on a number of key points -The much shorter primary projection than that of Red-backed Shrike with 5 primary tips visible rather than the usual 6 or 7 for Isabelline and the usual 8 for Red-backed, these features as well as the graduated round tail shape enabled him to re-identify it as a 1st Winter Brown Shrike.

It disappeared in to the middle of a thicket and whilst waiting for the Shrike to reappear we spotted an extremely high flying Snipe that passed over and a Sparrowhawk which drifted over our heads in a lazy pursuit of a flock of Meadow Pipits.

As the afternoon drew on more and more birders arrived excited at the chance of seeing the Brown Shrike, the bird had become a little more elusive at this point and was often hiding in the middle of the thickets and later moved to the perimeter hedgerow where it sat in full view but at distance. At this point I decided to make my way back to the car and headed off across the moor with Chris Heard knowing that I had the rush hour traffic to contend with, but let's face it who cares when you've seen such an amazing bird!

The Brown Shrike is an extremely rare visitor to our shores with only 7 accepted records for the UK to date, the Staines Moor bird will be the 8th and the only inland bird recorded, all of the others being on coastal areas or Islands-Shetland, Scilly, East Yorkshire, Outer Hebrides and County Kerry in Ireland. It breeds in East Asia and Winters in India where it favours forest edges, jungle scrub and grassy hillsides with scattered bushes and trees. It is also believed that the Brown Shrike is perhaps more crepuscular than other Shrikes.

To read a full detailed article on the Staines Moor Brown shrike visit Lee Evans UK400RareBirdAlert - http://uk400clubrarebirdalert.blogspot.com/2009/10/brown-shrike-in-middlesex.html