25 Dec 24 - Happy Christmas 2024

I've been sorting out the photos from the Antarctica trip in Jan 23 & it's provided me with a nice Christmas photo to wish the followers of this Blog a Happy Christmas.

It's not going be a snowy Christmas in Southern England. So, the next best thing is this gorgeous Snow Petrel, which flew past the Plancius as we headed to Antarctica from South Georgia. The rest of the Antarctica trip Blog Posts will start being published once I've finished publishing the Saga Caribbean Calypso Blog Posts.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2024

Snow Petrel: It's the nearest to a snowy theme for Christmas

11 Nov 24 - A Cracking St Aldhelms Corn Bunting

In previous late Autumns, Corn Buntings haven't been easy to find at St Aldhelms. So, it was a bit of a surprise to not only find a flock of seven Corn Buntings, along with a single seen earlier in the morning, but to have it singing on territory. After singing from one of the standard territorial groups of bushes, this male flew further along the fence line and posed for this photo. The weather was closer to a still early Spring day, than late Autumn, so perhaps when it gets a bit colder, he will stop singing.

Corn Bunting: The sexes are the same. However, this was singing on territory

11 Nov 24 - Double Plus Good Plus

In my last Blog Post, I mentioned about George Orwell description of his Newspeak language in his classic book 1984. By removing words from the English language, the Party were able to stop the population from being able to fully express themselves. So, many words like fabulous, tremendous or amazing were replaced with the phrase Double Plus Good. I went on to provide an alternative meaning to Double Plus Good. But I finished by saying, it wasn't possible to get better than Double Plus Good in 1984. I'm having to propose the use of the phrase Double Plus Good Plus for my day.

Earlier in the morning, I had found my first two Cirl Buntings for the St Aldhelms patch. The occasional individuals are just starting to appear along the Purbeck coastline, but it remained a patch tick for myself & fellow patch watcher, Phil Saunders. Having spent about ninety minutes watching them, I decided to move on. I didn't get far before the day changed from Double Plus Good (excellent) to Double Plus Good Plus (fantastic), when I found a Yellow-browed Warbler in the Sycamores by Trev's Quarry. Yellow-browed Warblers are barely annual at St Aldhelms and this was the second of the Autumn. Even better, the first was found by Phil, while I was standing next to him. This was my first Self-found Yellow-browed Warbler at St Aldhelms, albeit I've found them in Winspit before, which is part of the wider St Aldhelms & Valleys patch.

Yellow-browed Warbler: It didn't show for long. It came in the check out the pishing & fortunately the camera settings were about right, as it disappeared soon after these photos

Yellow-browed Warbler: A quick wave of its wing & it was good. I did hear it call soon after, but it didn't reappear. I left it to feed in peace

11 Nov 24 - Double Plus Good

In his classic book 1984, George Orwell introduced his Newspeak language, where words were removed from the English language to simply it. But the removal of words were also to control the population from being able to fully express themselves. So, many words like fabulous, tremendous or amazing were replaced with the phrase Double Plus Good. Well here is my use of Double Plus Good.

After a run of grey days at St Aldhelms, the morning started off with the promise of a change in the weather. Still conditions, high cloud, as well as, a lot of clear sky. There were regular parties of a few hundred Woodpigeons on the move and all heading South East towards Durlston. A lone Fieldfare headed North which belatedly was my first of the Autumn. I had just passed the open barn when a Golden Plover flew over calling. It circled on a number of occasions, hoping for some mates below to call back. But as St Aldhelms isn't a wintering site, it didn't get a response & finally moved on. I saw Ian Parsons who is one of the most recent Birders to move to Purbeck & waited for him to catch me up. There was plenty of Skylarks appearing from the fields, but so far nothing too exciting. We carried onto the hedges at the very top of Pier Bottom valley, just North of Trev's Quarry. This is the start of my favourite corner of the patch. It's a migrant trap and it's always worth a good look. There was a party of at least eight Yellowhammers skulking in the bushes. They weren't close, so I set the scope up to check them. All were Yellowhammers, until I saw one with a dark chin and a bit of dark rufous on the mantle. It was tucked well in & I could only see parts of it. I had to move the scope three times before I got a clearer view. My initial thoughts were right: a Male Cirl Bunting. I called Ian to look through the scope, whilst pleased to have finally joined the Cirl Bunting in Purbeck Self-found Club. It flew into the bare field next to the bushes, but it was too far for more than a record shot. But over the next hour it appeared in the closer bushes and allowed a few photos.

Cirl Bunting: Male

Cirl Bunting: Male. Showing its underwing as it prepares to take off. Cirl Buntings have a shorter primary projection compared to Yellowhammers. My perched photos aren't good enough to see this, but it's a feature I will look for in the future. However, this open wing looks pretty rounded

Cirl Bunting: Male. A good view of the white in the tail. However, this can be variable enough to overlap between the sexes and ages of Cirl Buntings, as well as, Yellowhammers

Cirl Bunting: Male

Cirl Bunting: Male. My best upperwing shot

Even better, while I was scoping the bushes with the Yellowhammers & the Male Cirl Bunting in them, I picked up a second Cirl Bunting again tucked well into the bushes. On this occasion, I could see it wasn't an adult Male. Initially, I could see it had a bit of dark rufous flecking in the gorget, as well as, on the wing coverts. Like the adult Male, it appeared in the closer bushes on a few occasions, which allowed me to get some photos. Initially, I thought it was an first Winter Male as, it seemed brighter than a couple of Purbeck Females I've seen over the last two Springs locally. But being in the breeding season and with the possibility they might settle down on territory, on both occasions I didn't linger with those Females.

Cirl Bunting: Female. Note, the rufous flecks in the gorget & the pale yellow spot on the lower ear coverts. After the post breeding moult in Oct, young males should have black feathering on the chin and throat with white tips, unstreaked breast and rufous on the upperparts according to this Spanish ringing guide by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze, which Mike Morse suggested I read. Therefore, this second individual is a Female

Ageing and sexing of non-adult Males is tricky. But after reading up, I now believe it is a Female, albeit I'm uncertain about its age. As these St Aldhelms individuals haven't held territory at St Aldhelms and were out of the breeding season, I felt more comfortable hanging around and watching them, as well as, putting the news out about them.

Cirl Bunting: Female. The new Dutch ID Handbook of European Birds states that Cirl Buntings have a characteristic dark line in the supercilium. This small dark line is visible in the harsh crop just above the eye. There is also fine streaking in the rear collar, which Yellowhammers don't show

Ian was short on time, so he moved on in the hope that the Pallas's Warbler (see my last Blog Post), that Phil Saunders had found a couple of days earlier might still be around: but it had moved on. Eventually, I managed to get reasonable photos of both Cirl Buntings, albeit the light wasn't great.

Cirl Bunting (right) with a Yellowhammer (left): Note, the Yellowhammer is a bit larger, bulkier and longer-tailed

Cirl Bunting: Female. A close up of the Cirl Bunting showing its crown pattern, not that it's an ID feature

Yellowhammer: A close up of the Female Yellowhammer for comparison. Note, the stronger yellow colours and lack of any rufous feathering on the breast or wing coverts. This individual has a pale yellow ear covert spot, but it isn't as clear as on the Cirl Buntings

Cirl Bunting: Female. A clearer view when it perched in the top of the bush. Now I'm looking for it, I can just see the dark line in the supercilium and the ear coverts spot really stands out

Cirl Bunting: Female. Sexing Cirl Buntings that aren't adult Males is difficult. But I think I've cracked it: Males always fly right and females always fly left, providing you are standing in the right position

Cirl Bunting: Female. Unfortunately, this photo isn't in focus, but it does show the dull brownish-grey rump of Cirl Bunting. Yellowhammers have a rusty-coloured rump

It certainly had been a Double Plus Good morning with my first St Aldhelms Cirl Buntings. The day wasn't over yet, but as Orwell didn't produce a phrase for better than Double Plus Good, I will have to leave the rest of the time at St Aldhelms to the next Blog Post.

9 Nov 24 - An Overdue Patch Pallas's Warbler

Having been out a lot locally with little success in recent days during a period of grey, overcast skies and light winds, I decided I needed a lie-in and time to catch up with a lot of overdue tasks. The Purbeck coast had been hard work in this period, despite the daily updates of Yellow-browed Warblers and Pallas's Warblers at Portland. But a lie-in is always a risky decision when fellow St Aldhelms patch Birder, Phil Saunders, might be out at the weekend. His first call was for a Ringtail Hen Harrier, which is an erratic species which generally only appears on two or three days a year. An hour later, there was another call for a Siberian Chiffchaff. I've not seen one at St Aldhelms, but I have seen one on the patch in Winspit. On both occasions, Phil failed to distract tempted from my overdue paperwork & other jobs, before my plan to head out to Studland.

Phil's final call was at 11:45, when he rang to say he was watching a showy Pallas's Warbler in The Garden. This isn't a garden, but the highest vegetated ledge at St Aldhelms. It got its name as it was a ledge that Billy Winspit, whose real name was William Bower, cultivated as a garden back in the fifties & sixties. Billy was a quarryman who owned the cottage that was closest to the sea in Winspit up to his death in 1966. Before he retired he worked at Trev's Quarry on St Aldhelms. Albeit, in those days, the Quarry was owned by Trev's father, while Trev was still learning his stonemason skills. I guess it was easy to pop into The Garden if he took the coastal route back to his cottage from the Quarry. There is a photo in the excellent book, Purbeck Stone, that Trev wrote a few years ago of Billy sitting in his cottage. I'm sure every local Birder who has spent time in Winspit, would have dreamt about owning the cottage. But if it came on the market again, the cottage and its extensive real garden, would have a two to three million pound price tag. A long way off the price that would have been paid for the cottage when Billy died.

The Garden from the normal Eastern viewpoint, which is one of my regular seawatching positions

Another view of The Garden from the Western viewpoint

Anyway back to 2024. I passed the message about the Pallas's Warbler to a few of the locals as I headed out of the door. Sometimes, Birds will stick in The Garden for the day, but many others quickly work their way up to the bushes on the main ledge, Quarry Ledge, before the head inland. With this risk, I was intent on getting there as quick as possible, as it would probably be my only chance of a Pallas's Warbler for my Isle of Purbeck Year List. I checked with Phil as I was heading past Trev's Quarry, but he said he had lost it when he was putting the news out & hadn't seen it since. With the negative news, I had a quick look at the bushes on Quarry Ledge: it wasn't there. Then I tried pishing at a viewpoint over the Western edge of The Garden. No sign, but I did get a phone call from Phil to say it was on view at the usual seawatching viewpoint at the Eastern edge. Two minutes later, I arrived & within another thirty seconds, it had popped up. It was certainly lived up to its showy reputation as it bounced around on the tops of bushes like a Firecrest on speed. It was working along the whole of the bushes in The Garden, but due to the steep grassy cliff top, it is only possible to see about half of The Garden: the closest edge of the ledge is hidden from view, as is the Western third. Still no complaints as this energetic stripey bundle of fun was working its way towards the big Sycamore closest to us. What was particularly nice was to be able to look down on a Pallas's Warbler that was on a ledge twenty metres below over viewpoint. A nice change from staring up into tree tops to try & see the lemon yellow crownstripe & rump.

Pallas's Warbler: Showing the crown stripe & lemon yellow rump

Pallas's Warbler: Unfortunately, even when it was 'close' it was really best viewed with a scope: hence the grainy photos

Pallas's Warbler: A better view of the crown stripe & lemon yellow rump

Pallas's Warbler: This seemed a bit of a washed out individual

Pallas's Warbler

Pallas's Warbler: They have to be about the best of the Old World Warblers on the British List

Pallas's Warbler: This is far from sharp, but it shows have well marked these gorgeous Warblers are

It was good to see local Purbeck Birders, Rob Johnson (left) & James Leaver managed to get down to enjoy it

This is only the tenth record for the St Aldhelms & Valleys patch to my knowledge. The previous records are:

• Winspit Cottage Garden, Winspit (14-15 Nov 92)

• Blackthorn Patch, St Aldhelms (5 Nov 94)

• Winspit (7 Nov 94)

• East Cliff later flew to Winspit Bottom, Winspit (30 Oct 95)

• Winspit (31 Oct 99)

• Winspit Bottom (1 Nov 11)

• Winspit Cottage Garden, Winspit (28-29 Oct 15)

• Worth Matravers (28-30 Oct 15)

• St Aldhelms (29 Oct 22).

30 Oct 24 - Last Knockings On Brownsea

It's hard to believe, but my third season volunteering on the DWT Brownsea reserve has ended for the year. This time there are no planned Winter Members Days to support. Myself & three of the other volunteers, Carrie, Linda & David, were just putting the walkie-talkies back on their charging units at the end of the afternoon, when I looked through the window & saw a Firecrest. I pointed it out to the others. We saw it briefly, before it moved out of view. Heading outside, it was still feeding by the window area & provided a nice ending to the season on the island.

Firecrest: They are a species I seen regularly around Purbeck. But I never tire of seeing them

Firecrest: It was a species that Carrie & Linda hadn't seen before, so it was a nice ending to their season as well

Firecrest

28 Oct 24 - It's Long-tailed Tit Season Again

Long-tailed Tits are easily my favourite European species. I enjoy looking at them throughout the year, but especially so in the late Autumn, when their calls might end in attracting a more interesting migrant to join the flock.

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit

This party of Long-tailed Tits only had a few Blue Tits, a couple of Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest. But they were still worth watching.

Long-tailed Tit

Maybe my next Long-tailed Tits flock will have a stripy Warbler with them.

27 Oct 24 - Two American Species In Dorset On The Same Day?

I had spent the morning watching the Durlston Red-eyed Vireo which showed erratically, but regularly in the field, after we saw it released. I left at lunchtime, to nip home for a quick lunch, before heading to Brands Bay for my 13:00 WeBS count.

The Durlston Red-eyed Vireo

Once the WeBS count was completed, I left for Portland Castle, where a Red-necked Grebe had been on view since it was found about Friday lunchtime. It should have been too far to travel for a Red-necked Grebe, but this individual has been suggested as potentially the American holbollii subspecies. Strictly, this is incorrect as it also occurs in North East Asia, including Mongolia, China, South Korea & Japan. The main range of the nominate subspecies is the Western Palearctic, but there are eBird records from as far East as Kazakhstan.

Red-necked Grebe: holbollii. On the face of it, this looks good for holbollii with a longer, largely yellow bill and it also appears to be longer-necked. However, based upon the comments from BBRC, it seems like it will be a tough job to prove it and get it accepted

I didn't know much about the American subspecies, which is sometimes referred to as Holboell's Red-necked Grebe. A bit of digging on the internet revealed there are two accepted UK records:

• Gruinard Bay, Ross & Cromarty, shot (Sep 1925)

• Quendale Bay, Shetland (Feb 24). This individual washed up dead a few days later & was confirmed by analysis of biometrics and DNA of the specimen.

Red-necked Grebe: grisegena. This is the nominate grisegena subspecies photographed at South Haven, Studland (4 Jan 15) which looks significantly shorter-billed

I also found this information from BBRC.

• Identification of holbollii is problematic. It may show on average more yellow on the bill in breeding plumage, but firm subspecific identification rests on biometrics, holbollii being larger than the nominate subspecies. Claims of holbollii should include biometric evidence or details from a ringed or marked bird.

Red-necked Grebe: grisegena. This is the nominate grisegena subspecies photographed at Kuusamo, Finland (1 Jun 16) which again looks significantly shorter-billed

The Portland Castle Red-necked Grebe looked bigger in the field, but to be fair there were no other species with it to make a judgement. So, my comment is based upon many days of checking this Autumn's Great Crested Grebes in Brands Bay at varying ranges, including similar ranges on some occasions. It certainly looks longer-billed than the Red-necked Grebes I've seen around Studland over the last nearly three decades. Additionally, there is clearly a lot more yellow on the bill.

Fortunately, there are some excellent photos of the Portland Red-necked Grebe from the local toggers, including Pete Coe. Perhaps it would be possible to blow one of those photos up and do some measurements on the bill which would help to confirm the identify. While it wouldn't be possible to measure the exact bill length, the ratio of the bill length to the eye, compared to the bill depth at the nostrils might be possible to calculate. This could be included in the record, if it ends up getting submitted to BBRC. I think it looks to be a good candidate for holbollii. But I also think it's unlikely to be accepted by BBRC, based upon their criteria stated above.

Whatever happens to this record, it was an interesting individual to see. If it is proven to be holbollii, then seeing two different American rarities on the same day in Dorset would be impressive, as Dorset is the poor cousin of Scillies, Cornwall & Devon for American vagrants. The other thought I had whilst writing this Blog Post, I better make an effort to get some reasonable photos of the next Red-necked Grebe that turns up at Studland.

27 Oct 24 - All REV'ed Up

I had thought I had updated my mobile so that it wouldn't automatically change the clock for the end of British Summer Time, so the pre-dawn alarm went off at the correct time. That didn't work and the phone's alarm went off as it was starting to get light. By the time I had finished my breakfast, I realised I wouldn't be able to cover the St Aldhelms patch as thoroughly as I had planned before my 13:00 WeBS count at Brands Bay. I decided on Plan B: to head to Durlston for a few hours in the hope of a stripy-warbler. My departure time changed rapidly when I got a text saying Red-eyed Vireo trapped at Durlston & will be released at 08:15. That was in fourteen minutes time. Fortunately, the Durlston car park is about eight minutes drive away from my house and the release point was by the old info centre, which is right next to the car park. I picked up my coat, bins & camera and arrived in time to see Poole Ringer, Ian Lewis, walking happily towards where the only local Birder, Rob Johnson, was standing. With no sign of the Durlston ex-warden and only other Birder on site, Hamish Murray, Ian produced my first Dorset Red-eyed Vireo.

Red-eyed Vireo: An unexpected Dorset Tick on my doorstep

This is only the sixth Dorset record of a Red-eyed Vireo and the commonest American Passerine seen in Dorset over the years:

• Portland Bill (23-24 Sep 23)

• Portland Bill (14 Oct 16)

• Littlesea, The Fleet (10 Oct 1995)

• Southwell, Portland (3-5 Oct 1988)

• Hengistbury Head (12 Oct 1987).

Red-eyed Vireo

Ian released the Red-eyed Vireo in the bushes by the car park. We saw it briefly perched in one of the trees, before diving into cover. I expected that would be the last we would see of it. Trapped & released Birds tend to disappear after being released. Albeit they sometimes remain in the area, as they pop up again in mist nets a day or two later. After about fifteen minutes, I tried some pishing and saw a bird with a big creamy supercilium near the top of the nearest Sycamore. It was too brief a sighting to see any other features, as it was skulking well inside the leaves, but it looked promising. I put Rob onto the area. Another round of pishing & it popped up and gave a clear enough view to confirm it was the Red-eyed Vireo: phew. Fortunately, Rob also got onto it, but it was too concealed for a photo. Thirty minutes later, we saw some Blue Tits appear and while watching them, again picked up a very skulky Bird deep in the leaves. I saw it fly & then relocated it sitting right in the open on a bare branch. I quickly called the directions to the small group of locals present as I raised the camera. Fortunately, everybody in the small group there got onto it & it remained long enough for some photos.

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo: It's that stare again

Red-eyed Vireo: A photo from a later sighting that morning

Over the rest of the morning, it showed about eight times for the slowly increasing group of Birders. Finally, at lunchtime, I had to call it a day as I needed a quite bite before I headed off for my WeBS count. It had been a great morning, especially given the almost complete absence of American Passerines in the UK this Autumn.

The twitch ninety minutes after it was released: If only more twitches were this low key

26 Oct 24 - The Gillingham Shrike

On the morning of 19 Oct, there was an RBA message about an Isabelline Shrike at Gillingham. I passed the news onto a few locals who I knew would be interested, whilst deciding to wait for other Birders to head off & check it out. After all, Gillingham is well over an hour away & there was plenty of time to get there that afternoon. In addition to the distance, I had a few thoughts that meant I wasn't going to be heading there immediately. Firstly, it was an odd location, was the initial identification as an Isabelline Shrike correct and was it pinned down and showing well. A couple of hours later, my local Purbeck Birding mate, James Leaver, put the first photo of it on twitter. Well it was clearly showing well & it was an Isabelline Shrike type.

The problem now came down to taxonomy. A few decades ago, there was a single species Red-backed Shrike, which ranged from Western Europe across to the Tibetan Plateau. By the late 70s, the Eastern subspecies were split off as Isabelline Shrike, which was sometimes also called Red-tailed Shrike. This left Red-backed Shrike as a Western Palearctic species which continued into the Western edge of the USSR. About ten to fifteen years ago, Isabelline Shrike was split again into Turkestan Shrike & Daurian Shrike: with Daurian Shrike containing the most Easterly of the Isabelline Shrike subspecies. To add to the confusion, Isabelline Shrike remains as a occasionally used pseudonym for Daurian Shrike and I've seen Turkestan Shrike still being called Red-tailed Shrike. This is particularly daft, given these are names that have been used for the Turkestan Shrike & Daurian Shrike complex before the split & are still being used after the split for individual species. Therefore, calling the Shrike an Isabelline Shrike doesn't indicate whether people are referring to it as a Daurian Shrike or that it not been identified down to a species. After a quick look at a few books, my initial reaction was that it looked like it was probably a Daurian Shrike. I also was pleased to see a few other good Birders calling it as a Daurian Shrike, including Marcus Lawson, Julian Thomas & Martin Cade. I've not seen a Dorset Turkestan Shrike, but I did see the Portland Bill Daurian Shrike in late Oct 12. I decided not race off to Gillingham that afternoon.

One week on and the Gillingham Shrike was still there and had been showing well during the week. I had been out a lot in the Isle of Purbeck in that week, with little reward. Finally, there was a still, sunny day and I spent the morning at St Aldhelms. After some lunch, I decided to head off to Gillingham for the late afternoon. I arrived around 16:00 and ten minutes later, I joined a handful of people standing back & watching a large area of Brambles in the corner of the field. Earlier in the afternoon, it had been closer to this group, but had moved into the corner with some people following it. The Shrike wasn't on view. Perhaps not surprising as there were two toggers standing right next to the Brambles, with one who couldn't stay still and was patrolling in and out of the area on small paths. Another clueless togger with no understanding of fieldcraft & doing what I call Aidan-ing i.e. chasing Shrikes around, as soon as, they pop up in a desperate attempt to get even more close photos. Local Birders will understand the reference.

The right hand togger did some excellent Aidan-ing: When the Shrike popped up, he was quick to move towards it, causing it to move further back or disappear. In between appearances, he was moving around the Brambles trying to get closer to it

The Shrike was keeping low and well back in the Brambles. After about a half hour of waiting, another photographer arrived and pointed out there was a path down the side of a Maize field, which we could use to get closer to the Shrike. A few of the waiting group & I followed him. This led us to a different side of the Brambles where we stayed still & waited. Fortunately, the Aidan-ing togger wasn't patrolling on this side of the Brambles. Within a few minutes, the Shrike popped up and sat on view. We stayed still and it performed nicely for over five minutes on one perch.

Probable Daurian Shrike: Showing the limited mask behind the eye, the indistinct supercilium and the lack of rufous in the nape

Probable Daurian Shrike

Probable Daurian Shrike: Is there too much rufous in the rump for a Daurian Shrike?

About five minutes later, it popped up again for a second extended performance: but it was now in the shade. When it popped up a third time it wasn't as close.

Probable Daurian Shrike

Probable Daurian Shrike

I decided that time was getting on & I would try to get back to Purbeck to look for a Short-eared Owl, that had been seen the previous evening for my Isle of Purbeck Year List. In the end, I had left it too late and it was dark before I was close to the Purbeck border: c'est la vie. I had seen the Shrike well in excellent light and as it turns out, on its last afternoon. It disappeared on that evening's clear skies. The question now is which species it is?

Probable Daurian Shrike

The identification of first winter individuals isn't easy. The new ID Handbook of European Birds is perhaps the most up to date guide that I've got. Reading it, I can see features suggesting both species. The mask being restricted to behind the eye and the not particularly distinct supercilium, suggests a Daurian Shrike. Both the mask and the supercilium should be clearer on Turkestan Shrikes. The pale brownish grey of the upperparts again fits better for a Daurian Shrike, with Turkestan Shrikes described as having a rather dark cold brown-grey upperparts, compared to pale brown-grey on Daurian Shrike. The Britain's Birds photo field guide states the nape and rump on Daurian Shrike is the same colour of the back, whereas, it refers to the nape and rump as rufous on Turkestan Shrike. While the nape looks OK for Daurian Shrike, is the rump too rufous? On balance, I favour it being a Daurian Shrike: assuming the field guides are to be believed. It will be interesting to hear what BBRC think.

Apparently, a DNA sample was collected and it will be interesting to see what that comes back as. Just before I posted this Blog Post, I saw a tweet from Martin Collinson that said " Gillingham 'Izzy' Shrikes, Oct 2024: genetically in a clade containing both Daurian and Turkestan (and Red-backed) Shrikes so we can't ID". So, DNA won't help on this occasion.