Great Grey Shrike at Weeting - 13th March 2024

A Great Grey Shrike has been present just outside of Weeting village in Norfolk for a few weeks now and for various reasons I had not been able to make it up there. However, some slightly better weather heralded an opportunity. Initially, however there was no sign of the bird despite a number of people searching for it. Whilst waiting, a Goshawk and a couple of Woodlark were good consolation. As the light improved slightly and the wind dropped a bit, the Shrike was spotted and I manged to get some distant shots.

It would move around the clearing, perching up and watching the ground for prey. I managed to get a couple of shots of it diving down.

At one point it came slightly nearer so I was able to get some better quality images, but still heavily cropped.

A wonderful bird and my third ever in the UK. On the way home, time to pop into Cavenham Heath and add Linnet, Stonechat and this Meadow Pipit to the day list.

But the highlight here was two very distant, early retuning Stone Curlews. Just the one record shot here!

A day in the Brecks is always rewarding and we had some fantastic birds today as well as bumping into a few friendly faces from the RSPB SE Herts Group and the Braughing Birders.