ML627288360

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Amazing experience. Where to even start? First, I’ll start by thanking Jeff Effinger and crew for finding the bird yesterday. I’ll also thank John Hubbell for confirming it was still present today, then Maren and Dan for getting us back on it after it disappeared. This bird was extremely active and perched stupidly close to us at times. At one point it landed in the road about 20 feet away from some of us. It was probably the most active shrike I’ve ever seen, constantly sallying down to the ground, and usually being successful in catching something. We watched it devour several large insects. It coughed up a pellet halfway through eating one of the insects. It also tried to impale a giant caterpillar but gave up after ten minutes of struggling and ate it. It regularly flew to the tree closest to us after several hunting attempts rather than flying farther away. It chased a Song Sparrow but didn’t catch it. It had an aggressive encounter with a mockingbird, causing three other mockingbirds that I didn’t know were even there to start giving alarm calls. The grand finale was when it impaled a Five-lined Skink a few minutes before I left. Also it’s banded? Can’t wait to learn its history. Great to see it in Caroline County after recently coming through old Maryland Birdlife issues from when this species used to be common here before disappearing completely. Banding update: This bird was captive-bred as part of the Smithsonian's Loggerhead Shrike program in Front Royal, VA. It hatched this year, was sexed as a female, and was released near Newburgh, Ontario in August.

Technical information

Camera

Microphone

Accessories

Original file size

211.14 MB