ML637512180

Observation details

A shrike sitting on a utility wire, with medium gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Chest plain, not finely barred, like Nothern Shrike. Throat white. Heavy black bill, black wings with white base of primaries seen in flight. Black tail with white outer tail feathers. Thick black, broad mask surrounding the eyes and extending over the top of the bill. Bird seemed to be actively foraging, dropping from the wire into the grassy field below; however no prey appeared to be captured. Rapid wingbeats in flight. There was no tail-pumping when perched, as I have sometime seen with Northerns. There was a second shrike present but I did not see it close enough to identify. Assuming the time of year, I would suggest it was a Loggerhead too. Photos.