Red-backed shrike Tidemills East Sussex September 2016

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Red-backed shrike Tidemills East Sussex September 2016

The male is unmistakable with a bluish-grey head, black mask, bright chestnut back and thick hooked black bill. Shrikes like to perch prominently on the tops of bushes, fence posts and telephone wires, where they have a good view of potential prey. Items caught are then taken to a larder where they are impaled on a thorn or wedged in a fork. Its dramatic decline to virtual extinction as a UK breeding species make this a Red List bird.

AND A WHEATEAR!

Red-backed shrike Tidemills East Sussex September 2016

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Red-backed shrike Tidemills East Sussex September 2016

The male is unmistakable with a bluish-grey head, black mask, bright chestnut back and thick hooked black bill. Shrikes like to perch prominently on the tops of bushes, fence posts and telephone wires, where they have a good view of potential prey. Items caught are then taken to a larder where they are impaled on a thorn or wedged in a fork. Its dramatic decline to virtual extinction as a UK breeding species make this a Red List bird.

AND A WHEATEAR!

Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) October 2016

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Quite a few hours over several days...  October 2016

Wildlife West Sussex Spring - Summer 2016

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A few photos from this summer... from West Sussex

King George V Coronation 1911

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Something different... from the year my father was born...
Coronation of King George V on 22nd June 1911

Herring gull at Littlehampton

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2nd February 2015 Herring gulls at Littlehampton

Kumlien's Gull 2nd February 2015 Littlehamton

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A bit late in posting this - but better late than never...

A visit to Littlehampton with my partner...

From Wikipedia:

Kumlien's gull (Larus glaucoides kumlieni) is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada. It is migratory, wintering from Labrador south to New England and west across the Great Lakes. The species is named after the Swedish-American naturalist Thure Kumlien. It is a regular vagrant in small numbers to Britain and Ireland.

It has variably been considered a full species, a subspecies of Thayer's gull, a subspecies of Iceland gull, and a hybrid between the aforementioned species. It is currently considered a subspecies of Iceland gull by the American Ornithologists' Union.