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!

Wheatear

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Wheatear


Description:
The wheatear is a small mainly ground-dwelling bird. It hops or runs on the ground. It is blue-grey above with black wings and white below with an orange flush to the breast. It has a black cheek. In flight it shows a white rump and a black 'T' shape on its tail. It is a summer visitor and passage migrant. Birds breed mainly in western and northern Britain and western Ireland, although smaller numbers do breed in southern and eastern England. It winters in central Africa.

Where to see them:
In the breeding season, best looked for on upland suitable habitat in northern and western Britain. May be seen on passage at coastal migration watchpoints and inland.

What they eat:
Insects and larvae.

The following Wheater was seen on Cissbury Ring, West Sussex during the Summer of 2010

Wheatear