Woodchat Shrike at Long Eaton

During the evening of 1st May 2006 a Woodchat Shrike was found at Long Eaton GP by observers apparently out looking for Little Owls. The news was initially reported to Notts Birdline that night and news of its presence soon spread. During the morning of the 2nd the bird was soon relocated. I managed to get down at about 14.30hrs and in the rather dull windy conditions it seemed to be feeding quite well catching Bees alongside the hedge bordering the rough field south of the pits. On the 3rd I again got down at about 14.30 hrs and in much warmer brighter conditions the bird appeared to be ranging more widely and was showing well at times, enabling me to get the photos shown here.

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The bird could be quickly assigned to the nominate race senator, the fairly large white patch at the base of the primaries rules out badius of which there have been several British records. The eastern race niloticus has an even larger white patch at the base of the primaries as well as extensive white at the base of the tail.

Ageing and sexing the bird is not quite so straightforward. While clearly not an adult male it is difficult to be certain exactly, and while most seem to agree that the bird is a first summer individual, opinions on the sex of the bird seems to be divided.
The overall relatively dull appearance would be consistent with a first summer bird. In the photos the central tertial on the birds left side seems to be older and more worn lacking the prominent whitish fringe of the others or at least has only a very narrow pale fringe. In first winter birds the moult on the wintering grounds is apparently usually arrested which could explain this moult contrast in the spring and support the ageing as first summer. This rather indistinct moult contrast might also point to the bird being a female, as in males the contrast between any old worn brownish unmoulted feathers and more blackish moulted feathers should apparently be more obvious. However the bird lacks any noticeable barring on the breast sides and flanks which might be expected to be apparent on a female. There was some contrast between the darkish brown mantle and the greyish lower back though the degree of this contrast varied with lighting conditions. In dull conditions the mantle could at times appear fairly dark contrasting quite strongly with the grey lower back, perhaps suggesting a male, but in brighter conditions the contrast was much less marked. According to Svensson birds with dark brownish-grey lower mantles are better left unsexed. I would welcome any comments or opinions on ageing and sexing this bird.

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The bird was part of a small influx of several birds into Britain around this time. It presumably departed overnight on 3rd/4th as it could not be relocated on 4th May. Shortly afterwards an extremely similar bird turned up at Torver in Cumbria. Photos of this particular bird on Surfbirds look almost identical to me, including the tertial pattern, could this be the Derbyshire bird?.

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The only previous occurences in Derbyshire are of one seen eating a Yellowhammer on Melbourne Common on 19th May 1839 and one at Clay Mills Gravel Pits on 20th April 1968.

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