To go or to not go. This was the dilemma facing me on Sunday evening as an Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike was reported in West Sussex. I was very tired. The journey there looked arduous, very long, and I wasn't even sure whether Google Maps was right about a random bus service stopping right outside a nature reserve in the middle of Sussex nowhere. What's more, there was no guarantee the bird would even stay; it had been showing poorly, and without DNA analysis, which even then sometimes isn't conclusive, it would be virtually impossible to know the exact species the bird was.
So, of course, I found myself waking up at 06:00 A.M. the following morning with my alarm going off, feeling tired and sleepily questioning my life choices as a birder.
The journey was not simple. It entailed a rail replacement bus to Havant, trains to Barnham, then Pulborough, from there a connection onto a small Sussex bus service that led to my intended destination. Also, I don't like buses. They don't stop at every station; they sometimes just don't turn up. It's so easy if you're not paying attention to just whizz by your stop without even knowing you're at a bus stop. They're big, inconvenient and slow.
The first part of the journey was uneventful, and I made it to Pulborough before managing to catch my bus, and start wondering why it was going a different route to the one Maps said it should have been on. I found out later that a closed road had caused the large diversion. Midway on my bus journey, when mobile data flicked in for a few minutes, I saw the shrike had been seen. Great. I was very hopeful of seeing the bird and getting it on my year list. It would really be a great boost.
Anyways, some 3 hours and 45 minutes after I had left home, I had made it to the nature reserve, and walked along the path towards where the shrike allegedly was.
As I rounded a bend, I saw quite a few birders, and quickly walked over to them.
After a minute or so, the bird popped up on the fence. Wow. What a bird. My first Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike.
The irony was great. It was just over a week ago that I spent 3 hours searching for a much more "common" shrike species, Great Grey Shrike, only to see it for 30 seconds. Here, the much rarer shrike showed straight away and showed for the full three hours of my time there. Also, I've never seen Red-backed Shrike before, the much more common British counterpart of these Asian vagrants. I have done this with a few birds, seeing the rare foreign counterpart before the British one- I saw Semipalmated Sandpiper in Britain before Little Stint, for example.
I learnt a few things pretty quickly about the bird. Mainly, it had its stretch of fenceline. It stayed there. In fact, other than flying to catch things, it only ventured out of its allotted fenceline three times during my three-hour stay.
I was so happy to get on the bird. It was distant, and the lighting was terrible, but all the same, there it was.
Here a zoomed-out shot of its "patch." It ranged along that fenceline and rather liked the bramble bush in the far left of the shot.
Now and again, it would fly around, showing its great red tail, before landing again with its food.
Some brief excitement was felt as it flew out of its normal area, venturing a meter along the fence towards us.
It soon flew back though.
After a while longer of good, although slightly distant views, the shrike very briefly flew closer again.
By this point, there was a good number of birders there, all enjoying the shrike. There had been a constant flow of comings and goings all the time I had been there.
For the third and final time, the shrike flew a lot closer, perching on a few different branches, fences and bushes, giving truly brilliant views. I was thrilled to see it so well.
A truly incredible experience. I was lovin' it.
As always, the big problem has to be addressed. What actually is the bird? Juvenile Isabelline and Red-tailed Shrikes are impossible to tell apart, with different features overlapping, meaning you can't really ever be sure of the ID. The only possible way is through DNA analysis, which may be possible with this bird, but even then, sometimes you still can't tell with DNA. Personally, I think the two species should probably be one, seeing how difficult it is to separate them when not in adult plumage. In years past, they have been considered the same species, but it was changed for reasons I am not sure of. All the same, whatever species it is, I've never seen it before, so I will be adding to my list as Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike. The likelihood is that it's Isabelline, as they are the more common species, with about 100 records (I think), compared to the 15 or so of Red-tailed Shrike. I'm not entirely sure on those numbers, but you get the idea.
With the shrike persisting in staying away, I tried to see if I could find another place to view it from.
After a bit, I found a place looking down the hill at the bird, giving slightly different views.
I realised I probably needed to catch the bus that was in 30 minutes if I wanted to get home before dark, so I really watched and enjoyed the bird for a final ten minutes before I had to head off. It flew around a bit, giving great views.
A Green Woodpecker called from behind, about the only other species of note on site.
Just before I left, the shrike flew up one last time, before returning to one of its favoured perches, with something akin to a wasp or bee.
Reluctantly, but happily, I left, heading to the bus stop, reminding my sleepy 6 am head from earlier that this is why I do birding.
What a trip. Literally. 7 Hours of travel altogether, nearly 3 great hours of viewing the bird, and a memory never to forget. The year list has been pushed up to 191 now. My aim at the start of the year was 175. That was before I started using public transport to get places, though.
Well, an incredible start to what is due to be a great week off, who knows what we might see when we're in Norfolk? I'm very tired... everyone else has gone off to sleep. I should as well. The things one does for a hobby eh. Wake up at 6 in the school holidays, travel for 7 hours, stay up much later and take much longer than I should to write about the trip, and be so ready to do it all again.
Good night:)
And of course, many thanks to the finder, very well spotted- don't know how you did it in a place like that!
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