Shrikes

Woodchat Shrike, near Sigri

Female Red-backed Shrike, Skala Polichnitou

Male Red-backed Shrike, near Skala Polichnitou

Shrikes, shrikes, and more shrikes. We saw four species (from most common to scarcest): Red-backed, Woodchat, Masked and Lesser Grey. On a couple of days, as we drove around, we saw a Red-backed Shrike every 200m! This passage tailed off towards the end of the week.

Masked Shrikes were mainly seen in olive groves (we watched one collecting scraps of plastic for its nest), Woodchats were often sitting atop roadside bushes or on telegraph wires, and our only Lesser Grey Shrike was seen perching near a grove where dozens of Black-headed Buntings were chirping away.

Unfortunately I failed to get (m)any good photos of any of them, but we had some great shrike-watching.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM