Rematch with the Woodchat

The search for the Woodchat Shrike continued this morning. As I said in my previous post, the bird probably went to rest in the poplar bush early and didn't show up anymore. This morning my dad and I drove there and arrived around 8:30. We started looking at the poplar bush but without any result. Together with another birder, Pieter vd Berg, we were the only ones present. Then we split up and I walked towards the Bolwerkseplas and my dad walked to the bushes along the road. It didn't take long before I received a call from my dad: I got the Woodchat! Arno ten Hoeve had also just arrived and had seen it together with my dad, but I still hadn't seen it. I walked towards the road and alerted another birdwatcher, Erik Lam, who had just arrived, that the Shrike had just been seen. In the mean time, the bird had dissappeared again. Together we did some searching and it was relocated quickly. We had great views from the bird from up close through the telescope.

I had left my camera in the car so unlike my dad and Arno I didn't take any good photos from closeby. I only managed to get a reasonable shot from a distance. After some time the Woodchat Shrike decided to move on to the edge of the Bolwerkseplas where it was hunting and perched continuously in a row of willows and small bushes. With a small group of twitchers we enjoyed this great observation. This place is only a few hundred metres away from where we found the Bairds three weeks ago. This part of the IJssel has been proved golden again!

 My distance shot of the Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)

And two great images from my dad:

Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) by Tammo Meijer.

The small group of twitchers with the church tower of Deventer on the background.