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.

Hit and Run!

While watching tropical birds in Burger's Zoo (and having a flyover Grey Wag)  an alert came up on my phone: Woodchat Shrike, Deventer. Wow! A very good bird for our county! It was first seen at 14:00 but not relocated after the first observation. Then as we got home from Burger's Zoo I checked waarneming.nl again around 17:30 to find out the Woodchat Shrike had been seen again! My dad wasn't able to go so I made a quick decision: I took the folding bike and took the train to Deventer from 18:08. I arrived at the Bolwerksweiden, Deventer at 18:35. There were only two other birdwatchers present and they had also just arrived. Together we decided to check the rear of the large poplar bush to see if the bird would be perched there. We had a look just around the corner and there it was: the Woodchat Shrike was sitting 5 metres away from us on a branch! Awesome! I looked at the bird with my binoculars and after that I grabbed my camera. I took one photo and then the bird took off from the brench and landed a bit higher in the same small tree, argh! It wasn't shy at all and we saw the bird foraging the next minute; it was catching some insects and landed on the ground once. Then it dissapeared into the large poplar bush with small bushes around it and it was never to be seen again! My guess is that the bird is still present in the bushes, we didn't see it fly away. The bird looked pretty tired and cold (as it is only like 10 degrees) so I hope it still will be present tomorrow to take better pic's! Nice were also 2 Patridges foraging in a cropfield. 

For what's worth it: my 'one split second too late photo':

Amazing shot of the Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator).

Twitchers waiting for the Shrike that didn't feel like showing up anymore!