A Northern Shrike!

I was walking my dog this morning along the West River Trail in Brattleboro when I spotted a bird perched high up on the top branch of a tree, motionless, except for occasionally turning his head, watchful .... A Northern Shrike! .. I hurried back to my car to get the camera. When I got back it had not moved and allowed me to take many pictures until it finally flew off. It was a first winter bird to judge by the brownish/silvery scales on its chest.

Although from a distance the bird looks innocuous, it can turn into a fierce predator once it spots a small bird or mammal. Not undeservedly is it also known as Butcherbird

as it pins his prey on a thorn or barbed wire or wedges it between forked branches of a thicket for a leisurely meal, pulling it apart starting at the head.

The Northern Shrike is at home in the tundra and taiga regions of the northern Canada, occasionally moving south in the winter to southern Canada and adjacent North America, which means it's really uncommon here. Although one or two are usually reported every winter, the last time I saw one was three years ago. So this was a happy morning for me.

Good Birding!

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