Great Grey Shrike on Waddington and Grindleton Fells

March 6, 2010:
After a single sighting near Chipping some weeks ago, this same (or another) bird was reported from the fells and conifer plantation above Grindleton on February 22. It was seen there by several people during subsequent days before moving about 1.5km to the west onto the Waddington Fell area a week later. There it has since been active on both sides of the road above the Moorcock Inn, perching on trees, broken walls and overhead wires. This is roughly the same location where a bird had also been seen in past years and is quite possibly the same one.

A local resident from Grindleton told me that he had seen the shrike in the Grindleton Fell plantation area as far back as the hard weather around Christmas time. Occasionally, the bird moves back to the original area above Grindleton.

Four days later on March 10, I again saw the Shrike in the same area on Waddington Fell, to the east of the road where it was hunting from scattered trees and later from overhead power-lines (apparently quite unaffected by the current passing through them!). The three photos immediately above were digiscoped.