My previous post about the Long-tailed Shrike in Fife got me thinking of another rare shrike I'd seen in the area. You have to go all the way back to 2004 for this one when an unidentified juvenile Shrike was found in Kilrenny, Fife. Special permission was granted from the BTO to catch and ring it as it was a suspected 1st for Britain and the identification was by no means certain. First seen on the 28th October the news was released on 29th October.
I was birding at Llanfairfechan in N. Wales when the news broke and with Malc Curtin offering to drive through the night the twitch was on!
Arriving on site we weren’t surprised to find several hundred birders there already. Finding a parking space we joined the throng as the darkness faded and the day broke. At first there was no sign of the shrike in the walled area it seemingly preferred but we weren’t worried. Shrikes can be late risers!
I can’t remember much about the actual bird itself apart from it being a rather striking monochrome. I do remember it being my mate Mark P’s first species of shrike in the UK! The 244 in a circle denotes it was my 244th UK species that year.
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After the shrike we headed towards nearby Ruddons Point where big rafts of sea-duck and grebes were congregating. It was a bit choppy but we managed to find at least one Surf Scoter and a Red-necked Grebe in the throng of birds that included 247 Long -tailed Ducks!
From there we moved to Leven where a scan from the seafront revaels a big flocl of around 200 Velvet Scoter.
Since this 1st record there have been 4 more records, all of 1st winter birds, but none since 2020. Maybe 2026 is the year we'll get another one?
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