RED BACKED SHRIKE AT WINTERTON

   Today I made the trip over to Winterton Dunes in the hope of seeing the Red-backed Shrike that has been reported on and off for the last few weeks. Parking at the beach car park it was a long trudge with all the camera gear to reach the area in which the bird seemed to frequent but the heather coming into flower and the butterflies everywhere made me forget the distance of the walk. Reaching my destination it took me nearly an hour of searching  along with several other people before I spotted the bird low down on an oak sapling. Approaching with care and positioning myself behind a bush I observed as the shrike went through a routine of stretching and preening taking no notice of me peering round the bush. Eventually the bird flew to another apparently dead sapling and began to hunt for dragonflies and was soon successful. Unfortunately for me it was always behind twigs and branches when it had caught its prey so I didn't get a shot of it with a dragonfly but I was happy with the pictures I did get and have included a whole sequence here when I first saw it preparing for its hunting on the oak sapling.