Whilst birding a large expanse of pivot
irrigation fields near Haradh on Friday we came across very large numbers of various
species of shrike. The majority of shrikes were Turkestan Shrikes with 49 birds
seen some of which were very well marked adult makes. We also saw two Woodchat
Shrikes, eight Steppe Grey Shrikes and four Daurian Shrikes including an
unusual very bright adult bird with quite a grey mantle. It is possible the
bird looked slightly oddly coloured due to the overcast conditions but it was
certainly slightly different to any birds I have seen previously as it was more
rufous washed on the underparts and grey on the upperparts. This is the second
spring in a row where I have seen large numbers of shrikes together in a
relatively small area and makes for great birding.
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| Turkestan Shrike |
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| Turkestan Shrike |
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| Turkestan Shrike |
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| Daurian Shrike |