Spikes and feathers
31 October 2022
The postman has delivered the latest report from the Carmarthenshire Bird Club.
It is of course not a complete picture of what is going on birdwise in the county but a useful series of snapshots and some local curiosities such as the Woodchat Shrike which put in a brief appearance in June in its capacity as a “vagrant” on the common land above Rhiwiau called Mynydd Ystyfflaucarn.
The shrike part of its name reflects the shrieking it apparently can do – and look at the Lanius part of its Lanius senator name and there is a reference to the habit of this genus to practise a sort of butchery – that is to impale prey onto a spike – though the Woodchat Shrike isn’t that inclined to do this compared to some of its relatives.
A vagrant species is basically one you wouldn’t expect to be here – blown in or off course. The Woodchat Shrike is normally a southern European or African bird. Here is a picture taken in Spain lifted from Wikipedia. What a beauty.
Thank you for this really interesting piece. Have you got anything more recent?
I am having trouble logging in at the moment.
I think the log in is sorted out now. Thanks for your patience