Only about a year ago, I considered my first Northern Shrike sighting a major achievement in my new found hobby of "birding." Those first few sightings, in dim snowy conditions and from long distances now pale in comparison to my experiences with Shrikes as of late. For a January day it was unbelievably warm and sunny today at 36 degrees. It was so nice that I just stood for a while in my favorite place in the park, where Shingle Creek flows back out of Palmer Lake.
It was here that I noticed the Northern Shrike again in the same place -the same tree to be exact- where I'd seen him on the day after Christmas. With the creek separating us, he had no cause for alarm and just sat there for a long time singing out some beautiful songs more reminiscent of a Warbler. After a long while he changed perches a few times and then finally flew out into the cattails. True to form, he seemed to select only the tallest available cattail to perch upon and I was able to keep sight of him in this new and unfamiliar territory.
He then disappeared down into the cattails but surprisingly came right back up to perch on another tall cattail stem. This was repeated a few times and I was hoping to see him come up with something in his beak but neither he or I were so lucky. The warm temps and sunny skies always seem to bring out the birds and later I spotted a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos. This was on the north end where a few houses meet the boundries of the park. There are a bunch of thick shrubs and trees here that the Juncos seem to like.
But more often than not I tend to see Juncos on the ground. They are apparently looking for seeds of common weed plants. Today I also spotted Cardinals, Chickadees, Starlings and Hairy Woodpeckers. I watched a Cardinal, then a Chickadee bathe themselves in the exact same part of Shingle Creek, one right after the other.
It was here that I noticed the Northern Shrike again in the same place -the same tree to be exact- where I'd seen him on the day after Christmas. With the creek separating us, he had no cause for alarm and just sat there for a long time singing out some beautiful songs more reminiscent of a Warbler. After a long while he changed perches a few times and then finally flew out into the cattails. True to form, he seemed to select only the tallest available cattail to perch upon and I was able to keep sight of him in this new and unfamiliar territory. 
He then disappeared down into the cattails but surprisingly came right back up to perch on another tall cattail stem. This was repeated a few times and I was hoping to see him come up with something in his beak but neither he or I were so lucky. The warm temps and sunny skies always seem to bring out the birds and later I spotted a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos. This was on the north end where a few houses meet the boundries of the park. There are a bunch of thick shrubs and trees here that the Juncos seem to like. 
But more often than not I tend to see Juncos on the ground. They are apparently looking for seeds of common weed plants. Today I also spotted Cardinals, Chickadees, Starlings and Hairy Woodpeckers. I watched a Cardinal, then a Chickadee bathe themselves in the exact same part of Shingle Creek, one right after the other.
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