Yesterday we came across this Loggerhead Shrike fledgling perched high and pretty in the early morning light.

 

 1/500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

A few minutes after this shot was taken the bird flew off so we decided to look for more opportunities elsewhere and left the area.

 

 

 1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

Just before we quit shooting for the day we decided to look for the fledgling again in the same area as before.  We found two of them this time – one flew off almost immediately but this one allowed us some close observations for about 25 minutes.  By this time of the morning the bird was side-lit in most situations but we got to see some interesting behaviors.  Typical of youngsters this one was curious about its surroundings and spent quite a bit of time exploring the greasewood bush it was in.  Here it is about to half hop/half fly to the twigs in the upper left of the frame.

 

 

1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 Several times it picked off one of the drier greasewood buds and played with it for a while.

 

 

  1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

But a parent coming in with food always got the full attention of the fledgling.  In this image one of the adults is delivering a grasshopper to the begging young bird – you can just see the top of the parents head at the bottom of the frame as it works its way up the bush toward the youngster.

 

 

  1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 Here the fledgling has just taken the grasshopper from the adult.

 

 

  1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 The young bird wasn’t very adept at dealing with the grasshopper but eventually it did manage to swallow a few pieces.

 

 

  1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

This very young bird was still so clumsy that it was difficult not to laugh out loud occasionally as it kept losing its balance and then trying to regain it.  Sometimes the clumsiness was minor as in this shot where the unusually high position of the tail is an effort to regain balance as it began to lean forward.

 

 

  1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

 But other times it would have taken a nose-dive right out of the bush if not for its ability to use its wings to regain balance.

 

 

  1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc

One thing this bird was very serious about was potential danger from the sky.  It apparently hasn’t yet learned which birds to fear and which ones are harmless.  So unlike adult shrikes which pretty much ignore innocuous species as they fly by, this youngster never took its eye off any other bird that came near.  It was extremely wary of danger.

 

 

  1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f/4

This was a pose I’d never seen before an a passerine – a double straight legged stretch.  I’ve seen other birds stretch a single leg at a time by sticking it out behind them but had never observed a perched bird do this with both legs simultaneously.  I thought it looked pretty silly but I’m sure it accomplished its purpose.

I really enjoy photographing and observing shrikes.  What a fascinating species in so many ways.  If you’re interested I’ve documented some of their behaviors in the links below:

Pellet regurgitation

Impaling prey

Impaling prey

Ron