Shrikes and Crows

RED-BACKED SHRIKE Lanius collurio 
Scarce passage visitor

2001 - The first Group record was an adult male, in the garden of the Old School House, Norwood, which was first reported on 24th September, but which had apparently been present prior to that. The bird showed well, regularly dropping g down from the cover of the garden hedge onto the ground to feed, then sitting out on the hedge. It was last seen on 14th October, and was much appreciated by a wide audience.
2003 - A male was seen and photographed on Barden Moor on 15th June.
2004 - A singing adult male was located in the plantation at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 30th May. This constitutes only the third Group record.
GREAT GREY SHRIKE Lanius excubitor 
Scarce winter and passage visitor

1990 - One record: a bird by the River Wharfe between Denton and Askwith was seen on 1st December but not on subsequent visits. It had almost certainly been present since 21st November.
1993 - Much to the great pleasure of many Group members, a reasonably confiding bird was seen (and often heard) at Timble from 27th October to the end of November. This record was the second of the year as a bird had previously been seen at Dob Park between 17th and 21st April.
1999 - A single bird was found in bushes at the water treatment works at Harecroft on 7th February. The bird remained there for about 30 minutes, but unfortunately it flew off south-west when disturbed and could not be re-located.
2002 - A bird found on Barden Moor on 26th March was seen by only a handful of observers before it left. It was identified as a sub-adult female, and was seen to be feeding on bumble-bees during its short stay.
2003 - One was present on Pole Road in the Slippery Ford area from 9th-11th April.
2007 - The first for four years, and the sixth Group record, a bird discovered at Otley Wetland on 9th October, proved relatively obliging to observers during its five day stay.
2010 - A bird spent a short time at Thornton Moor Reservoir on 1st November, before moving on. This contrasted with the other, first identified at Storiths on 4th December, but reportedly present for several days before, which apparently remained until the year-end, though it was last recorded on the 14th. These are the Group’s seventh and eighth records.
2011 - At Storiths, what was presumably the December 2010 bird was seen on 14th January. There were then sightings of what could well have been the same bird, within three miles of the original site: on 20th January at Barden Scale, and near Pace Gate, below Kex Gill, on 11th February, and 2nd and 3rd March. Intriguingly, there were also reports from the original location on 20th February, and 1st and 6th March.
2015 - On 18th October a bird gave excellent views as it swooped into a tree in full view of recorders at Oxenhope watchpoint. This was the first record since 2011, when a bird spent time in the Bolton Abbey area.
2017 - A bird on Barden Moor was well-watched between 18th and 21st April (BV et al). The 11th record
HOODED CROW Corvus corone cornix 
Vagrant

1991 - The bird found at Sugden Gap Tip at the end of 1994 remained in the area until at least 16th March with presumably the same bird feeding with 17 Carrion Crows on a sheep carcase at Thornton Moor on 4th March.
GOLDEN ORIOLE Oriolus oriolus 
Vagrant

1992 - ‘A real Stonker’ to quote the record received from the fortunate finder for this BOG record, a male present near Beaver Dyke Reservoir on 3rd June. Sadly only a one-day bird but also seen by at least eight other lucky members.
2002 - A male was heard singing at Cuckoo Nest Wood, St. Ives, between 7.00 and 7.30am on 25th May. It was seen briefly four hours later, as it flew through the trees.
2009 - There have been only two previous records, so a further two in the same year is unprecedented. The first concerns a male seen at close range at Thruscross Reservoir on 13th March (TPC). However, the untypically early date for a migrant indicates a possible escapee of the Asian sub-species O.o.kundoo, a common cage-bird.   The other was seen and heard, both calling and in song, near Riddlesden on the more expected date of 7th June
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