shrike in Sidney

[Julia Hanauer-Milne]

I got to witness something today I've never seen before: a shrike chasing a songbird! It was a long chase out over our neighbor's field with lots of evasive maneuvers on the part of the songbird (possibly our female bluebird). I couldn't see how the dogfight ended. The female bluebird eventually returned, so either the shrike went hungry or it was chasing something else. If it was the female bluebird, she has more than proven her mettle--this spring she has banished a competing female bluebird and eluded a shrike!

Good birding

Julia