On 12th of October 2016 I received an alert of Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) in Sastamala, some 70 kilometers away from my home. Wow! I started to arrange transportation - as I don't have currently a car, which suddenly turned out to be a big problem and I almost gave up. But fortunately Risto Vilpas called me and asked if I would like to come with him. Of course, thanks Riku!
Time was already about 16:30 when we left Valkeakoski and we were bit worried whether we would arrive to observation site in time, sunset would be after two hours, in 18:30. But no worries, we were there well in time and got a chance to watch this beautiful shrike about 30 minutes!
But is it Isabelline Shrike? Or Turkestan Shrike aka Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides) ? Some birders had already paid attention to certain characters of this bird like whitish underparts and rusty crown. Or is this just an intermediate bird between Isabelline and Turkestan...?
See also the drawings of Worfolk.
Anyway, the debate continues and no matter what the species is, it's a lifer for me. Thank you Sendari and thanks to Vesa Korhonen for photos!
UPDATE: According to DNA tests, the species is Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides). Some authorities keep it still as subspecies of Isabelline Shrike i.e. (Lanius isabellinus phoenicuroides).
Here is very similar looking phoenicuroides from Sweden:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbase.com/eken/image/90091323