Having been back from Florida for more than a week now, I am sorting methodically through the pictures that I didn't have chance to work on when I was there. I didn't see as many birds on this trip as in previous years but with another years experience, I was hoping to improve my images. I have taken good photos of Loggerhead Shrike before but I think I have nailed this one. You can see a lot of detail and most of the bird is in focus. The light is always very bright in South Florida and it is not always that easy to deal with. When its very brigh,t the shadows are strong and the whites get burned out. The early morning, from dawn until around 10 is the best and when I returned to the spot where I had seen it before, at around 9 o'clock, I was very pleased to see it on the fence even as I got out of the car. It's method of hunting is interesting. Without exception, it would perch on the top of the 6 foot high fence and watch for movement on the sand dune beneath. Once prey was spotted it would glide quietly down and grab whatever it was. It seemed to be feeding on quite small flies which it would always eat before returning to the spot it had left from. I know that their prey can include small lizards and even mice and it would have been good to see it catch something like that but I wasn't that lucky unfortunately. However it's a smart bird and a fascinating experience to watch it feed like this. Having the opportunity to see birds like this from around the world is the reason that I love to travel and love to photograph birds. I find Shrikes in the genus Lanius very interesting and I have photographed several species now. One feature that they all have in common is the black facial mask that adults of all the species display.
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