Yesterday, I needed to go to the Post Office to mail a monstrous stack of letters. I decided to walk instead of drive, hoping to see something interesting on the way. There were plenty of Mockingbirds, a few Robins, and several groups of Common Grackles. But the real treats were on the way back.

While waiting to cross an intersection, I got a good look at a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that was sitting on a power line. I’d already seen two earlier this morning on my way to class, but now I had time to stare. I’m still just as amazed by these crazy looking birds as the first time I saw one on my first morning birding excursion with Courtney. At first glance, their tail looks comically long, but they manage to be extremely graceful in flight.

Entirely satisfied with my results, I headed toward the library to finish up some research. But there was still one last surprise. A patch of white and black caught my eye in a pine tree near the front of campus. I saw a strikingly colored bird that I didn’t recognize at all. I made some quick mental notes before it flew away and hoped that I’d be able to identify it later. A number of searches on Whatbird didn’t turn up anything that made sense, so I gave my description to Courtney to see what she could come up with. Assuming my memory is dyslexically color-blind (was it a white head and grey belly or grey head and white belly?), we were able to identify it as a Loggerhead Shrike. From the description on eNature, these little guys are surprisingly brutal; they impale their prey on thorns or barbed wire! I’m looking forward to seeing more now that I know what to look for.