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| A Loggerhead Shrike, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands Nat. Park; 6/18/2011. |
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| Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands Nat. Park, CA; 6/18/2011. |
While I was on my futile attempt to locate an Island Scrub Jay on Santa Cruz Island (Above), I heard an unfamiliar sound coming from a small tree in a grassy pasture in Scorpion Canyon. When I finally spotted the bird who was responsible for this song, I knew immediately it was a Loggerhead Shrike (Top). I've seen several in on my visits to Arizona (Below), but I never heard one sing before.
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| A Loggerhead Shrike, South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ; 12/23/2008. |
Loggerhead Shrikes are a very mono-chromatically colored bird - grays, white and black. It is gray overall with a broad black mask, wings and tail. with white cheeks and white patches on their wings.
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| Another Loggerhead Shrike, McDowell Mts., Phoenix, AZ; 12/30/2009. |
Even though they are not exclusively Western birds, as they can be found from coast to coast in the southern half of the country, but the only times I have ever seen these Shrikes are in the West.
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| How about some more Dolphins, Channel Islands Nat. Park, CA; 6/18/2011. |
Sunset of the Day
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| Sunset from Mount Rainier Nat. Park, Washington State; 6/24/2006. |
This is too pretty a bird to have such a clumsy-sounding name.
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