The Lincolnshire Bird Club

The Steppe Grey Shrike again performed superbly in lovely bright conditions. It has recently been favouring the grassy public footpath that separates the stubble field from the one undersown with oilseed rape. The bird was digging in the grass searching for worms and was also picking up worms from the stubble field which was being ploughed.
My filming today was interrupted for a while when the Shrike perched on my video camera - much to the amusement of the assembled ghotographers!
The Glaucous Gull at Donna Nook spends a lot of time resting up out on the marshes at a range of 400 metres plus. It occasionally moves closer to feed up on seal placenta for a short time after which it moves out again. Time, patience and/or a bit of luck are needed for close views.

Roy.

On the 12th we obtained two pellets from the shrike which have been kindly analysed by Eric Smith (Sorby Natural History Society Coleoptera Honorary Recorder) -- in the two pellets he found the following:

Remains of at least 11 Pterostichus melanarius (Carabidae – ground beetle family)
Remains of at least 3 Pterostichus niger (Carabidae)
Remains of 1 Ocypus olens (Devil’s coach horse beetle – Staphylinidae/rove beetles)
One aedeagus (male sexual organ) of Catops tristis (Coleoptera – Leiodidae)
Remains of unidentified species of beetle elytra (wing cases)
Miscellaneous heads of non-Coleoptera invertebrates (possibly Diptera)
Heads of two different species of possible Lepidoptera

Jim Flanagan has commented on the above:
P. melanarius and P. niger are two quite widespread and common ground beetles (both of black colouration) of open/agricultural country in the UK and Catops tristis is from the beetle family Leiodidae whose members (in the UK) feed mainly on fungi in rotting animal or plant material with some species being common in bird and mammal nests/burrows.

Shrike & Gull performing well still this afternoon