Another one from the roadside

Another very common roadside bird of summer is Bull-headed Shrike.

The one above is a male.

The only other 2 Shrike species likely to be seen in Hokkaido are the rare Brown Shrike (which I’ve only ever seen twice, another summer visitor) and Great Grey Shrike, a rare winter visitor. I haven’t seen the latter although many years ago I did see a Shrike swoop in front of the car one January. Bull-headed Shrikes are almost absent in winter. Wish we’d stopped the car and checked that individual……..