Lake Monticello Birding Hotspot

I went back to Lake Monticello again yesterday afternoon. It is definately turning into a birding hotspot! I observed a new species for me, a Loggerhead Shrike. There were several flying around at the Plantersville Access.

Loggerhead Shrikes are a hunting songbird are very similar to the Northern Shrike only smaller and have an especially broader black mask.








Shrikes prey on small insects, mice, lizards, and even small birds. They impale their prey on thorns or barbed wire in order to kill them and eat. They will even leave their excess kill on the thorns and barbed wire. Their presence in an aread can often be denoted in this way.