[mou] Northern Shrike

[ARTHUR HOWARD]

Hello
 Yesterday 11/14/04 while I was observing birds at my feeders I had a
Northern Shrike arrive.
 I am only a casual observer but always look for unusual birds.
 The Shrike flew in and perched momentarily in a nearby tree when I first
saw it .It then flew in toward the feeders and the smaller birds
scattered.
 Not knowing what it was I thought this was unusual and that it must be a
predator although I had never seen anything like it.I had to go to St.
Cloud and figured it was time I got a decent bird book.I purchased the
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
 After looking in the book I realized it definately was a Northern Shrike
and not a Loggerhead.
 It hovered 2 or 3 times in its flight about 20 feet by the feeders and
then perched in a nearby tree for about 5 minutes so I got a good look at
it for identification.
 In the book I got I saw that it must be a rare sighting as it was pretty
much outside its normal range.
 It was quite a thrill to see such an unusual bird.
 Arthur Howard