Hi Tweets,



Decided to escape the gray skies on Saturday and headed over to Vantage (84
degrees, sunny.fabulous). I birded a trail just to the west of Gingko
Petrified Forest headquarters.mainly sagebrush and cheat-grass, with
deciduous trees along a draw. Full of Canyon Wrens, many in family groups.
Lazuli Buntings, Yellow-breasted Chat, Say's Phoebe.the usual suspects.
What I didn't expect was to come upon a group of Loggerhead Shrikes, five in
all.and all in adult plumage. There were two thorny trees fairly close
together that the shrikes were perching in.there was a lot of whitewash
underneath, so these trees seem to be favorites. Every so often one would
leave, but then come back to one of these trees. I've never seen a group of
shrikes before; I watched them for awhile and they were often perched in
pairs. Anyone else seen this kind of behavior before? I assumed Shrikes
were mainly solitary.



Megan L

Bellevue, WA