The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a regular but scarce winter visitor to the UK. It breeds across Northern Europe and into Russia. It frequents heathland  and moor.

I am always very interested in the literal meaning of "Latin/scientific" names and this is a great one. "The  name  Lanius excubitor   has a diabolical meaning. Lanius in Latin is "butcher" from lanio meaning "I tear, I rend to pieces", which is what the shrike does to its prey, while excubitor in Latin means sentinel, which obviously refers to the shrike's habit of keeping watch for its prey from the top of thorn bushes and posts — for prey it will rend to pieces!"

I was sat looking out from this vantage point with a clear view of the cleared area below which is where the Shrike had been seen before. It was quite a daunting prospect and as I sat there I was beginning to lose faith in my chances.  In fact I was beginning to lose faith in my sanity! I watched a couple of birdwatchers scanning the scene before them and thought that would be a good strategy, watch them and see if they found it.

Eventually I started to feel the cold and decided that I would trudge back to the car. If you look at the top of the picture above you can see a log pile at the top of the hill and past there was where I luckily stumbled…quite literally  on to the quarry! I was starting to get a little bit despondent as I trudged on and the thought went through my mind that I wouldn't be going on another "wild goose chase" again. I stumbled on over the remains of felled trees, snow and boggy moss,  all the time looking around for movement. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks because there in front of me and right in my path, was a white breast shining like a beacon with the dark woods behind providing a backdrop. I couldn't believe my luck, I had done the impossible, found the needle in the hay stack. I took a few photos and watched it looking for food from it's perch.  I took a few steps forward but it was hard to do it with any subtlety because of the felled wood, the bird didn't move so I made the mistake of taking two more and off he flew, very strongly and quite a distance to my right. 

Feeling now quite elated and incredibly fortunate I looked at my pictures and felt satisfied that I had seen the bird and got a nice picture or two to prove it. I could have been closer, you always can but perhaps it is best for a bird like a Great Grey Shrike to feed in peace. It can't be easy for a bird like that to find the food  needed to survive a winter on Dartmoor.

A late addition to this post is a note about a Red Admiral Butterfly seen adjacent to a wood close to the Tor, my first Butterfly species of 2009. If you look at the picture above, to the right there are a few conifers, this is the track and this  is where I saw the butterfly.