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Contact me at: lovesnature49@gmail.com

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Northern Shrike behavior

  • Shrew cached for later, this was in cow parsnips.
  • Another shrew, this time in lupine.
  • Pellet coming up
  • You can see it in its mouth
  • Pellet dropping

This year I had the opportunity to watch a Northern Shrike doing things I had not seen before. It is fascinating to be able to watch it go about its business. The shrike is actually a songbird, not a raptor even though it preys on other creatures like rodents and birds. It is also know as the butcher bird because of its habit of catching more than it will eat and will cache the rest in the vegetation or impale it on barbed wire, etc. for later. On this day I was able to find two caches, both shrews. I also didn’t know they regurgitate pellets, like an owl does.

Welcome to lovesnature49

I grew up in Juneau, Alaska surrounded by natural beauty and a variety of animals lots of people would love to see. Having bald eagles soaring overhead or perched on light posts or encountering black bears on one of the local trails was a regular occurrence.

My Dad was a photographer for the State of Alaska for a time when I was growing up and I picked up the camera pretty early on. I enjoy capturing a scenic view or some form of wildlife and sharing it with others. I think we often get too busy with the hectic pace of our daily lives to stop and enjoy the world around us.

Photos here are available for purchase. I have used a variety of ways to display various photos including canvas, metal, and prints on glass and ceramic tiles.