Confiding Woodchat Shrike.

There are many opportunities to photograph birds on the island of Lesvos, that’s why we and many others travel there. I can’t think of a better place in Europe in late April and early May to have such a variety of quality birds to see. Sometimes these birds are tolerant and you can take (up to a point) advantage of this. On one such morning we had been watching a pair of Woodchat Shrikes perching on top of a thicket which they were obviously nesting in. After a while the female bird flew off to hunt for food and I could see her perched on an old tree stump about fifty yards away. I slowly approached this tree stump and after every five yards I stopped and took a few shots. I always work this way because if the bird flies away at least you have something. However, this bird was totally unfazed by my approach and it just looked at me and preened a little and looked around totally ignoring me. Remarkably I got to within ten yards of her and took my final shots before she casually dropped to the ground and caught an insect and flew further on. It’s always nice when you have an experience like this with a very nice bird.