I wandered further along the trails at the Wellington Preserve for a second time this week, after a heavy rain. There were very few birds out and about, though I noticed most of my familiar wetlands friends on the signs illustrating the wildlife that might be sighted at the preserve
I remarked to myself that the only bird on the signs that I had never seen before was the Loggerhead Shrike. 
As I walked along the quiet, empty pathways, I heard an unfamiliar bird song coming from nearby. When I looked up at the exposed branches of a small narrow tree, I spotted an unfamiliar shape, looking the other way, and thought to myself, “Could that possibly be a Loggerhead Shrike!?”
As he fluffed up his feathers and turned his head, I saw the unmistakable, hooked beak. I DO believe that is exactly what I saw! The fairly common Loggerhead Shrike “is a songbird with a raptor’s habits” (All About Birds), and their sharp curved beak is specially designed to capture the types of prey they eat, including insects, small rodents, amphibians, reptiles, and even small birds. 
In fact, gruesome as it sounds, the pretty Shrike is also known as the ‘Butcher Bird’, because it sometimes “kills its prey using its hooked bill [and] often stores uneaten prey by impaling it on thorn or barbed wire, returning to eat it later.” (Audubon). Yikes!! 😳
Who, me??
This brief Bird Note episode is an excellent introduction to the Loggerhead Shrike, and also includes a video of the Shrike vocalizing (see box at bottom of link).
Birder's Journey 
Congratulations! One more for your list! 🙂
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Yes, exactly H. J. I love getting to know new birds!
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How thrilled to see the bird you wanted to see, Bj! Thank you for sharing the information. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Amy. Yes, just when it seemed very quiet and there were so few birds around – there he was!
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Oh how very fun to get yourself a lifer BJ! Shrikes are so wonderful, and even if they are listed as common, they are not always around. I really like your photos here, and displayed in a mysterious order, too. The two close-ups highlighting his ferocious hook bill are my favorites. 😀
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Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm, Jet! Speaking of his hooked beak, David Sibley has a wonderful drawing in his book showing the Loggerhead Shrike’s “larder” with his “victims” impaled on sharp twigs, waiting till the Shrike gets hungry later!!
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That’s a lovely little discovery, it is interesting that it is a Butcherbird, which is my bird of the week, but more so that my local butcherbird that visits me every day sang outside my window just as I read the part that said this Loggerhead Shrike was a Butcherbird, hows that!
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Amazing timing, Aussiebirder! I loved your photos and audio. So funny that you see this bird every day, and for me it was such a new event. They have such a beautiful song, which just seems incongruous, considering their ‘character’ 😉
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I love the excitement in the birds song of the Grey Butcherbird, it always excites me to joy, in fact I just heard him singing just now!
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What a cute masked bandit! Your photos are wonderful.
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Much appreciated, Donna. That’s a great description – cute masked bandit!
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