Back in early July 2026 a Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) a bird found widely in Asia, was found at Crail, Fife in Scotland which was only a second for Britain, the first being a first winter individual bird on South Uist of the Outer Hebrides, again in Scotland, in November 2000. The Fife bird was only around for a few days and then disappeared on the 8th of July - not enough time for me or any of my birding friends to make the 6 hour journey. However on the 10th of July, a local birder down in Gloucestershire found a Long-tailed Shrike, but news was kept quiet as the land owner was away on holiday. A photo taken on the 15th showed it to be a first summer bird and by all accounts the bird wasn't seen on the 18th of July, but was refound by Gloucershire birder Mike King the following day at Eastleach. The big twitch was on, and to be fair to the land owner and local birders had sorted the car park ready for the large influx of birders. Dave Gray and myself went to see it on the 19th of July; it was distant and the heat haze did not help at all. The question was, is the Fife bird the Gloucestershire bird? After different images of the two birds were compared, it looked like there were two different individuals based on plumage analysis, so the Gloucestershire bird was a third for Britain if accepted. I did go back again with Dave and our mate John Hague [Shrike birding tours] on the 26 of July and it was in moult, but seeing the bird again on the 22nd August in all its finery wow! what a bird.
Below are a few images of the Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)
