An exhausted winter arrival

Yesterday I encountered the first Brown Shrike for the season at Daroji Bear Sanctuary, near the town of Hampi, Karnataka.

For me, the appearance of the Brown Shrike is an indication of the winter migrants arrival. In previous years my first sightings have been in October, but they’ve arrived earlier this year.

I saw and photographed 2 individuals. One was totally worn out, probably because of the long, tiring migration from as far north as Siberia.

During this time these birds are quite weak and we need to be careful and not bother them too much trying to chase them for good images. It’s important to follow ethical practices when photographing wildlife. This makes my work more challenging, but more rewarding as well.

We took a few images and left them to establish their wintering territories.