Today it got above freezing!!!  A whopping 34 degrees; no wind and sunny . . . and there was no way I was gonna sit at my desk programming all day.

So around lunch time I headed to Popham Beach to get a little sun and maybe get a bird or two.

I saw most of the winter birds (Common Eiders and Loons, Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks)  . . . nothing really exciting . . . but the sun was glorious.

As I headed home, a quarter miles from Fort Popham, a Northern Shrike flew in front of my car and landed in a tree 50 yards away.   I managed to get a few photographs before he flew off.

This was my second Northern Shrike, Ingrid and I got one near the Owl’s Head Airport over two years ago.  This one was a immature adult who lacked a fully formed bandit mask . . . but was clearly a Northern Shrike, complete with the hook on the end of the bill.

Very exciting.