The Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) which was recently in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada was quite a spectacular bird. It was the first Canadian record and one of only a handful of North American records (four sightings in Alaska and two in California).
It was most easily seen in the backyard of 17 Evans Avenue above the Fairview end of the Bedford Baisin in Halifax. Evans Ave. comes to an end at this point and by standing in the circular parking lot located here one can easily see into the backyard where it frequently appeared, sitting in the sumacs, flitting in the bushes, and dropping to the ground to forage for small insects.
It moved along the cliff's edge foraging between this locality and the end of Vimy Avenue, sometimes disappearing over the slope of the embankment.
It was also located on several occasions in an open brush area which is adjacent to the Fairview Container Terminal (past the end of Bayne Street). There are a number of containers just beyond the large milk sign across the highway and an old chain-link fence along a depression. It has sometimes foraged in that area, and on one occasion flew along the railway tracks up to where there is a small aluminum shed, feeding along the bushes there before flying back to the cliff below Vimy Avenue where it could be seen foraging on the ground, a bit like a Fox Sparrow.
It was first seen by Roger Foxall, slightly further along the railway tracks where there are scattered bushes and trees between a pile of concrete rubble and a Tim Horton's billboard. I also saw it once there when a passing train flushed it from this area.
It was also observed on the steep and scrubby bank that faces northeast and overlooks the Accura dealership from beside the Centennial Arena.
When it was returning from the railway tracks to the Evans Ave. area we once observed it high in the trees that grow around the apartment buildings which lie between Evans Ave. and Main Ave.