Great Grey Shrike at last (oh,,,and Two Barred Crossbills)

As my birder's wife was busy today meeting friends and going shopping, I thought I would take the opportunity to head south and either go for the Glossy Ibis (that fly into Slimbridge to roost) or to look for Two Barred Crossbills and Great Grey Shrike that have both been seen on and off near Woorgreens Lake in the Forest of Dean.  Birdguides broke the news that both the Shrike and the Crossbills were around by the time I left at 11:00am.

Two Barred Crossbill

By the time I arrived at Woorgreens Lake, after another horrendous journey, the news services were reporting that at least 15 Two Barred Crossbills had been seen, so I was extremely hopeful.  However, the directions to the area they were being seen from were not that clear and I, being a bit of a numb-skull managed to walk round the lake twice and get extremely muddy before eventually working out where I should be going.  When I got my bearings I walked up Crabtree Hill in completely the wrong direction which did actually have its advantages as I spotted the Great Grey Shrike in a middle of the heath perched on a dead tree.  After asking a walker for directions, I eventually found the area where the Crossbills had been seen and joined about 20 other birders (including one who had a voice like a fog horn but fortunately left after a couple of minutes) to wait and see if they would fly into the Hemlocks.  As the minutes passed, many birders gave up waiting and then after about an hours wait, the two remaining birders and myself were rewarded with our patience of the briefest of glimpses of about two or three perched on the top of a nearby tree (with one calling away constantly).  I did have time to get some record shots, the above of which is the best and shows off the white bars nicely.