NORTH WEST

Highlights

A first-winter shrike found at Hallbankgate, Cumbria, on 4th, proved an ID challenge. It was possibly a Brown Shrike, or maybe a Red-backed Shrike, or then again perhaps a Turkestan Shrike… A Spotted Sandpiper was reported at Pickerings Pasture, Cheshire on 2nd (having been identified from photographs taken in late November).