On 3 January 2022 three Smooth Newts were found butchered on barbed wire on the heath of Scharreveld in northern Drenthe. Scharreveld is 300 ha in size and is a well-known wintering site of Great Grey Shrike. The fresh newts were supposedly part of the shrike’s larder. Normally newts are not active during this time of year, but temperature on 2 January had soared to 14 °C, perhaps triggering the newts into spring behaviour. In two dietary studies elsewhere in Drenthe, with respectively 694 and 1116 prey items, newts had not been recorded as prey of Great Grey Shrikes

, , ,
Drentse vogels

CC BY 3.0 NL ("Naamsvermelding")

Werkgroep Avifauna Drenthe

J. Grotenhuis, & D. ter Heide. (2021). Kleine Watersalamanders Lissotriton vulgaris als prooi van Klapekster Lanius excubitor in januari op het Scharreveld. Drentse vogels.