Apologies for the poor picture quality. I couldn’t get too close because I was afraid I might scare the bird. I must have been moving while I took the pictures because they are out of focus. This bird visited the oak tree in my back garden 2 years ago. I’ve been trying to identify it with no luck ever since. I live on the Central Coast of California. My house sits a few miles South of a birders paradise- the Elkhorn Slough and across the street from a pond surrounded by marsh and tall grasses. I am very lucky to see a diverse array of songbirds and waterfowl. I can identify most birds that I see but not this one. This one was unique. The bird was the size of a Robin, it had a stout beak and a dark band on the sides of its head. It appeared darker than the color seen in the pictures. The belly/breast seemed more plump than it appears in the pics and was quite a bit lighter in color near the feet than what’s seen here in the pictures. After scouring the web, my guess is it’s a shrike? Is this bird a type of a shrike? I’ve seen records of Loggerhead Shrike spotted at nearby Elkhorn Slough but that species is more of a light gray color compared to ‘my bird.’ Is it possible that it’s a juvenile shrike? Thank you in advance for your help and your time, cheers.