Whipsnade lifer

A bit of a celebrity bird has taken up residence in Whipsnade Zoo - a bird all the way from Thailand! After many pop ups from Twitter and Rare Bird Alert reminding me that there is a RARE bird in the neighbourhood I thought it was worth a punt and to see if I can get another lifer under my belt... its been SO long! (2 years in fact)

With the help of Alex from Whipsnade Zoo (a train commuting friend of Anna's- thank you Alex!!)  and Ian from Tring ressie birding fame (he always knows which way to look and when - I would have missed this if he hadn't been looking in the opposite direction to me) I connected with this fabulous far travelling bird. With eyes firmly on the berries by the siding on the railway at the zoo, Ian spotted cameras pointing at the pig sty. So off we went and lo and behold the little beauty popped up in the tree and smiled at its adoring fans - a lovely looking male BLACK THROATED THRUSH  lifer #307 , probably blown off course from its trip from Asia to wherever it fancied heading for the winter... 

Quite a daily crowd twitching this avian visitor , entry fee £21.30 to the zoo if you want to see it!

Male Black Throated Thrush at Whipsnade Zoo

Ring Necked Parakeets in the garden!

Just heading out to town with the family chatting to Kev the postie , I heard and then saw 4 RING NECKED PARAKEETS in Evelyn's tree at the back of the garden - first time this species has been seen in Granville garden, taking Granville Garden species to #42

A trip to the ressie with the family

A sunny day and a trip to College lake with the family. With the help of a man with a scope I saw SNIPE, GOLDENEYE but missed out on a waterail

Splashing in the puddles

Ready to bird! 

Checking out the water

Concentrating on bird ID'ing!

Fozzies at the ressie

Me and my boy with our binos 

Arty leafy shot 

View of the ressie