Black Throated Thrush

We have had a real rarity up the road at Newholme just west of Whitby since I believe the 14 January. I did not notice about the bird until reading Bird Guides early last Sunday, a reasonably bright day from the wall to wall gloom we have been having but I chose instead to drive around Bransdale and elsewhere on the North York Moors and finished off close to home in Wykeham Forest. We did not really see too many birds and I got no pictures although we did see a Green Woodpecker outside Lastingham, our first in N Yorks!

So this weekend a dry day forecast we went up on lunch time Saturday to see this real rarity, and yes it was a real dark day. It's become the norm.

Joining a few birders on the opposite side of the road from the cottages where the bird is being seen it was only 15 or so minutes before we were in business. A lovely bird it sat in a tree in the middle of this smallish front garden for a while. It then went down on the floor but behind a hedge so from where I was stood I could get no ground shots. It then went up on a hedge and sat at the back of the garden, a bit too distant and behind twigs and berries. I waited a good while for it to come down on the garden at the front but I did not get that opportunity. Still a great bird to see and I hope you like the pictures taken in the glomin at high ISO, not really tweaked other than put through Neat Images to remove some noise.

This is a female bird. There are apparently two distinct races this being Turdus Atrogularis. The male bird is grey-brown above and white below with a black breast. The females and juveniles are similar but more mottled.

One of my books says there has been 40 records in the uk with all but two being since 1957 but it is a few years out of date so things will have moved on a little. Still pretty rare.