Black-throated Beauty.....Sunday 2nd February 2020.

After hearing that earlier in the week Grimsby birder Josh Forrester had incredibly found a young male Black-throated Thrush in his lunch break from college!...this morning i paid a visit to see this lovely bird myself.
 Unfortunately the weather was a bit inclement today,that was putting it politely to be fair,but it wasn't long before i clapped eyes on my first Black-throated Thrush to be seen in my adopted home county of Lincolnshire.
 First views were up in a tree,but it wasn't long before he was on the deck feeding on a plethora of earthworms,no doubt being easier to find due to the damp conditions.I watched as he gave superb views through the scope,the big Swaro coming into its own in the dull conditions,with its superb light gathering capabilities giving me a great chance to study this handsome bird.
 He was a combination of lovely subtle grey tones on the uppers,with an almost Fieldfare like quality when observed from behind,with bright white underparts and of course that black throat and upper breast moulting nicely through.
 There had been some initial controversy from a handfull of birders on the fact the bird showed slight reddish areas in the tail,but after some detailed discussion on this,it seems this is a feature found in up to 25% of all Black-throated Thrushes and is still a good feature for the species.
 An interesting piece of behaviour i noticed on several occasions while on site,was watching him sub-singing,but unfortunately i was never close enough to hear him.Unfortunately all my photos are only record shots due to the poor weather and don't do this lovely bird justice.I may pop back in better conditions if time allows.
 As i write,this lovely bird is still on site and is a long awaited first for the county,a long,long way from the birds wintering areas in Northern India,Himalaya and Bhutan,what a cracker.