Twitcher spots rare part albino blackbird in north Shropshire
A bird enthusiast in north Shropshire has spotted this rare part albino blackbird in his back garden, thought to be one of fewer than 50 of its kind in the UK.
Ian Hinsley lives in Ellesmere with his wife Jackie, both 65, and said it was a 'pretty good highlight' of his bird watching days when he saw the bird in his garden in Diksmuide Drive.
The twitcher has been bird watching as a hobby for 30 years but has never seen one before.
It is estimated there are fewer than 50 partially albino blackbirds each year, and fewer than 10 fully albino birds. But Mr Hinsley, who is retired, has seen the bird in the morning and at dinner time each day for the last three days.
He said: "We weren't quite sure what it was at first so I sent a picture of it to a company called Bird Guides and they confirmed.
"This one is particularly attractive as it is almost pied. We were quite pleased when we saw it and especially when I managed to get a picture. It has been knocking about with a few other blackbirds."
A semi-albino bird was spotted in Somerset in 2009 and an all-white blackbird was photographed in Nottingham Country Park last year.
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: "This blackbird is leucistic, meaning that it's not a complete albino, hence the eyes are not red and it's only white in patches. They a rare novelty in the wild as they often find it harder to survive in the wild due to being easier for predator and prey to see."
