Oh My God!

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... breathe ... oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god .... breathe....

That's exactly what I was saying in my head when I first laid eyes on this gorgeous ... I can now confirm this is a Tiger Shrike, Lanius tigrinus, and he was just stunning! I wasn't sure whether to use the front or back shot, but the back/side shot had an annoying branch in the way that cut straight across his meal! I've posted it in my facebook album if you'd like to check it out :)

I was on my way to take a few snaps of some happy playing sun bear's (unusual because it was between grumpy Arkte and David, not a typical playing duo!). I was looking into the trees on the way as I'd heard some chirping bulbuls and this guy was right there, clear shot, mantis in foot and not really sure what he should do next! I managed to fire off about 15 shots of him before he flew off to devour his meal in piece! YAY!! Number five birdie for BlipBigYear!

And more reason to go yay! I've been told Allan is doing much better today and improving :) He is still being kept asleep on the ventilator to help treat the pneumonia, but at this stage they will be waking him up on Thursday.