Victoria Park, Stafford: bold mistle thrushes

In the centre of Stafford, en route from the railway station to the town centre, is an oasis of calm and well kept gardens: Victoria Park.  I was visiting Stafford for a meeting to discuss setting up a Local Nature Partnership for for the county.  It was nice to be distracted for a few minutes by a pair of mistle thrushes busy collecting food for their hungry brood nearby.  They were very confiding and allowed me to get close with my iPad camera.  This is not how they generally behave in the countryside where they can be quite flighty, so I made a mental note to bring better camera gear next time!  You can see the limitations of the iPad camera but it at least captures the moment.  Just as I was about the head on, a scuffle broke out with a magpie that was showing a bit too much interest.  With a volley of aggressive rattling calls and a twing pronged attack by the thrushes, the magpie was soon ushered on its way. It was great so see nature holding its own in the town centre!