I am pretty new to bird spotting, but have been feeding birds in my garden for around a year or so with bird feeders. for the first time the other night I put apple out, as I figured the wild parakeets would enjoy it. However, it brought a new bird into the garden that I have never seen before.
I have looked at some sites trying to work out what it is, however, i can seem to find a fit. (excuse the mess of the hedge, I have a hedgehog that sleeps in it so dont want to cut it an disturb it)
Would any of you be able to help identify it, any help would be really appreciated.
I've done a bit of research and it might be a Red-billed Leiothrix (aka Pekin Robin). It seems that it has been spreading across Europe but if that's what it is I suspect in this case it's more likely to be an escaped captive bird.
I must admit I'd never heard of it before.
Strangely enough, it is a bird I always remembered after seeing them at London Zoo and thought what an attractive birds they are, despite their misleading name ! Here is one I photographed at London Zoo back in 2013