25 September 2011

Bahrain - Ringing at Refinery Pond

Yesterday I got an extra day off work as the day before was Saudi Arabian National Day. As a result I was able to go back to Bahrain again for another afternoon ringing session this time at the Refinery Pond. We had to cut a new ride in the reeds and when we got there we found that the water was much too deep for setting nets. As a result we were only able to cut one ride and it was not in an optimal position. Abdulla set another net between the acacia trees to see if we could catch anything there as we had seen eight Ortolan Bunting in the trees as we drove into the site. We did not catch many birds but saw about 50 Yellow Wagtail coming into roost in the late evening. Abdulla caught a Spotted Flycatcher and let me ring it as I had not ringed this species before (Nicole ringed the bird yesterday as she had not ringed one either) and the new net through the reeds caught two (Caspian) Reed Warbler both of which I ringed. The Spotted Flycatcher looked quite different in plumage to the bird caught yesterday.
 (Caspian) Reed Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher