28 March 2015

More Turkestan and Daurian Shrike trapped & ringed again – Sabkhat Al Fasl

As mentioned 13 March we caught and ringed a number of Turkestan and Daurian Shrikes. The same happened the following weekend when we caught two Turkestan Shrikes including a male and a single Daurina Shrike. This made six birds, three Turkestan and three Daurian in two weeks which equaled the total amount caught at nearby Alba Marsh in Bahrain where we ringed for three years prior to gaining permission to ring in Saudi Arabia. Although great birds to see in the hand they are troublesome to remove from the nets as try to bite any piece of skin that they see so the fingers are fair game and invariably get bitten and regularly they draw blood. As a result there is a mixture of happiness and trepidation when you see a shrike in the net. Daurian Shrikes will be moving out in the next week or so but Turkestan Shrikes continue to be seen for another month and they are soon joined by a big wave of Red-backed Shrikes. I was fairly certain with the identification of the birds but asked Tim Worfolk for help with confirmation of which he kindly provided me with his identification that agreed with my original thoughts. I am very grateful to Tim for his help. The shrikes we caught appeared to be a straightforward Turkestan with nice contrast between the darkish upperparts and whitish underparts, with the dark scalloping on throat and breast appearing to be dark. The second bird was slightly more problematic; appearing to be a similar tone on the upperparts, but slightly greyer to the first bird but was much more buffy coloured on the supercilium, throat and breast so is probably a well-marked Daurian.
Turkestan Shrike
Turkestan Shrike
Turkestan Shrike
Turkestan Shrike
Daurian Shrike
Daurian Shrike
Daurian Shrike
Daurian Shrike
Turkestan Shrike - male
Turkestan Shrike - male
Turkestan Shrike - male
Turkestan Shrike - male